Baseball America's Top 100 Prospects list is out, and it's free for all to see. Bryce Harper, the first overall pick in the 2010 draft, tops the list, and is followed by Mike Trout. The Angels selected Trout with the Yankees' first round pick in 2009 (25th overall), which they received as compensation for losing Mark Teixeira. Five Royals cracked the top 20, including three in the top ten.
For comparison, check out MLB.com's Top 50 and Keith Law's Top 100 for ESPN.
8 Royals in top 100.
3 in top 10.
5 in top 20.
Thank you very much
They better have 8 in the top 100, they have been getting top draft picks for the past 10 years!
Not all of them are Top 5-10 picks.
Myers not first round
Lamb not first round
Montgomery, compensation round
Dwyer, 4th round
Duffy, not first round.
You were saying?
Dang so you guys cant draft in the first round?!?!?! Also your 2 highest WERE first round picks right? moustakas and hosmer. Still high order elswhere. Also compensation mind as well be first round right? its the first round compensation round isnt it?
Whatever though have fun losing more then my tigers did a few years back this season.
He never said first round, he said top draft picks.
they all got first round signing bonuses. Except Duffy i think. Still makes them first round talent regardless of where they actually got drafted.
and with many of the propects a year or two away the may be selecting #1 for a few more years
Check that, NINE Royals. Hosmer, Moutaskas, Meyers, Montgomery, Lamb, Colon, Duffy, Odorizzi and Dwyer.
Hey, anything you can tell me anything about Myers? never heard of the guy up until now, and I thought I had a pretty good grasp on the minors, but I guess its too ever-changing for me.
Wil Myers was the Royals catcher of the future, but his bat was so much farther along than his abilities behind the plate they are converting him to corner outfield in hopes to get him to the bigs quicker. If Hosmer, Moustakas and Myers blossom together at the big league level it could be one heck of a lineup.
Between A and A+ ball last year he clubbed 14 homers with a .315 avg and an ‘un-Royal-like’ .429 OBP. The kid has a great eye and can handle a bat.
don’t mention it. you’ve really done a great job on those drafts the last several years
Maybe you should take a look at where those picks have been selected from. The only top picks by the Royals on that list were top picks. Take a wild guess.
what
I meant the only top picks on that royals list were Hosmer/Colon/Moustakas. The other 6 were picked in the compensation or later.
i don’t know why are you telling me that
Whatever
he likes to argue… even with those who agree…its a great way to hear himself talk
I didn’t know he agreed at first.
My bad bro. Didn’t know what you were talking about at first. I thought I was getting the old notsureifsrs-angry/disagreeing look.
He’s a changed man after being banned a couple of times. He’s really learned his lesson this time. Really.
So what you’re saying is that they really suck at picking top guys in the draft but they are really lucky at getting guys to pan out in the 4th round? Is that about the jist of it?
No.
I’m simply saying that for those who think all of these top prospects come from a good spot in the draft every year, that’s false.
it is true more times than it is false.
No, because 3 of their 9 in the top 100 WERE top picks. So, they draft the top guys well, they find good bargains later. I’m not a Royals fan, but their farm system is damn impressive. Now if only their Major League squad was capable of beating their AAA squad…
he was giving the royals props for being able to draft and develop a great farm system, he wasnt trying to put themdown.
I hope that group does something good for the Royals, as that’s their only chance to be successful at any point in the next 10 years.
Not necessarily true. The Royals have a lot of payroll flexibility and their front office has learned a lot of painful lessons about Free Agents the past few years. Even if 75% of their prospects don’t succeed, they’ll have multiple opportunities to become a winning organization in the next 10 years.
9 in top 100
Hosmer, Moustakas, Myers, Lamb, Montgomery, Colon, Duffy, Odorizzi and Dwyer
You seem like you have a pretty firm grasp on the Royals system, let me ask you a question, (I don’t like when people come on here and ask Fantasy questions…but i’m going to be a hypocrite in this comment) I’ve been studying magazines and websites about Fantasy baseball this year so that I can get a leg up on the rest of the players in my league, I especially like picking up sleeper picks, do you think Moustakas is worth drafting at the beginning of the season, picking out of the pool at the beginning of the season, or picking out of the pool midseason? What’s your honest opinion?
Moustakas has a chance at starting the season with the big league club, but it’s a slim chance. I think I read somewhere that June would likely be the earliest he cracks the big leagues to avoid “Super Two” status for one more season.
Mike Aviles is likely to spend the majority of the time at 3rd until then.
Thanks. If you can pick him out of a pool mid-season, i’d definitely do
that. If you have a low pick in your draft and don’t think you’ll be able to
get him mid-season, i might take him now. However, there are few prospects,
but plenty of other players i’d take right now competing for this season.
I’m just not sure how many fantasy points he’ll give you this season
especially. If you have a keeper league, that’s a different story.
Braves have four in the top 40! Always impressed by the teams ability to integrate prospects instead of needing to do a complete overhaul.
They also have two in the 80-100.
Well, some Mets got in there at least.
We got 3 in the top 100!!!! Sure 2 of them are at least 2 years away, and the other apparently is probably going to end up a reliever but we have hope at least.!!
Edit: what’s real scary about our prospect list is that we haven’t traded away anyone of value the past few years.
In fairness, they have graduated Davis, Niese, Parnell, and Thole in the past 2 years, and in that time they’ve had just 3 Top 100 draft picks, #72 in 2009 (Steven Matz, HS pitcher who needed TJ surgery), #7 in 2010 (Matt Harvey, signed too late to play in 2010), and #89 in 2010 (Blake Forsythe, college C, slot bonus). Combine the almost complete lack of presence in the meatiest part of the draft with a chronic reluctance to take overslot risks in the middle rounds, and we Mets fans should be thrilled to have any names on lists like these. We’re told all that will be changing, and they have 4 Top 100 picks this year (#13, #44, #68, and #98), so we’ll see.
Surprised Puello got on this list. Harvey should be on there next year and Flores should be much higher next year too.
Sorry Brewers fans…
mad love for d’arnaud in the mid 30’s. suprised arincibia didn’t make the list. i guess absolutely crushing the ball in the minors doesn’t count for much.
Anticipation to crush the ball will net you #1 though!
“i guess absolutely crushing the ball in the minors for one year doesn’t count for much”
fixed
2 years. Check 2008.
Not much love for Drabek. Thought he’d rank 18-22ish.
I wouldn’t call a mid .800 OPS crushing the ball
not to mention his crushing came in one of the best hitting environments in the minors
I’m not surprised that Zach Britton is ranked so low if they think his fastball is his best tool.
Nice unnecessary swipe at the Os. Either way, watching the Al East pretty closely I think Jennings (Rays) and Britton (Orioles) should both be ranked better, but its just splitting hairs when you talk about where top 30 prospects should be ranked.
EDIT: my mistake, I misunderstood. Yea I found that pretty odd as well.
That wasn’t a swipe at the O’s.
Britton’s best tool is his sinker, which he throws 60-70% of the time. It’s just surprising that BA didn’t get that right.
The top three pitchers in the rankings have fastball as their best tool.
Of the ten pitchers in the top twenty, seven had fastball as their best tool.
Best =/= only. Your assertation doesn’t mkake much sense.
Sure, but the guys who have a standout breaking pitch (Hellickson’s changeup, Moore’s curveball) have that listed as their best tool.
Britton wouldn’t even be on this list without his sinker, so it’s strange to me that BA doesn’t acknowledge that.
Maybe they count his sinker as more of a 2 seam fastball?
I think most sites consider a sinker as a type of fastball…there’s no sinker designation on Fangraphs, for instance.
-C
Think the Cards will bring up Shelby Miller this year due to the Wainwright issue?
Unlikely i think… but i dont see Miller starting in A ball like they were expecting… I think if he goes lights out in the spring… he’ll start at AA, and move up depending on progress… I wouldnt be surprised to see him come up in September… Lance Lynn is still in AAA as insurance and i think he gets the call before Miller…
Makes sense, I do see the ‘really fast’ track now for Miller.
LOL at Gary Sanchez being number 30, and Brackman 78? Thats way to high, he should have been in near the other killer B’s. I’m glad to see the Sox have three in the top 100, would have had 5 but Rizzo and Kelly got traded.
LOL at Jose Iglesias at 52, and Ranuando at 67? That’s way too high. See, I can make biased statements without backing them up too.
Please, go and take a look at Baseball Reference. The kid is 18, hasn’t proved anything yet. Wait until he is 20, and see if he is putting up good numbers, can hit good in leagues other then low A, and can field, and throw out base runners. Jose Iglesias, played in AA most of last year, he is 20, and has proved he can do good.
I didn’t really mean what I was saying. I think Iglesias at 52 is about where he belongs. I was just pointing out that you said those two players were overrated without really giving a reason why. Prospect rankings are very subjective, and a 17 year old with the kind of tools Sanchez has is very impressive. Sometimes it’s just more about projectability than a proven track record.
Ahh, you must have read my post wrong, I thought that Brackman should have been in the 50’s. But I also thought Sanchez shouldn’t have been ranked so high because he is 17 and hasn’t see action above low A
Oh, ok. My bad. I actually think Brackman’s right around where he belongs simply because of his age. He’s 25, which makes him 2 years older than Betances and 5 years older than Banuelos. He does have significant upside though.
Ppl point to Brackman’s age as a negative but it’s not like he’s been in the minors for years. Even though he was drafted in 2007 out of college he didn’t throw his first pitch until 2009. So he’s only pitched two seasons total. It’s not like he’s been there for 5 years and is just figuring it out.
For what it’s worth though, ppl are raving out his mechanics now and his command of his offspeed stuff. I wish him well.
by your logic of gary sanchez , why arent you complaining at the number 1 guy on the list 🙂
weird that you make these comments yet don’t say anything about Bryce Harper?
Weird, I though Harper was the number one pick in the draft and had great college numbers. I must be thinking of someone else.
Your statement certainly makes it seem like less proven time = less likely to be ranked highly, or is it just a sweeping statement that international talent shouldn’t be ranked as high? Either way their rankings are based on their potential, and their professional service time is factored in.
Also nice contradicting yourself “But I also thought Sanchez shouldn’t have been ranked so high because he is 17 and hasn’t see action above low A.” But I guess on the haven’t seen him play in college barometer you have a point. Plus its not like Harper even has a lot of “college” experience.
Harper is number 1 because he was amazing in college.
No Harper is #1 because he was hitting 500 ft hrs as a 16 year old and has done nothing but help his reputation since, not because he did well at a year of JuCo. I’m not confident you know who Bryce Harper is.
Yeah, so what? That can just as easily–and accurately–be stated that he has never seen even a single pitch at A ball, much less higher. Beyond which, as impressive as his college numbers were they were for one season from a kid who didn’t even go through four years of high school, so the typical maturity, as a person, a professional AND a ballplayer that can be expected of college draft picks can’t be expected of him.
He’s good, I’m not denying it. But to put a guy in that situation #1, ahead of somebody like Mike Trout who has been putting up equally devastating numbers in professional baseball for two years just makes no sense to me.
You can’t have it both ways. Renaldo hasn’t even pitched a single game in professional baseball yet.
that’s because he plays soccer
That alone should pushing back another 20 slots.
That’s why he was ranked number 67. Sanchez was number 30. Ranaudo was supposed to be picked high in the draft, but he had arm problems. Theo took a risk on him and it payed off, so far. So what do you mean I can’t have it both ways? I said Sanchez should be in the mid 40’s, because he has had minimal professional time, he had only played in low A. I think Ranuado should be where he is because he hasn’t had any professional time. I thought he played in a summer or winter league, no?
For the record, I don’t think any player should be ranked inside the top 100 w/o having played a single professional game, but this is the game of prospecting so it happens. BUT if Harper can be #1 then I don’t see a problem with Sanchez being #30.
Point is, if a guy without a resume can be #67, then a guy with a resume, even if it’s short, can be #30.
I pretty much agree with you, but I just don’t think Sanchez has a “Great” stat line. I would not rank him that high, when there’s players that are better than him, that are in AA or AAA, that are ranked lower then him. I also agree that no one should be ranked high without having professional time. But in Harper’s case, he had such great college numbers, that’s why he is number 1.
I can agree with you that his ranking seems aggresive but he was also #32 on the mlb top 50 list as well.
That being said, “I just don’t think Sanchez has a “Great” stat line”…his line was .329/.393/.543 w/ a .946 OPS and 21 xtra bshts in only 173 AB. Add to the fact that he’s 17 and a C who projects the ability to stay at C and I can understand why he’s so likded.
I can understand your arguement that he hasn’t played above AA yet but then you have to be consistent all around.
For example, what has Kelly done above A+ to warrant him being ranked so high? What has Manny Machado or Jameson Taillon done to be ranked in the top 20?
He had that line, for one season. If he puts it up again, I will give him more credit. But baseball’s about consistency.
I won’t bother, but you can say that about any draft pick from 2010 as well who appears on that list.
You can’t base prospects’ abilities off of a 3 minute fangraphs search.
And Ranuado threw at least 1 pitch outside of Cape League and college?
My Blue Jays are deep in talent. LOL!! It starts deep in the pack with Drabek at #29.
Phils have 4, would be 7 if you count the guys they traded away for Aces.
Shucks…
yay. more rankings to fight over.
I like how some people carry on as if prospect rankings are fact.
You mean they aren’t? (sarcasm)
And I agree. The best part is, if you don’t like the rankings on one site just go look at another as they will be different.
Hope the guys you got for Halladay (Gose, Drabek, Darnaud) all become good players. As a Phils fan, we’re certainly happy with the trade.
I know Jays fans are really excited, particularly because we probably get to see Drabek in the rotation this year.
I think all Jays fans are also still rooting hard for Halladay. The phillies picked up a bunch of extra fans (at least on the days that Doc pitches).
Good players? They better become great considering who we gave up.
“Excuse me as I kiss the sky….” Yanks have 6 in the top 100 and would’ve had 7 if they held on to Vizcaino (and 8 if they didn’t acquire Granderson). No regrets on the Grandy deal and time will tell about Vizcaino.
Overall, good job Cashman. I fell there are others that you could make a case for and put on the “honerable mention” list based on their performance thus far in their career like Warren, Phelps, Nova and Noesi. Not every pitcher in the top 100 has top of rotation or closer stuff.
Not too many complaints but I’m a little amazed that Kelly was ranked higher than Banuelos. No knock on Kelly, sure he will be a star one day, but Ban seems to have just as high a celing as Kelly (they say he as TOR stuff), he’s slightly younger than Kelly and his numbers are dramatically better. The ONLY legit knock I can see against him being higher than Kelly was the fact that his apendectomy kept out until mid-season and he only pitched a handful of games at AA whereas Kelly was their for a longer period.
Still happy though. Don’t give in to the pressure Cash. I would gladly finish 2nd in 2011 if it meant a more sustainable run from 2012 on.
Outside of the first few picks, the GM has little to no impact during any given draft. The sames goes for IFA signings. You should be congratulating Oppenheimer (Scouting Director) and, more importantly, Blakely (International Scouting Director).
I’ll extend my congratulations to Cashman and staff. The farm has been a disaster until Cashman was given control of the draft in 2005. Since they’ve done a good job of developing major league talent.
If ppl can lavish over Theo and Friedman than I can give Cash a pat on the back. I seldom hear things like “That Sawdaye (Sox) and Feinstein (Rays) have done great jobs building the farm”.
Cash has had little to be happy about this year. Give him this..haha.
You probably seldom hear things like “Sawdaye and Feinstein have done great jobs of building the farm” is because A. they’re not responsible for developing their respective farms (that’s on the Director of Player Development) and B. Sawdaye has been SD for exactly 1 Rule IV draft. McLeod was the guy who oversaw most of Theo’s previous drafts.
Wow…you want to harp on semantics? How many times have you heard “McLeod has done a great job with the farm”? More likely it’s Theo who gets the credit and I really don’t have problem with that. In just about every organization, be it political, entertainment, whatever, the guy at the top is seldom the one doing the majority of the work but he gets the majority of the credit.
And for the record, the Rays don’t have a Director of Player Development that’s why I mentioned the guy in charge of scouting. You know, the guy in charge of the guys in the field who search every hick town for their best player?
I was also amazed that Kelly was before Banuelos and Betances. I also thought that Brackman would be before Ranaudo. I thought Sanchez would be in the mid 40’s though, didn’t think he would be so high.
kelly’s high rank was especially interesting given that their prospect rating for him was relatively low (65)
They were rating his command on a 20-80 scale.
that’s funny. i thought it was odd they were using the 20-80 scale for overall grading
must remember to check self for stupid
I also wonder what the fundamental difference scouts see in a guy like Rizzo vs Brandon Laird.
Laird-Drafted in 2007 @ 19
-1,604 AB from Rk-AAA-.281/.337/.478 w/ 69 hR.
-2010-.281/.336/492 w/ 25 hrs
-Laird plays 3B/1B/LF/RF
-Rizzo-Drafted in 2007 @ 17
-1,080 AB from RK-AA-.284/.354/.469 w/ 38 hr
-2010-.260/.334/.480 w/ 25hrs
-Rizzo plays 1B.
Because Brandon’s brother is Gerald. Bad genes.
Well that a great reason…hahaha. If that were true then Moises Herandez and Christian Guerrero will be studs.
I don’t honestly know but could it be, at least in part, their defense? I know Rizzo is supposed to be very good at 1B with good range, especially for a guy his size. How is Laird’s defense? If he doesn’t look like he’ll be able to stick in the infield and is looking at a move to say LF that could hurt his prospect stock. It could also be, in part, due to age I suppose, though Laird is also a level higher than Rizzo.
Laird’s defense isn’t great but it’s good enough to stick at 3rd. Obviously he’s blocked at 3b and 1st so they’ve had him learn the corner OF spots to helphim find time. He’s not old as he just turned 23 in Sept. He was drafted in 2007 so it’s not like his road has been a tough one. He always seems to fly under the radar.
2007- 8 hrs and a .945 OPS @ Rookie @ age 19
2008- 23 hrs and a .832 OPS @ low A @ age 20
2009- 13 hrs and a .744 OPS @ high A @ age 21
2010- 25 hrs and a .818 OPS @ AA and a month @ AAA @ age 22
As for Rizzo, errors don’t tell the whole story but he had 16 errors @ 1b last year. I can see that for a 3b or mid INF but as a 1b? I don’t see the great glove tag.
I would think that Jackson would have lost his prospect eligibility last year even if he stayed with the Yankees. But obviously it would be nice to have Vizcaino back.
As for the Banuelos vs Kelly argument, I would think the fact that Kelly hasn’t been a full time pitcher for very long and that he was pushed to AA quickly helps his case. Also, the questions about Banuelos’ small stature and ability to handle a full workload held him back a little. If Man Ban can pitch 100+ innings and Kelly doesn’t see better results, then I think the rankings will change.
jays prospects got absolutely torches in this thing….lucky it means absolutely nothing…right brandon wood?
Agreed.
The only major difference between Hechevarria and Iglesias is that one plays for the sox. Hech is supposedly the better defender and has potentially the better bat but since Iglesias signed with the sox he’s been labled as “probably the best defensive shortstop in the world”. Iglesias gets in the 50’s while Hech isn’t even on the list.
What are you basing your statement that Hechevarria is a better defender on? I know that he is said to have more potential offensively, but I’ve never heard anyone say that he is supposed to be a better defender.
cuba moved iglesias to 2b for hech….thats not the end all.. but it shows its atleast close
There should not be 1 player on this list that has no professional experience.
Why? A player can’t have obvious talent coming out of school?
thats really dumb
No Arencibia? I also was expecting to see Drabek and Lawrie a little higher..
or lower, depending on how you view it. (i.e., better ranked)
Drabek only impressed in his MLB mini-debut. Lawrie easily met expectations at AA even at a young age.
Biggest impact=Brandon Belt
Jesus Montero
Wow the Red Sox had 5 or 6 Players if they didn’t trade Rizzo and Kelly
Zach Stewart did not make this list?
Ya, I was wondering about that as well. He had as respectable a season as Drabek (playing on the same team), but doesn’t even make the list. Still young with plenty of upside…not sure why he did not make it.
He would have made the list but Zach Lee and his (best tool:delivery) just had to be included because WOW, what a delivery! He could win the game just throwing nerf balls as long as that delivery stays so silky smooth.
Most think Lee would of been a top 5 pick if he would said he wanted to be drafted.
nobody thought that
I think you may have missed the point of my post. Zach Lee was heralded for having a solid slider, a mlb ready changeup and a fastball which was between 93-95. Now thats impressive! So why single out his best tool as being his delivery ? Can you answer me that.
i was confused by the delivery thing as well. i went to youtube to watch a video of him pitch thinking i was gonna see something unique like lincecome or sidearm or something. his delivery looks like 90% of right handed pitchers.
Finally. This is the only Top 100 list I can count.
count on*
Are you sure you are not a Yankees fan?
Royals just called best ever in 22 years of doing this by BA
Am I tripping out or was Jerry Sands not on the list? The guys at BA must frecking love Dee Gordon.. That high?
I am happy to see de la Rosa on here as well.
I like Trout as the #1. I’m not sure if Harper is deserving of the spot just yet. He has amazing prospect but lets give him time to develop. A solid 9 games at the Arizona Fall League isn’t enough for me to call him a #1.
The Royals have some other guys who could of made the list, that system is just sick.
Now if they can hold on to them long enough we may see them develop into a very solid team.
Well some of these guys will fail, some of them will be traded, and some will produce and kick ass in KC. They’ll pick up another top prospect when they trade Soria too.
The Yankees have three catchers in the top 100. Now that’s impressive! Though why a guy who can’t field his position is ranked #3 is beyond me.
Are you referring to the guy projected to be a DH for two seasons and the Yankees still insist he is a position player? He has an incredible bat, best on the list IMO but his defense makes Piazza look a natural behind the plate.
Wow….he plays C right? I mean Michael Young has been called a 2B,SS or 3B all his career. Adam Dunn was called a 1B and OF right? Let’s see what the kids does. I’ve heard he’s not quite there but has made lots of improvements and is only 21.
Can someone explain to me the huge difference between Iglesias and Hechevarria?
Hech is the better defender, has potential for the better bat, has put up nearly the exact same numbers offensively while having a year less to adjust to north America and was viewed as being worth more by the MLB teams (Hech got 10 mil while Iglesias got 8). The only difference I can find is that Jose plays for a team that is known for over-hyping their prospects and are always in the focus of the baseball media. Do I think BA’s list is biased? Let’s just say that this is just one of the problems with the rankings I could have pointed out…
I wonder how scouts would compare Iglesias’ defense to Ramiro Pena’s?