Ryan Noda

The Rule 5 Draft is often an afterthought on the final day of the annual MLB Winter Meetings, but every few years a gem will emerge from the list of selections. Oakland plucked Noda away from the Dodgers in the 2022 edition of the event and he fully unseated Jesus Aguilar as the Athletics' primary first baseman by the fourth week of the 2023 regular season. Aguilar was cut loose at the end of May, with Noda continuing to take on increasing importance in the A's offense as the summer rolled along. He jumped into the leadoff spot just before suffering a fractured jaw during a pregame fielding mishap in mid-July and quickly reprised that tablesetting role when he returned from the IL four weeks later. Noda has his flaws, but he can approach 20 homers and gets on base at a steady enough clip to churn out a useful helping of runs scored.

The Dodgers opted not to add Noda to the 40-man roster after he produced an .869 OPS at the Triple-A level last season, and the A's scooped him up during the Rule 5 draft in December. The 26-year-old immediately becomes one of Oakland's top prospects, and he'll remain with the organization as long as he's kept in the big leagues for the entirety of the 2022 campaign. The move to the rebuilding A's significantly improves his outlook for immediate playing time, and he should receive the opportunity to showcase himself at some point in 2023, and it's possible, though not guaranteed, that he begins the campaign with a significant role. He has major power, but his fantasy and on-field potential is limited by his whiff issues, as he had a 28.2 percent strikeout rate last year.

As soon as Noda has prolonged struggles at the dish, his fantasy value will plummet. Such is the case for a first baseman entering his age-23 season who has not yet reached the upper levels of the minors. However, for now at least, he makes for an interesting flier in deeper leagues. From a statistical standpoint, Noda is a prototypical version of the three-true-outcomes slugger. He has massive raw power (at least 70-grade) to all fields, struck out at a 25.6% clip and walked 20.7% of the time -- the best mark for any full-season hitter in 2018. His flyball rate (40.1%) was higher than his groundball rate (37.8%). He moves fairly well for his size (6-foot-3, 217 pounds), but will be a below-average runner by the time he reaches the majors. Noda obviously won't continue to walk at a 20% clip, but if he can maintain something in the 12%-16% range while keeping his strikeout rate under 30%, he has enough power to meet the offensive expectations of the position.