EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2005 Since I got John Sickels' Minor League Prospect Book in this week, I figured I'd do rough rankings of what teams have the best prospects. These rankings aren't the most refined in the world, and if you feel your team deserves to rate a spot or two higher, I will not argue the point. If you guys have any questions, feel free to ask. 1. Los Angeles Top Prospect: Joel Guzman, SS 2. Minnesota Top Prospect: Jesse Crain, RP 3. Anaheim Top Prospect: Dallas McPherson, 3B 4. Oakland Top Prospect: Dan Meyer, SP 5. Colorado Top Prospect: Jeff Francis, SP 6. Milwaukee Top Prospect: Richie Weeks, 2B 7. Cleveland Top Prospect: Adam Miller, SP 8. Boston Top Prospect: Hanley Ramirez, SS 9. Tampa Bay Top Prospect: Scott Kazmir, SP 10. Kansas City Top Prospect: Denny Bautista, SP 11. Toronto Top Prospect: Brandon League, SP/RP 12. Atlanta Top Prospect: Andy Marte, 3B 13. San Francisco Top Prospect: Matt Cain, SP 14. Seattle Top Prospect: Felix Hernandez, SP 15. Chicago White Sox Top Prospect: Brandon McCarthy, SP 16. Arizona Top Prospect: Carlos Quintin, OF 17. Pittsburgh Top Prospect: Ian Snell, SP 18. Texas Top Prospect: Ian Kinsler, SS 19. Chicago Cubs Top Prospect: Brian Dopirak, 1B 20. Houston Top Prospect: Chris Burke, 2B 21. New York Yankees Top Prospect: Eric Duncan, 3B 22. St. Louis Top Prospect: Anthony Reyes, SP 23. San Diego Top Prospect: Josh Barfield, 2B 24. Florida Top Prospect: Jeremy Hermida, OF 25. Philadelphia Top Prospect: Gavin Floyd, SP 26. Baltimore Top Prospect: Val Majewski, OF 27. Cincinnati Top Prospect: Edwin Encarnacion, 3B 28. New York Mets Top Prospect: Yusmeiro Petit, SP 29. Detroit Top Prospect: Justin Verlander, SP 30. Washington Top Prospect: Michael Hinckley, SP Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Smell the ratings!!! Report post Posted February 4, 2005 9. Tampa Bay Top Prospect: Scott Kazmir, SP muhahaha Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2005 9. Tampa Bay Top Prospect: Scott Kazmir, SP muhahaha I could've picked Delmon Young, but that wouldn't have been much fun. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mik 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2005 1. Los Angeles Top Prospect: Joel Guzman, SS Also have Chuck Tiffany, who finished strong, Cory Dunlap, Blake Dewitt (?). I'm drawing a blank, so I'm wondering why they are #1? 2. Minnesota Top Prospect: Jesse Crain, RP He's a good prospect, but isn't Joe Mauer still technically a prospect? I think he's still eligible for ROY. If I'm wrong, then nevermind. 4. Oakland Top Prospect: Dan Meyer, SP Yeah... and Huston Street, Kurt Suzuki, Richie Robnett, Omar Quintilliana, Don Sutton, Danny Putnam, on and and on and on. I would put OAK #1. 5. Colorado Top Prospect: Jeff Francis, SP Another team I'd probably have higher. Ian Stewart (look out!), Jeff Salazar, Matt Macri 6. Milwaukee Top Prospect: Richie Weeks, 2B Don't forget Prince Fielder. If he stay from becoming morbidly obese he will be a more complete hitter than his father. 14. Seattle Top Prospect: Felix Hernandez, SP The rest of their system must be bare, if they are this low with the best pitching prospect in baseball. Is it? I have no idea about Seattle. 16. Arizona Top Prospect: Carlos Quintin, OF Top Prospect: CONOR JACKSON - who for some reason John Sickels doesn't like but he will be three times the player quentin will ever be. 20. Houston Top Prospect: Chris Burke, 2B Burke is going to be something. Don't forget the current darling of the baseball card world - Appalachian League MVP Mitch Einertson 21. New York Yankees Top Prospect: Eric Duncan, 3B Are you sure you didn't mean 30? 24. Florida Top Prospect: Jeremy Hermida, OF Sound the home team alarm, but I think they should be higher. Scott Olsen is one of the top relief picks in baseball, and they just drafted 3 players with future superstar potential in Taylor Tankersley, Jason Vargas, and 5 tool Jamar Walton. They also have Stokes (who is effectively blocked off from MLB but excellent trade bait), and Yorman Bazardo. I feel good about this system. 25. Philadelphia Top Prospect: Gavin Floyd, SP I like the Phillies system too - conceeding that Cole Hamels is probably never going to amount to anything. They have Happ, Buck Shaw, Golson. 28. New York Mets Top Prospect: Yusmeiro Petit, SP I still can't believe the Mets traded Kazmir for Victor Zambrano, but at least they have Petit and Lastings Milledge to look forward to. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MikeJordan23 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2005 22. St. Louis Top Prospect: Anthony Reyes, SP Yep. I'm waiting for his debut. Adam fell off, apparently. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2005 1. Los Angeles Top Prospect: Joel Guzman, SS Also have Chuck Tiffany, who finished strong, Cory Dunlap, Blake Dewitt (?). I'm drawing a blank, so I'm wondering why they are #1? Depth. They have more prospects rated B- or above than any other team. Besides Guzman, they have Delwyn Young, Chad Billingsley, Edwin Jackson, and Greg Miller. 2. Minnesota Top Prospect: Jesse Crain, RP He's a good prospect, but isn't Joe Mauer still technically a prospect? I think he's still eligible for ROY. If I'm wrong, then nevermind. Since Mauer's in the majors for good, he's effectively off the prospect charts. 14. Seattle Top Prospect: Felix Hernandez, SP The rest of their system must be bare, if they are this low with the best pitching prospect in baseball. Is it? I have no idea about Seattle. Yes, there's not much else. They have a few blue chippers (Hernandez, Jeremy Reed, and Shin-Soo Choo, but NO depth. In fairness though, Jose Lopez would've helped their ranking if he hadn't been called up last season. 16. Arizona Top Prospect: Carlos Quintin, OF Top Prospect: CONOR JACKSON - who for some reason John Sickels doesn't like but he will be three times the player quentin will ever be. Quentin's a few months younger than Jackson. Jackson hit 301/367/456 in AA El Paso last season. Not bad. Quentin hit 357/443/533. Quentin played in the same places as Jackson last year, and outhit him. That's gotta put Quentin a notch ahead. 21. New York Yankees Top Prospect: Eric Duncan, 3B Are you sure you didn't mean 30? I probably should've pushed the Yankees down a notch, since I forgot they traded Navarro when I entered the data. Still, they have Duncan, Cano, Chien-Ming Wang, Alex Graman, and Melky Cabrera. 24. Florida Top Prospect: Jeremy Hermida, OF Sound the home team alarm, but I think they should be higher. Scott Olsen is one of the top relief picks in baseball, and they just drafted 3 players with future superstar potential in Taylor Tankersley, Jason Vargas, and 5 tool Jamar Walton. They also have Stokes (who is effectively blocked off from MLB but excellent trade bait), and Yorman Bazardo. I feel good about this system. Jamar Walton posted a sterling .590 OPS in rookie ball. He's got alot to prove before he benefits the Marlins' farm system. The other five guys are nice, but almost any farm system in baseball can at least claim five players of similar quality. Stokes has effectively stagnated in the minors, as little has developed outside of his power. Except for Hermida and Olsen, I don't see any players that I could feel confident in saying they SHOULD reach the majors. Sorry. 25. Philadelphia Top Prospect: Gavin Floyd, SP I like the Phillies system too - conceeding that Cole Hamels is probably never going to amount to anything. They have Happ, Buck Shaw, Golson. The Phillies have a few players in the low minors who could develop, but nothing concrete. Buck Shaw I've never heard of. Keep an eye on Michael Bourn. He posted a .433 OBP in Single A, along with 57 steals in 63 attempts. He could be the Phillies' future center fielder. Also, I'm looking forward to seeing if Jake Blalock (Hank's brother) can advance in the system. 28. New York Mets Top Prospect: Yusmeiro Petit, SP I still can't believe the Mets traded Kazmir for Victor Zambrano, but at least they have Petit and Lastings Milledge to look forward to. Keep an eye on Phil Humbar, if and when he signs (he might've already). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HarleyQuinn 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2005 I'm somewhat surprised that Boston ranks so highly, though I LOVED their selection of Pedroia(despite many of the SOSH's disliking it) and think he'd be a great infielder to team up with Hanley Ramirez. Philip Humber signed for a $3 Mill signing bonus. Only Wade Townsend(who I believe is going back to college or re-entering next year's draft), Jered Weaver, and Stephen Drew have not signed from the 1st round picks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mike546 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2005 Alex Grahman Al? Now, I'm no prospect genious, but anybody who blows an 9-0 lead in his first major league start can't be considered good. His 2nd start was pathetic too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2005 Alex Grahman Al? Now, I'm no prospect genious, but anybody who blows an 9-0 lead in his first major league start can't be considered good. His 2nd start was pathetic too. Graman had bad stats in the majors, but it was only five innings. In AAA, he struck out 129 batters in 131 innings, with just 53 walks. Now, I don't know if he can be a successful starter, but he's at least good enough to pitch in some team's bullpen. Anyone who strikes out a batter an inning at AAA has something going for him. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hektik 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2005 23. San Diego Top Prospect: Josh Barfield, 2B Wow, I think SD's farm system is ranked way too low. Including Barfield, they also have a major league ready catcher in Humberto Quintero and Freddy Guzman, who will be the Padres centerfielder (either in 06 or when Roberts goes down). They also have Xavier Nady and John Knott. I would also rank SP Tim Stauffer as their top prospect. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vern Gagne 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2005 2. Minnesota Top Prospect: Jesse Crain, RP He's a good prospect, but isn't Joe Mauer still technically a prospect? I think he's still eligible for ROY. If I'm wrong, then nevermind. Since Mauer's in the majors for good, he's effectively off the prospect charts. Kudos to Jim Rantz. Scott Baker J.D. Durbin Francisco Liriano Jason Bartlett Garrett Jones Jason Kubel-out for year with knee injury Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2005 23. San Diego Top Prospect: Josh Barfield, 2B Wow, I think SD's farm system is ranked way too low. Including Barfield, they also have a major league ready catcher in Humberto Quintero and Freddy Guzman, who will be the Padres centerfielder (either in 06 or when Roberts goes down). They also have Xavier Nady and John Knott. I would also rank SP Tim Stauffer as their top prospect. I think Freddy Guzman's overrated as a prospect. He's got speed but not much else going for him. Quintero has NO plate discipline to speak of, and a .314 career minor league OBP. Knott's a good hitter, but he's 26, and unlikely to improve further. In fact, all three of those guys are old for prospects. Nady's got 449 MLB at bats under his belt, so he's well out of the prospect realm. And there's really not much left. The Padres suffer from the problem that their best prospects reached the majors, so their cubboard is bare. Still, they are in good shape because Khalil Greene and others are going to be around a while. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mik 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2005 Isn't Jon Knott like 27? I think I read that he just showed up at an open tryout and hit a bunch of HRs so they gave him a shot. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DerangedHermit 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2005 28. New York Mets Top Prospect: Yusmeiro Petit, SP I still can't believe the Mets traded Kazmir for Victor Zambrano, but at least they have Petit and Lastings Milledge to look forward to. Keep an eye on Phil Humbar, if and when he signs (he might've already). They signed him on January 11. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Styles 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2005 26. Baltimore Top Prospect: Val Majewski, OF No love for our dearth of pitching prospects? Hayden Penn? Adam Loewen? John Maine? Val is nice as far as hitters in our system go (which are very weak), but I think Nick Markakis will be even better.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crimson Platypus 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2005 29. Detroit Top Prospect: Justin Verlander, SP Ugh, 29th... So al, how would a team go about improving their farm system? I guess I don't really know how the system works. One thing that I have noticed is that my local minor league team, the Lansing Lugnuts, has switched from K.C. to the Cubs, to now being affiliated with Toronto. Is that a common occurance? By the way, I love going to their games, minor league baseball is a blast, cheap too - I get season tickets every year. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mike546 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2005 Alex Grahman Al? Now, I'm no prospect genious, but anybody who blows an 9-0 lead in his first major league start can't be considered good. His 2nd start was pathetic too. Graman had bad stats in the majors, but it was only five innings. In AAA, he struck out 129 batters in 131 innings, with just 53 walks. Now, I don't know if he can be a successful starter, but he's at least good enough to pitch in some team's bullpen. Anyone who strikes out a batter an inning at AAA has something going for him. Is Grahman considered a better prospect than Hasley? Weird how minor league stats can mean absoltley nothing sometimes when it comes to pitching in the big leagues. Not like Halsey was amazing or anything, but he had 1 good start in LA, and a REALLY good start against the Sox. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Man in Blak 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2005 Well, the Graman v. Halsey debate is kind of toast now, since Halsey was traded to Arizona in the Vasquez deal. And, being that Matt Cain is the only San Francisco prospect I've heard of, who are the other prospects in the Giants system that propels them up into the #13 slot? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Czech Republic 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2005 29. Detroit Top Prospect: Justin Verlander, SP Ugh, 29th... So al, how would a team go about improving their farm system? I guess I don't really know how the system works. One thing that I have noticed is that my local minor league team, the Lansing Lugnuts, has switched from K.C. to the Cubs, to now being affiliated with Toronto. Is that a common occurance? Yeah they're always changing. I think the Cubs' Single-A team is now the Peoria Chiefs who used to be a Cardinals affiliate. Grr. Yeah I might go to some minor league games when they start up. I've got the Kane County Cougars (Single-A for Oakland) down the road. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crimson Platypus 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2005 I've actually been to a Kane County/Lansing game Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HarleyQuinn 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2005 And, being that Matt Cain is the only San Francisco prospect I've heard of, who are the other prospects in the Giants system that propels them up into the #13 slot? MR Leslie Nacar has been very solid in rookie ball however he's been there for 4 years(will be 21 years old this year). SP Noah Lowry was a top prospect as seen by his emergence with the Giants last year. SP/MR Merkin Valdez and SP Jesse Foppert are still solid prospects. 3B Nate Schierholtz is another prospect to keep an eye on. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sass 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2005 The Dodgers have always had one of the top 5 farm leagues in MLB. Adrian Beltre was home grown talent and he became one of the most coveted free agents this off-season after *finally* hitting his stride and becoming a force for his (former) team. Edwin Jackson looks like he could be the real deal. I'm glad that the (supposed) deal with Oakland, where the Dodgers would have gotten Hudson but give up Jackson and a couple other prospects, didn't go through. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NoCalMike 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2005 Isn't it kind of pointless ranking a farm system on ONE PROSPECT? I think Oakland's farm league is overall the best. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HarleyQuinn 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2005 As far as I can tell talking with Al, it's not based on only the top prospect. It's based on the letter grades and stats that their Top 15-20 have done I believe. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mik 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2005 He's ranking the system but listing the top prospect. For the most part I agree with him - save a few minor changes. Being a baseball card collector, I am forced to know a lot about prospects. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted February 5, 2005 Ugh, 29th... So al, how would a team go about improving their farm system? I guess I don't really know how the system works. One thing that I have noticed is that my local minor league team, the Lansing Lugnuts, has switched from K.C. to the Cubs, to now being affiliated with Toronto. Is that a common occurance? The best method is drafting and developing. Most players enter MLB through the amateur draft. Teams can gain and lose picks depending on what happens with free agency. It is common for teams to switch associates, particularly in the lower levels. Weird how minor league stats can mean absoltley nothing sometimes when it comes to pitching in the big leagues. Not like Halsey was amazing or anything, but he had 1 good start in LA, and a REALLY good start against the Sox. Usually they mean everything. Minor league statistics are every bit as useful as major league statistics when it comes to predictive value. And, being that Matt Cain is the only San Francisco prospect I've heard of, who are the other prospects in the Giants system that propels them up into the #13 slot? David Aardsma, Eddy Martinez-Esteve, Nate Schierholtz, Markin Valdez, Craig Whitaker, among others. Isn't it kind of pointless ranking a farm system on ONE PROSPECT? I think Oakland's farm league is overall the best. Harley and Mik answered this. Oakland was considered for the top spot, and the top four are interchangeable, really. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
