Over the past two months, “Alluhring Strategy” has been taking a leisurely, home run trot around the infield, looking at some deeper prospects that are barely pushing the legal drinking age in the United States. Now it’s time to take a look at the outfield, but due to the fact that there are three starting outfield positions, there are many more “under 21” OF prospects to consider for taking a deeper look. For this reason, I am splitting the OF position into two parts: NL and AL. This week we begin with the NL Edition looking at who you should be looking to stash in dynasty and deep keeper fantasy baseball leagues.

Philadelphia Phillies

We began our tour in NL East by looking at the future in “The City of Brotherly Love.” Two teenagers here are worth a stash if you have large rosters designed for building a farm system. Carlos Tocci (18) is already in his 3rd season in the Phillies farm system. He was signed out of Venezuela at the age of 16 and statistically been awful thus far after 750+ plate appearances in pro ball over the three seasons. It should be noted that he has been either 1st or 2nd youngest player in the league every year and the 160 lbs. that he is listed at seems a bit generous. The Phillies can afford to be patient and allow him to fill out his frame so his tools can develop. He has the potential to be at least average or better at all five tools despite not hitting a HR in pro ball yet. I wouldn’t expect to spot him eating at Geno’s or Pat’s until 2018.

Cord Sandberg (19) is not related to current Phillies manager, Ryan Sandberg, but is someone to keep on your watch list. He has not played yet in 2014 and has had less than 200 career plate appearances in Rookie Ball with no eye-popping stats. However, he was a two-sport star, focusing solely on baseball for the first after spurning Mississippi State’s offer to play QB. He has the physi cal size and tools to develop his raw power if given time and opportunity. He projects to have above average tools that gives him a chance to be a productive everyday corner outfielder. Those in hardcore 30 man dynasty leagues should consider stashing him to be a decent contributor starting around 2017.

Pittsburgh Pirates

We move on to the NL Central by way of the “Steel City.” Austin Meadows (19) was the 3rd overall pick by the Pirates in the 2013 Amateur draft. He has a solid frame over 6’ and 200 lbs. and had a productive first season in pro ball. He spent most of the summer in the Rookie, Gulf Coast League with an impressive cup of coffee in low A. He has already shown a plus hit tool with the potential to develop power and become a middle of the order impact bat. He will likely end up as a corner outfielder by the time he reaches Pittsburgh around 2017. You should know his name now because he will likely be on everyone’s prospect list in another year.

Harold Ramirez (19) represents the other end of the spectrum as a short and stocky 175 lbs. teenager that will use his speed and glove to get into the everyday lineup. He projects to have above average hit and spee d tools to potentially be penciled in the 2 hole for many years. He can adequately play any OF position and should settle into CF. Of course, like all the others we have discussed here, he will need several more years to develop but earned a promotion to full season A ball starting in 2014. He has had a decent start and the organization seems happy with his development. Dynasty prognosis is likely a specialty player helping in AVG., Runs and SB categories.

Colorado Rockies

Our final stop is in the NL West and the “Mile High City.” This pair of young outfielders has me very excited about the future OF in Coors Field. David Dahl (20) is a true five tool prospect. After worki ng through some discipline issues, he had a monster debut in 2012 posting a slash line of .379/.473/.625 in Rookie ball. Over three seasons in pro ball, Dahl has flashed all his tools as a preview of what the future Rockies long-term CF can provide. He was limited to only 40 ABs in 2013 due to injury but he has picked up where he left off in 2014. You don’t have much longer to get him as he is already listed in the Top 100 prospects on every list and could easily be in Top 50 after this season. I could easily see him with several seasons of 25-25-.300 near the top of the order. He could reach The Show in 2016 if he remains healthy.

The future OF in Coors will likely see Raimel Tapia (20) flanking Dahl in RF. His plus arm will have him settle into RF despite above average speed. He has not shown the power quite yet in his 4th season of pro ball, but that tool is likely to develop to enhance his hit and speed tool. He has tremendous plate discipline for his age and could have a Yaisel Puig type impact wh en he is called up. He might not be up until 2017, but when he does get the call, he will likely slot into the middle of the order and provide an exciting 1-2 punch with Dahl. Future looks bright in the Rocky Mountains.

Bryan Luhrs

Real Deal Dynasty Sports Leagues, Creator & Commissioner

MajorLeagueFantasySports.com, Fantasy Baseball Writer

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