Welcome to this week’s Big Movers in the weekly update of the RotoProspects Top 500.
First of all, there isn’t much movement to be had in the rankings now that the Arizona Fall League wrapped up last week, but there’s still winter league baseball going on, mainly in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. There’s also the residual effect of what happened in Arizona, including discussions I had with many of the prospect luminaries at First Pitch Arizona like The Welsh, Chris Clegg, Eric Cross and Frank Stampfl.
So this week’s Big Movers is on the short side, but there was still some movement of note …
The No. 1 riser is Caleb Durbin, a 23-year-old Double-A second baseman of the Yankees who finished the Arizona Fall League on a roll, putting up a .353/.456/.588 triple-slash with 3 homers and an AFL-leading 21 steals. The 5-foot-6, 185-pound speedster has elite plate discipline, striking out just 7 times in 85 at-bats with 14 walks. Just a 14th-round pick out in 2021 out of Washington-St. Louis by the Braves, the Yankees acquired Durbin last December in a deal for Lucas Luetge. Durbin combined for a .304/.395/.427 triple-slash between High-A Hudson Valley and Double-A Somerset, hitting 4 homers with 36 steals in 69 games. The 23-year-old is looking like he can at least be a spark-plug utility man, but Durbin has us dreaming of a Tommy Edman-type who could score 100 runs and steal 40 bases at the top of the Yankees lineup in the near future. Durbin blasts up 123 spots to No. 374.
Next up is Jared Serna, a 21-year-old High-A second baseman of the Yankees who has been hot in the Mexican Pacific Winter League with a .387/.441/.548 triple-slash over the past 10 days. The 5-foot-6, 168-pounder gives the Yankees another diminutive second baseman who can really hit, combining for a .813 OPS with 19 homers and 29 steals between Low-A Tampa and High-A Hudson Valley last season. Demonstrating how much Serna has improved in the past year, he compiled just a .381 OPS in 20 games in the MPWL last winter. Serna shoots up 27 spots to No. 375.
Mitch Bratt, a 20-year-old High-A left-handed pitcher of the Rangers who has finished the AFL on a high notes with 4 1-hit innings and 4 strikeouts after compiling a 3.54 ERA for Hickory, so he jumps up 24 spots to No. 345.
Cameron Cauley, a 20-year-old High-A shortstop of the Rangers who closed out the AFL on a tear with a .979 OPS, 4 homers and 3 steals in his final 42 PA, so he leaps up 19 spots to No. 431.
The biggest faller of the week is Andres Chaparro, a 24-year-old Venezuelan corner infielder who was let go by the Yankees despite hitting 25 homers in Triple-A last season, so he plummets out of the Top 500 from No. 424.