2 The Bigs

By Sal Corso: Feb 7, 2024

There are a few thousand prospects in the minor league baseball system. Not many will make the pros. Let alone become stars or even impact players, for that matter. That’s why prospecting is so hard. That’s why scouting and development for MLB teams is so hard. The goal for all of us, is to hit more than we miss. It won’t happen, but we can try. When scouting, we want to keep an eye on a few metrics, but we don’t want to go full “Billy Beane”. The eye test matters too. Sometimes, the biggest names go unnoticed.

That’s why I put together the official 2 The Bigs All-Undervalued Team.

Each player is being undervalued in the card market (based off the 1st bowman autograph sale price listed next to the name). They may not all hit, but the low-risk/high-reward finds are where professional scouts make careers, and card collectors make profit.

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C: Moises Ballesteros ($22)

We highlighted “Big Bally” in our Top Catcher’s Rankings:

Ballesteros is my sleeper given he’s still in his teenage years and already hit Double-A. Even though he is young, he still held the lowest K-rate from anybody on this list (16.4%). He also slashed an impressive .284/.374/.448 in his longest season as a pro (117 games). Ballesteros will get a full season at Double-A. Keep an eye on his progress, with a wide-open catcher slot at the majors, don’t be surprised if we see him in the majors at just 20-years-old in 2025. If the Cubs can get him in the weight room, this kid can be an absolute monster in the power and strength department.

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1B: Blaze Jordan ($45)

We covered Blaze Jordan in our Sleeper 1B going into 2024:

What’s impressed about Blaze is that he rarely seems to regress at any level during his early-professional career:

At 21-years-old he only struck out 14% of the time across those same two-levels. At 20 and 21 he was named an MiLB.com organization All-Star for the Red Sox.

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2B: Thomas Saggese ($60)

What seemed like an obvious when I asked Twitter to guess. Saggese may not be as under-the-radar as I initially thought. Well, his card prices still are. Saggese was on a tear at Double-A Frisco (Texas Rangers affiliate). He slashed .313/.379/.512 in 93 games. He added 15 HR, 78 RBI and only 96 K’s in that stretch. Then, he was traded mid-season in what could’ve been a World Series securing deal, that sent Saggese to the Cardinals in exchange for Jordan Montgomery. Welp, I shouldn’t have used the word “tear” before. Because he then hit .331/.403/.662 in 33 games at Double-A Springfield. Thomas is changing the definition of the word. The Cardinals have some big talent in the minors, Saggese may be the best of them all. Go grab his autograph while they are this low. Oh, watch him hit for the cycle too:

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3B: Tyler Black ($35)

Black won’t be a “prospect” for much longer. He raked his way through Triple-A for his best pro-season to-date (122 games):

.284/.417/.513 18 HR 73 RBI 55 SB

The Canadian can do it all. And there’s not much stopping him from getting the chance. The Brewers just traded Corbin Burnes for a surprisingly light haul which included 3B Joey Ortiz from the Orioles. That’s really the only competition for Black at the pro-level. Like Will Ferrell says in The Other Guys “I’ll take that fight 9 times out of 10”.

Black should secure the job and could join Chourio at the top of that lineup in 2024.

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SS: Diego Velasquez ($10)

This may be the lowest-risk/highest-reward name on the list, and you can tell by his price tag. Diego is an international signee from 2021 by the Giants. A 20-year-old switch-hitting middle-infielder weighing in at a massive (sarcasm) 150 pounds. Velasquez struggled in his first two pro-seasons. Then last year, turned into a Giants organizational all-star. He slashed .298/.387/.434 with 69 RBI, 23 SB, and a sub-19% K-rate. Diego is the 3rd ranked SS in his own organization. That will change. Also, the middle-infield is wide open for the taking at the pro-level.

I’ll keep his potential score in a reasonable range, but if he shows up this spring at 180-ish pounds and displays power (like he did above), I’ll instantly raise it. Take a $10 chance.

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OF: Owen Caissie ($70)

This seemed like another obvious one based-off the answers I got on Twitter. Oh, and the stats say the same. Caissie, a 21-year-old who spent the entire 2023 season in Double-A, slashed .289/.398/.518 with a 33% hard-hit rate. He’s known as a top power prospect, so it makes sense that he hit 22 homers, 31 doubles and 84 RBI. He walks a lot (15%), but he strikes out near the 30% mark as well. He needs to get that down if he wants to avoid being a platoon .220 30 HR player at the big league level.

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OF: Victor Scott II ($65)

My favorite prospect on the list. We highlighted VSII in his own Prospect Profile:

“Out of the Top-400 prospects, do you know how many recorded a .300-plus batting average and a sub-20 percent K-Rate in 2023? Seven. Scott is one of them. Oh, and he’s the youngest to do so.“

Scott stole 94 bases last season. Yes, 94. Which tied for the minor league lead with his best friend and Rays prospect, Chandler Simpson. Scott will be an impact player the second he steps onto a field. Can I go out on a limb and say he could be a better all around player than the other big Cardinals rookie from last season?

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OF: Gabriel Gonzalez ($40)

The big piece of the recent trade between to the Mariners and Twins. At least prospectors think so. Gonzalez was sent to Minnesota in exchange for Jorge Polanco, and the Twins are thrilled.

The 20-year-old spent most of his time in A-ball last season, where he hit the ball hard (32% hard-hit rate). He added a .933 OPS and 54 RBI in 73 games. He struggled a bit in a shorter time frame up at High-A. But I’m not concerned. A top-100 prospect who should get some good time at Double-A this year, let’s see if the Twins cashed in on this deal.

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Sleeper: Ricardo Cabrera ($35)

There are a lot of teenage international signees out there. Scouts give a majority of them the unrealistic ceiling similar to Juan Soto or Ronald Acuna. That same majority end up fizzling out after a few years and never see the big leagues. Here’s a kid I’d take a chance on. Ricardo falls in the middle of a very deep Reds farm system. What’s impressed me the most is that at the age of 19, he had an even 18.5% walk and strike-out rate. A .316 average with a .519 OBP is nothing to joke about. The power is there too, at the Rookie level he carried a 1.028 OPS. So give it time. A kid who can control himself at the plate like this at that age is special. Watch how many close pitches he takes in the below highlight tape.