Matt Dominguez - Matt Dominguez is up and playing for the Marlins, and while he may not be their #1 prospect as a bat, he's certainly the one with the best combination of upside and current opportunity. I'd expect that Dominguez will be the full-time starter both down the stretch and also in 2012, and he did manage a .173 ISO in AAA as a 21 year old this season, which is no small feat. That being said, Dominguez is likely to be dead weight in the speed and AVG categories, and his power, while likely above average, isn't going to be really special it doesn't seem. His prospect status is glove-based first and foremost, making his real-world value quite a bit higher than his fantasy value. He may be a bottom-tier starter in NL-only formats and deep mixed leagues right now for the last few weeks, and I would wager the same thing holds for 2012, but it's still a 50/50 proposition whether he can ever hit enough to be classified as a bonafide starter at the position for fantasy purposes.
Mat Gamel -One name to remember for 2012 is Mat Gamel, who is likely to take over at 1B assuming that Prince Fielder does indeed jet for greener pastures. Gamel has been at AAA for most of the past three-plus seasons, and batted .310 this year with 28 homers and a .230 ISO in 128 games. He's ready for his shot, and could easily provide solid production, cheaply, in every category but steals.
Steve Lombardozzi - Steve Lombardozzi finally picked up his first MLB hit yesterday, making him 1-16 to start his career. He's been playing a bit of 2B and SS spelling Espinosa and Desmond this month, but its unlikely that he'll play enough to have an impact just yet. Lombardozzi has improved a bit in every minor league campaign (he's in his 4th year), and the 22 year old has shown me enough to make me wonder why he isn't on any prospect radars at all. His contact ability is very solid, as he's hit between .293 and .310 with moderate to low K rates at each of the four minor league levels he's been at the past three years. He's developed enough power to say that there's the potential for a 10-15 HR bat in there somewhere, he doesn't swing at everything, and he has enough speed to have tallied 30 steals this year between AA and AAA. He doesn't jump out at you as an obvious major leaguer the way that, say, Desmond Jennings did for me this year, but he's a guy that could be a useful MIF bat at some point. The problem is that the Nationals have a young DP combination already, and breaking into that is probably not going to happen for Lombardozzi despite Ian Desmond's struggles this year. A change of scenery would be best for him, as without it his fantasy value is negligible right now.
Ryan Roberts - Roberts has really cooled off the past month or so, with a K rate of 30% in September and an ISO that has dropped over 30 points since August 1. Still, I wouldn't say that the 30 year old has been playing over his head...he's just one of those guys that never got an opportunity. He's had awful luck on balls in play this year, with a BABIP over 85 points under expectations, and the .182 ISO is well within his capabilities in that park and given his minor league track record. It's a shame that he's sort of established himself just in time to begin his decline phase, but I suppose that's better than never establishing yourself at all. His positional flexibility and solid production across the board make him a clear starter in most formats, and I don't expect him to collapse in 2012 either.
Juan Francisco - Francisco homered again last night, hitting a 502-footer that measured as the 2nd longest homer in GAB history. He's no stranger to hitting tape measure homers, but more importantly he's no stranger to strike three either. Walks and gloves are unfamiliar to him...he is the proverbial one-trick pony with power. He's strictly a deep-league guy without some sort of miraculous improvement of his ability to make contact.
