Brick By Brick: Building A Dynasty

Follow me on Bluesky at Gerbilsports The other day, I asked my friends on Bluesky what kind of content they'd like to see from me going forward, and there was a pretty good amount of enthusiasm regarding some dynasty/prospect posts. So that's what I'm going to do - just a bit of short-form content I can write near-daily (in an ideal world) in-between waiver pieces. And to add a little bit of that deep-cut flair I like to include in those waiver pieces, I really want to focus on some more obscure prospects in addition to the Lawlars of the world. Thanks for reading. Dylan Beavers

Bebeavers. In a perfect world, where we appreciate puns both good and bad, this is what they'd call us. I'm a bebeaver. I believe in Dylan Beavers. Beavers has an excellent, gulp-inducing athletic build, standing 6'5 with lean muscle and extremely potent speed produced by long, gazelle-like strides. When people compare Yankees' prospect Spencer Jones to Aaron Judge (silly), I believe they're simply making a mistake - they should be comparing him to Beavers, who is as close to ready for The Show as anyone could be at AAA. Beavers spent most of his time at AA in 2o24, and posted a fairly respectable .756 OPS and .241 BA. He also had a strike out issue that you see with most guys of this size, who tend to swing for the fences and produce a statistically significant amount of whiffs. Across 451 minor league ABs, Beavers compiled 125 Ks, good for a 36% K-rate. Or rather, bad for a 36% K-rate. But now it's 2025, the country is on the brink of economic collapse, and Beavers is giving no shits about the turmoil that surrounds us. This man has straight up evolved, and hopefully into Charizard, and not just Charmeleon. His disciplinary metrics are actually mind-boggling: 85th percentile Chase % 69th percentile Zone Contact % 73rd percentile Whiff % 56th percentile K% (22% K-rate) 83rd percentile BB% And that's on top of the extreme power metrics you'd expect from a 6'5 masher. He's also blazing it up on the basepaths to the tune of 11 SBs on the young season. According to FantasyPros, "Beavers ended last season with Triple-A Norfolk where he went 5-for-20 with four RBI across six games. “That’s something I worked really hard on this offseason, was just trying to be able to cover three different fastball shapes and be ready for anything in any count,” he said. Beavers focused this offseason on working on angles and identifying pitches early. “I did a lot of angle work just to feel different points of contact,” Beavers said. “We did a lot of mix. Just mixing up, not knowing what’s coming, whether it’s going to be a two-seamer, cutter or four-seamer with rise." Dylan Beavers is an absolute god right now, and someone I'd suggest adding to your NA slot above basically anyone else at this point. It's extremely rare to find someone with league-winning qualities in the midst of a fantasy season, but Beavers fits the bill. Throw him in your NA slot in redraft, and in Dynasty, stash this man.

Rare Oppo Power on Display

2025 sees Beavers leveling up, at least 20 levels.

Austin Gauthier Gauthier is one of those gritty lunch pail type of guys that gets down in the dirt, works hard, pours out the sweat and tears, just for a shot at The Bigs one day. Gauthier signed with the Dodgers an UDFA back in 2021 after being an absolute OBP god at Hofsra (that's a school).

OBP by year: .313, .359, .373, .406, .515, .503, .458, .387, .441, .346, .461, .435, .411, .487, .374, .355, .446, .351

There's some major Meidroth vibes here, and in 2025, Gauthier has a .351 OBP to go with a solid .345 xwOBA. The hitting hasn't arrived yet, but just looking at his metrics, it most certainly will. His EV and Hard-Hit rates combined with his excellent plate discipline mean, at least to me, that success is almost guaranteed this summer. And I really don't think Gauthier is just a contact hitter in the making; aside from his 63rd percentile average exit velo, 72nd percentile hard-hit %, and 59th percentile barrel %, check out how jacked this dude is:

Add in the fact he plays 2B, SS, and OF, and is currently age 25, a callup could come in the very near future with any type of injury to the Dodgers roster. Gauthier has the type of disciplinary, bat-to-ball contact skills that translate to MLB success faster than those with high power/whiff profiles, like Owen Caissie who was mentioned here https://www.gerbilsports.com/post/mid-week-musings-hitter-prospect-watch And if he manages to get on base at a .340+ clip at the MLB level, at the bottom of the Dodgers' lineup, you can be sure he'll be a potent run producer.

Vaughn Grissom

With Casas finished for the year after a serious Patellar tear, all eyes have shifted to Vaughn Grissom, who has played at a level warranting a promotion to the bigs. Grissom's Prospectsavant metrics paint the picture of a hitter who's in full command of the strike zone and has some understimated power. Some standout metrics include: 85th percentile Zone-Contact % 69th pecentile Whiff % 70th percentile Hard-Hit % .440 xSLG Everything here indicates Grissom is ready for another MLB opportunity, and it would't be surprising if he looked even better than his initial debut for the Braves back in 2022, where he hit .291 with a .792 OPS over 156 plate appearances. That kind of production on this Red Sox roster would make him a valuable fantasy asset.

Drew Gilbert That's a really fucking cute statcast, damn. Now, those are the High A numbers, and the option to toggle to AAA isn't apparent to me at the moment (I'll try messaging the brilliant man behind prospectsavant), but we still learn a lot about the Mets' # 2 prospect. After moving from A ball to AAA a few weeks ago, Gilbert has still managed to deliver in a way that currently has him sporting a .414 OBP and .823 OPS. The only shortcoming to Gilbert's game is a complete lack of SB productivity, and that will probably never evolve into something greater if his track record is anything to go by. Still, the hitting ability is undeniable, with almost no shortcomings to his game. He stands at a modest 5'9, giving him an advantageous strike zone, and his command of the zone is nearly unpralleled. And despite being 5'9, Gilbert possesses quick hands that generate excellent bat speed, which is why we're not surprised to see frequent 110 MPH shots off his bat even though that kind of exit velocity would normally be surprising for a player of his stature. He possesses a muscular base that's pretty obvious when you watch him at the plate, allowing his swing mechanics to stay consistent throughout.

Jonathon Long A .358 BA and .902 OPS at AAA probably has Cubs' fans salivating for a promotion to a team that is already producing runs at godly level. With Michael Busch currently locking down 1B and playing well, the path to the roster becomes a bit murky, as Seiya Suzuki and Carson Kelly continue to get reps at DH when they're not playing the field. It would take an injury, or the Cubs cutting bait on a struggling Justin Turner, to get Long onto the lineup card in the near future, even as a DH. He's also seen reps here and there at 3B, so that's an option as well, depending on how Berti fares as the season progresses. Long has certainly earned a promotion, though, as he boasts some of the hottest underlying metrics in AAA: 93rd percentile exit velocity 86th pecentile barrel % 97th percentile hard-hit % (beautiful) 66th percentile whiff % 75th percentile SwStr% ( similar to whiff, but also includes strikes taken without a swing) Long is not only seeing the ball well, but generating elite contact when he swings. It's extremely rare to find these kinds of power metrics with this kind of contact ability, and is the profile of a superstar in the making.

Otto Kemp Recently named international league player of the week, Kemp is dominating AAA pitching in a way that has his name coming out of every mouth in Phili. Kemp is doing what Kurtz did to earn a promotion, albeit even with stronger underlying numbers. Where Kurtz struggled with important contact/discipline metrics like Zone Swing % (21st percentile), Kemp continues to swing at pitches in the zone at an 83rd percetile clip, showing his eye for the ball may not fail him at the MLB level if promoted. Kemp is currently rocking a .344 BA and 1.136 OPS to go with 10 dingers, numbers that have him edging (yes) an MLB promotion. He's hitting the ball so hard, so often, that I'm willing to overlook the 25th percentile Whiff % and 24th percentile chase %, because again, at least he's seeing strikes and swinging freely. Expect Kemp to arrive very, very soon.

Some names we'll see next time, amongst others! Austin Martin T.J. Rumfield Ryan Vilade