We’re down to the last couple of days, and the playoffs, in the Arizona Fall League. Make sure to tune in on Saturday for the AFL Championship Game on MLB Network and MLB.com at 8 p.m. ET to finish season No. 34 off in style. As a sendoff, three of the four questions for this week’s Pipeline Inbox are AFL related.
Last year’s AFL Fall Stars Game rosters included 2026 American League Rookie of the Year Kevin McGonigle as well as the White Sox’s Sam Antonacci, who received an AL ROY vote as well. His teammates Hagen Smith and Braden Montgomery also went from the FSG to contributing to Chicago’s surprise run to the postseason. On the AL side, Tommy White spent time with the A’s and Daniel Espino pitched in the postseason for the Guardians. The NL contingent isn’t quite as robust, but Esmerlyn Valdez made a big splash with the Pirates and Rhett Lowder spent a lot of time in the Reds’ rotation, though it should be noted that neither Espino nor Lowder appeared in last year’s Fall Stars Game.
This year’s contest was, as usual, chock full ‘o talent, though it doesn’t look like there are as many candidates to hit an Opening Day roster (to be fair, many of the 2026 MLB contributors began the season in the Minors). At this point, I think the best bet to start the year in the big leagues is Aidan Miller, who appears to have put the back issues that kept him off the field for most of the 2026 season behind him. He’s played third base exclusively in the AFL and turned in 12 errorless games. I’d pencil him in as the Phillies’ Opening Day third baseman.
After that, the next possible contender might be Miller’s infield-mate with Surprise this fall, the Rangers’ Sebastian Walcott, who also was making up for lost time after internal brace surgery. But there isn’t an obvious path into the Texas lineup, though there was talk about him getting reps in the outfield which could provide more opportunities. I think he probably starts the year in the Minors, but contributes at some point in 2027. Others I’d look at for contributions, if not starting the year in the bigs would be guys like the Tigers’ Zyhir Hope and Cardinals RHP Tekoah Roby.
We answered this one on this week’s MLB Pipeline Podcast, so give that a listen (bonus: Sam Dykstra’s interview with the aforementioned Aidan Miller). This is another good opportunity to note something that people ask about frequently: How much stock do you put into AFL performances? It’s often asked when someone puts up big numbers, but it’s just as important when it comes to guys who don’t perform well, especially if they are highly-regarded prospects. Mike Trout, after all, had a .600 OPS in the Fall League in 2011. It’s a data point, but don’t put too much stock into it.
For this year, the best example is Eduardo Quintero of the Dodgers. He’s No. 15 on our Top 100 and was coming off of an age-20 season that saw him post a .942 OPS and touch Double-A for the first time. We were all very excited to see him in person for the first time. But while he did walk more than he struck out and stole seven bags, he went just 8-for-52 with one extra base hit to finish with a .154/.375/.173 line that looks more like what I slashed in my last year of high school baseball than what a top prospect can do. But remember it’s just 17 games (small sample size!) and it shouldn’t impact his prospect stock much, if at all.
Tate Southisene was a slightly surprising first-round pick in 2025, going No. 22 overall to the Braves, with most thinking he’d probably be a comp pick or perhaps a second-rounder. The Braves are looking smart after the infielder from the Las Vegas high school ranks played his way from Single-A to Double-A before a hit by pitch on his wrist ended his season in his first game with Columbus. So he came to the AFL to shake off some rust and make up for some lost at-bats, and was even slightly delayed in making his debut in his rehab progression.
He looked terrific this fall, showing off twitchy athleticism and tools that have reminded some of Trea Turner while hitting .345/.500/.418 with eight steals in eight tries over 17 games with Glendale. He almost exclusively played shortstop (12 games) with two at second base, while he split time almost evenly across both middle infield spots during the regular season. The jury is out about which one he lands in full-time eventually. His speed and athletic ability give him the chance to play the premium position, but he can be erratic there at times. But he hasn’t played a ton there, and there’s a lot of ceiling. He’s kind of already exceeded expectations, so it shouldn’t surprise anyone if he plays the six in Atlanta one day – remember, many felt Turner wouldn’t play short, either – but it’s probably a safer bet to see him at the keystone long-term.
Our current Top 10 outfield list has a bunch of guys on it who could provide a ton of fantasy value in the future. For the sake of this question, I’m going to leave De Paula and Jenkins out of the conversation since both have touched the big leagues already, though they are still rookie-eligible in 2027. Of the remaining eight, three turned in 20-20 seasons, while Theo Gillen went 20-40 and Eric Hartman finished 20-50. I’ll cherry pick from the top and pick Gillen, No. 3 on the list, as my favorite. The speed is always going to play and we were all surprised to see how ahead of schedule the power started showing up this year. I think he’s just scratching the surface and could be a 30-30 type by the time he settles into the Rays’ big league outfield.