One of the most anticipated days of the 2021 season finally arrived Sunday. It's the day we learned top prospect Wander Franco is one his way to the majors.
Tuesday will be his debut, and needless to say, you should pick him up wherever he's available in Fantasy Baseball. That excludes CBS leagues, for the most part -- he's already 78 percent rostered in those -- but it doesn't hurt to check. And if you use a different Fantasy Baseball provider (I can think of a couple in particular), chances are he's even more available.
Chris Towers has already provided his take on the Franco news, including whether or not now would be a good time to trade him, but it wouldn't hurt for me to offer my two cents. Though he's been the top prospect in baseball two years running, he is only 20, has played just 39 games above A-ball, and is arriving at a time when the learning curve for new major-leaguers appears to have steepened.
It's that last point that gives me pause. In past years, you could trust a prospect of Franco's caliber to make an immediate impact. It didn't always happen, but it did often enough. We've already seen one such prospect, Jarred Kelenic, falter this year after seeing it happen to several of the most notable call-ups last year. Andrew Vaughn and Alex Kirilloff have also struggled in their first extended look in the big leagues. Granted, neither was the top prospect coming into the year, but neither is as young as 20 either.
Of course, just because we've had bad luck with prospect call-ups of late doesn't mean Franco will continue the trend. If any prospect is likely to break it, in fact, it's him. Then again, I might have said the same about Kelenic a few weeks ago, which is a big reason why this whole process feels like a guessing game all of a sudden.
Still, Franco has always shown excellent contact skills throughout his minor-league career, his 11.6 percent strikeout rate this year representing, amusingly enough, a career worst. He's also been on a heater in June, batting .371 (26 for 70) with three homers, four triples, five doubles and two steals. The timing of this opportunity is fitting, and knowing the Rays, the likelihood of him picking up second and third base eligibility in addition to shortstop is high.
Clearly, it's an exciting day, particularly for those who've had Franco stashed away all this time. But as for how much it'll pay off, we can't get ahead of ourselves these days. I'll cautiously rank Franco as a top-15 shortstop for now with the hope he performs more like a top-five.
Here's who else you might be able to grab off the waiver wire ...