2021 Mariners Logan Gilbert fantasy baseball advice

Does Mariners prospect Logan Gilbert deserve a spot on your fantasy baseball team? Should you draft him? These are both great questions and we will provide our best Logan Gilbert fantasy baseball advice.

Mariners Logan Gilbert fantasy baseball advice

Logan Gilbert is the 33rd ranked prospect in the MLB. Let me say it again, THE 33RD RANKED PROSPECT! We aren’t talking about some middle-tier Mariners prospect. Logan Gilbert is the real deal.

The 6’6″ pitcher was the first pitcher from Stetson University to be drafted in the first round. As a reminder, Corey Kluber and Jacob deGrom attended Stetson. The right-handed prospect has a fastball that touches 97 mph and has a great slider and curveball and is working on his changeup.

He only needed one season to go from Single-A to Double-A Arkansas and has an impressive 2.13 minor league career ERA. Not only does he have the stuff to put batters away, but he also dominates the strike zone and hasn’t walked too many batters. Gilbert is the full package and I don’t want to jinx it, but could be the next Jacob deGrom.

As excited as I am about him, it still doesn’t answer whether you should draft Gilbert in your fantasy baseball league and the answer isn’t clear-cut.

Most fantasy owners are hesitant to draft prospects that aren’t guaranteed a starting position on Opening Day (I am one of them). Unless you are playing in a dynasty or a keeper league, there isn’t that good of a reason to spend a draft pick on a player that might only play 1/3 of the season.

It is a different situation if you ask me whether it’s good to draft Nate Pearson, Casey Mize, or Dylan Carlson because they are almost 100% guaranteed to be on the Opening Day roster. With Logan Gilbert, I can confidently say he will start in the minor leagues.

I would be more optimistic with drafting Logan if the expectation was to call him up in May or June, but that seems very unlikely. The Mariners starting rotation is extremely competitive and I don’t even know what the rotation will be at the end of the month.

That being said, I don’t think we will see Logan until at least the half-way point. So, in standard leagues, I don’t think Gilbert is a player you should draft. But again, if you are in a dynasty league, Logan Gilbert should be one of your targets in the late rounds.

You should keep a close eye on Logan Gilbert

Just because I recommend not drafting Logan, doesn’t mean you should not have Twitter notifications for Sodo Mojo, Ryan Divish, Shannon Drayer, Daniel Kramer, MLB Trade Rumors, etc. Like with any top prospect, once news breaks, they become unavailable in a flash.

I remember in 2017, when Cody Bellinger was called up to the Dodgers I added him to my team two minutes after I read Bleacher Report. Every fantasy owner on my team wanted Bellinger but they were just seconds too late. Bellinger won ROY and made the All-Star team.

Logan Gilbert should be treated the same way. Once he is called up this season, you want him on your team immediately. So, make sure to keep close attention to rumors, news, etc. But, you don’t need to draft Gilbert and have him take a bench spot. He won’t be with the Mariners any time soon (I think).