The Red Sox top the latest organizational prospect list of MLB.com’s Jim Callis. Boston has seven of the game’s top 100 pre-MLB players, per MLB.com, led by infielders Yoan Moncada and Rafael Devers. Next up on the list: the Dodgers, Rockies, Cubs, and Twins. Here are some more stray notes from around the league:
- MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez looks at the international market on a historic day for U.S.-Cuban relations. There are a number of talented Cuban players waiting to strike deals, Sanchez explains. Indeed, he estimates that nearly 75 young players have left the island nation with intentions of signing with big league clubs in the last year and a half. As Sanchez notes, it remains unclear whether a new pathway for that talent to travel to the majors could be opened.
- Another Cuban player could potentially be on the way, Baseball America’s Ben Badler tweets, though it seems he won’t be attempting to defect to do so. 22-year-old lefty Darien Nunez has asked Cuban authorities to release him from his league obligations, reports from the island suggest. Badler says that the southpaw — who led Cuban ball in both strikeouts and walks last year — is raw and unpolished, but possesses an “intriguing arm.”
$60+ million dollars for a prospect.. That number still shocks me and I think of it whenever I hear/read anything on Moncada.. I really hope he doesn’t turn out to be a bust.. I am still surprised the Yankees were out bid.. He was said to have the talent to be a number 1 overall pick had he have been eligible for the draft.. It is an excessive amount but when was the last time the Yankees have had a #1 overall draft pick? George never would have let the Red Sox outbid him.. Especially, when they were not far off from the final bid (pretty sure the Yankees went to $25m and the Red Sox got him for $32.5m) The Yankees can pretend to be a mid-market team but what has always separated them from the rest of baseball is their wallet.. Hopefully, he turns into a superstar and at least makes the Red Sox pay through the nose with arbitration..
Well as a Red Sox fan I agree that I hope he becomes a superstar…..
And the Dodgers were rumored to be willing to outbid them both if Moncada would have waited until the next signing period. Ultimately he wasn’t on board with that though.
7 Red Sox kids listed and Michael Kopech, just a tad under the talent of Anderson Espinoza and just 19YO isn’t on the list. Not a bad farm system at all.
Phils system has not only improved via trade, but from within. From AA down to GCL they are 64 games over .500. They will continue to rise.
Absolutely. The future looks much brighter today than it did a year ago that’s for sure.
Yoan Moncada and Rafael Devers, come on down…you’re the next Jackie Bradley Jr. and Will Middlebrooks!
Or the next Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts. Funny how that works. There are good ones too.
MLB.com will never ever ever stop overrating Mets, Red Sox & Yankees prospects. It’s really outstanding how many times the rest of us have had to listen about this “Top 50” guy from one of those teams who turns out to be Mike Pelfrey. Meanwhile a lot of borderline guys turn into stars. Bottom line is, those “top 100” lists are pretty meaningless. Top 10 are fine because they usually turn into something, but so many “The #50-something prospect”s don’t.
Agreed. Joe Panik and Matt Duffy never had any hype.
I agree with you on certain systems being overrated to an extent, though I think a lot of it stems from location and exposure. The journalists who publish the lists seem to go with what they have heard. I highly doubt they have seen enough MWL or SAL to properly gauge a player.
I understand saying someone is a top 20…it just indicates they are elite…but a ranking system is just silly…it implies that a #48 prospect has greater skill than a #49. Rankings are often absurd even in NCAA team sports…how they apply to individual ballplayers is beyond me. OK…a guy is #1…he’s probably better than #100…but what’s the actual difference between #40 and #60. It’s all just driven by media like BA that’s meant for the fans. It’s not a practical guide
The Giants need to open the wallet for Martinez. They haven’t had a homegrown outfielder since Marvin Benard.