Prospect Ranking

Ranking Retrospective: The Slow Growth

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I have had a lot of people tell me that the farm system isn’t improving, that it has been static or declining.  They complain about the influx of talent into the system and how the scouts just aren’t good enough.  But baseball is not a sport that rewards instant gratification in development.  For those that … Read more

J.P. Crawford Named #2 Prospect in Florida State League

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J.P. Crawford has placed second on another Baseball America League Top 20, this time finishing #2 behind Pirates RHP Tyler Glasnow.  Crawford was promoted to the Threshers in July and went on to hit .275/.352/.407 with 8 HRs, 10 SBs, and 28 walks to 37 strikeouts.  It was a very impressive run for the 19 … Read more

Jesmuel Valentin Named #12 Prospect in Midwest League

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When Ruben Amaro moved Roberto Hernandez in a waiver move to the Dodgers for two players to be named later, the expectations were not high on the potential return.  However, those opinions have faded quickly as the return turned out to be 2B Jesmuel Valentin and RHP Victor Arano.  Arano did not crack the MWL … Read more

J.P. Crawford Named #2 Prospect in South Atlantic League

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Baseball America continues their League Top 20s with the South Atlantic League.  The only member of the Blueclaws to make the list is shortstop and 2013 first round pick J.P. Crawford who came in at #2 on the list, just behind Nationals RHP Lucas Giolito.  BA notes that Crawford is the rare shortstop that combines … Read more

The Uneven Distribution of Prospects

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There have been a lot of questions lately about the strength of the Phillies system.  This is not going answer where the Phillies are because Top 100 prospects are not an exact sign of the strength of system.  This is because not all prospects are equal, but also because the depth of the system factors into the overall ranking.  However, what we can do with Top 100 prospects is see how uneven the distribution of prospects is in baseball.

For this exercise we are going to use MLB.com’s Top 100 prospect list because it is the only fairly live updating list including the 2014 draft class.  What I did was see how many top 100 prospects each team had and then grouped them by the number in each and here was the results:

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Misjudging Prospect Value

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We are now in trade speculation season, and everyone has become a prospect expert based on the names floated around in the media.  The problem is that all prospects are treated fairly equally unless they have name recognition.  What this does is erase the large differences in ceiling and profile among the group.  In reality, … Read more

MLB.com Midseason Rankings

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MLB.com has released their new team Top 20s and Top 100 prospects.  They have included players in the majors (with prospect eligibility) and 2014 draftees.  The ranking is compiled by Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis.  The full list can be found here. J.P. Crawford (Overall #36, Shortstop #6) Aaron Nola (Overall #48) Maikel Franco (Overall … Read more