Fantasy baseball owners are in the heart of draft season right now, and once those beginning rounds full of stars are over, they'll be looking to snap up that young talent their competitors just might not know about yet.
Kris Bryant, a powerful third base prospect for the Chicago Cubs would fit that description except for the fact that everyone knows about him by now. Getting him for bargain prices in auctions isn't happening anymore, and he's not even guaranteed a roster spot to start 2015. In fact, he's almost a sure thing to start the year in the minors so the Cubs can prolong his service time clock.
Bryant's doing his best to force the team's hand; this spring he has hit .480 with eight home runs and 14 RBI. He has swatted 43 home runs over the last two seasons in the minor leagues and shown the ability to steal a few bases too. He is undoubtedly one of the best prospects in baseball.
But he has a major wart-his strikeout rate. Bryant swings for the fences for good reason, but that has caused him to strike out a ton. Last season in Triple-A he whiffed a tick less than 29 percent of the time, and one would assume there's a high probability of that rate rising against big league pitchers.
Bryant's homer binge this spring has overshadowed a potentially greater prospect in Los Angeles, center fielder Joc Pederson. Last season at Triple-A Pederson had a monster season; he slashed .303/.435/.582 and belted 33 home runs. In addition, he stole 30 bases too.
Pederson is younger than Bryant, and the team is so confident in him that they traded away an All-Star who hit 25 home runs last season, Matt Kemp, to clear a path for him. They did that despite a brief, unsuccessful MLB trial last year in which he batted .143 in 18 games.
Most important to note for fantasy owners considering these two players-Pederson is the one who will be in the lineup on Opening Day, and he is being taken 63 picks later.
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