Feb
24
BA’s Top 100 Prospects List
ByBaseball America released their Top 100 Prospects List today, with Matt Wieters predictably at the top. David Price comes in at number two, and is followed by the usual suspects: Rasmus, Hanson, Heyward, Snider, et al. Three Yankees made the list, Austin Jackson at number 36, Jesus Montero right behind him at 38, and Andrew Brackman 92. Old pal Jose Tabata checked in at number 72 75. Chime in with your opinion in the comments, I think the Yanks’ farmhands are right about where they belong.
I still dont get that Bard is on these lists while Melancon isnt near it. Bard was terrible until this year, and he still has no breaking pitches.
Seriously. Melancon pitched 17.1 more innings and had 14 FEWER walks. Melancon’s K/BB was 5.56, while Bard’s was 3.5, upheld by a ridiculous number of strikeouts (12.4 per 9). Also, Bard had an ERA north of 6.50 in 2007.
Exactly. I was talking about this with EJ Fagan over at our site, and the best comp for Bard I could come up with was Matt Lindstrom. Decent player, but not a top 100 guy. Not saying Melancon is one, but he is better than Bard. Neither should be on these lists.
Agreed, but we will get our satisfaction when Melancon is making contributions to the big club down the stretch and Bard is still in AAA waiting for his September call-up.
Agreed, but we will get our satisfaction when Melancon is making contributions to the big club down the stretch and Bard is
still in AAA waiting for his September call-updemoted back to Pawtucket after getting tattooed with a 8.32 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP over his first 10 relief appearances.Fixed.
I assume that #12 Pedro Alvarez’s ETA is listed as 2009 not because he’s that good but because the Pirates are that bad…
Neither, it’s because BA is stubborn and refuses to admit that Alvarez isn’t as totally awesome as they thought. He’s very good, but not the Messiah they thought he was last year.
I don’t disagree entirely with you Mike, but its not like BA rated him that far outside of their range of awesome college players in this year’s draft. Posney is at #14, Gordon Beckham is at 20, and Hosmer is at 24. Alvarez may deserve to be knocked back a few spots, but he’s not that far off.
correction; Jose Tabata is at 75, not 72. Also, I second you Moshe, imho, Melancon should be somewhere up there, considering he’s so close to the bigs, and he’s a very solid prospect at that, it’s not like he’s a Phil Coke or someone like that. No offense, I really do think Phil Coke is a good ballplayer.
Heh. Emphasis is mine (natch).
F$%&#NG EAST COUNTY!!!!!!!!!!!
I don’t the point of putting that there were 6 HS shortstops drafted number 1 overall in the last 30 years. Usually it is an attempt to show a link with other great players or show the players great stats. However, in this case they are two great players, one player that will probably be great, a crappy player, and someone who can’t make it to AA. They couldn’t have found any better number for Beckham.
Not to mention that the two best players on the list are now third basemen.
Not to mention that none of these guys stayed at SS all that long.
I’M MATT F$%&#ING BUSH!!!!!!!
Melancon shouldn’t be anywhere on that top 100, but neither should Bard IMO. In no way should a guy who profiles to throw maybe 60-70 innings a year should be considered the top 100 prospects in baseball.
I might agree with you, Marc, on the Melancon and Bard fact. Maybe, maybe not, as I’m (obviously) not familiar with all of the names up there (but I am with most), so I wouldn’t be able to put Melancon and/or Bard up against some of them. The one fact that I don’t agree with you on the whole reliever deserving a top 100 spot, because reliever are very important to teams, and a dominant reliever/closer is especially important(Yankee fans should know just how important a dominant closer can be). So if there is a guy in the minors that may be a dominant closer (like Soaria was a couple years back), he deserves just as much consideration as any other player.
You don’t think Joakim Soria, Joe Nathan, or Mariano Rivera could ever have been one of the top 100 prospects in baseball? That’s saying a bit much.
I wholeheartedly agree with you…
Well Nathan and Mo broke into the bigs as starters and struggled pretty badly.
True, but Masterson was on the list last year. Most scouts and writers projected him to transfer from a mediocre starter to a great relief pitcher.
Joba was on this list, and we all know he should be a reliever.
Nathan, Papelbon and Mo were failed starters who florished once they moves to the pen. Soria came outta nowhere as a rule 5 guy. My point is that outside of the Mo, Nathan, Papelbon’s of the league, relief pitchers are so erratic from year to year. Bard and Melancon might go on and have dominate careers, but more then likely they’ll be average bullpen arms.
0: Number of official professional innings he has pitched since signing with the Yankees in 2007.
They couldn’t have come up with something better to say about Brackman? Like I dunno 82: His height in inches.
lmao… 82 inches…
3.5: His rebounds per game as a freshman forward/center for the NC State Wolfpack.
Or:
7: Times he was mistakenly identified by Wolfpack coeds for fellow tall, lanky, pasty-white NC State athletic BMOC Philip Rivers (although Brackman is much less of a douchenozzle).
About David Price:
109: Strikeouts, in 110 minor league innings, between three levels last season.
Ian Kennedy in 2007: 163K in 146.3 minor league innings
Joba Chamberlain in 2007: 135K in 88.3 minor league innings
I know his stuff is great and he looks great throwing it, but his stats don’t scream out #1 starter to me….
Ian Kennedy and Joba Chamberlain both throw with their right hand.
So, Kennedy is better than Price because he has more strikeouts?
That was exactly my point, which is why I explicitly said that.
I was joking with ya.
19: jesus’s age!
How sweet is it to see Montero moving up these lists. Its really fricken exciting. If Piazza can be a catcher, they should be able to force Jesus into a catcher position.
Montero is pretty high on these lists for his development level. If this kid can learn to catch hes going to be a top 3 prospect.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, Gorkys…
“So, Kennedy is better than Price because he has more strikeouts?”
Yep. Kennedy’s Price is right.
Next year, the Yankees should have 6 or 7 guys in the top 100 if things go right.
Go ahead, name & number ‘em…
I can’t do that but I was thinking Romine, Dellin, Z-Mac, and Melancon plus those guys above.
I expect Melancon certainly won’t be eligible, and Jackson may not be.
So no chance Betances? Why isn’t Melvin Crousett top three?
I thought you had to pitch 50 innings in the MLB to not be a prospect anymore.
There is a ‘days on the ML roster’ component to that too, right?
Hah, your asking the wrong guy man.
Go ahead, name & number ‘em…
Montero – #9
AJax – #14
Brackman – #26
Betances – # 49
Romine – #70
Heredia – #81
Arodys Vizcaino – #88
Jeremy Bleich – #95
Kentrail Davis – #100
(Melancon graduates to the big club and hence, is not a prospect. AJax gets a cup of coffee in September and just barely is.)
BAM! That just happened.
Wait, let me revise:
Montero – #9
AJax – #14
Brackman – #26
Gorkys Hernandez – #31
Betances – # 49
Romine – #70
Heredia – #81
Vizcaino – #88
Bleich – #95
Andy Oliver – #99
Kentrail Davis – #100
Melvin Croussett – #The Best (to assign a mere Arabic numeral to him would be an insult)
You like gorkys more than schafer? Or do you just think we have a better chance of obtaining him?
The latter.
I’ll take a less comical approach to your question Pop. Here’s my tally:
Montero – #13: positional questions will linger but i think he’ll hit his way to AA
Brackman – #25: based on 100 IP. screams to make him a reliever will take place when he sits at 95/96 in June.
McAllister – #51: do #3 type pitchers crack the top 50?
Betances – #77: cracks the list but continues to get little love from Callis.
Bleich – #80: he’ll dominate High A ball, bank on it.
Sleeper hitter who might crack the list with big debut: Kelvin DeLeon… And this is why i continue to state that the Yankees must draft more athletes than RHP.
Brackman – #25: based on 100 IP. screams to make him a reliever will take place when he sits at 95/96 in June.
God help us when Mike Francesa finds out about the existence of Brackman.
just got kicked out of class for being on this site while my professor was lecturing. She must be a Sox fan.
Wow, how the hell did she figure it out? I use this site all the time in class. Matter of fact, I will be doing a fantasy baseball draft for the first time tonight while on here and in class. Going for the TRIFECTA, RAB, Fantasy Baseball and school!!!
just for being on my phone. if she knew it was due to prospects I’m sure she would have understood
If you’re gonna put Inoa at 54 basically because he got a huge bonus, is young, throws hard and has huge potential then IMO Brackman and Betances should be right there with him. Thats friggin ridiculous. Basically Inoa is being ranked because of hype and potential whereas it seems everybody else is ranked according to production/potential. I just honestly can’t fathom putting him ahead of guys(besides our boys) that have actually played in the minors and have just as much upside.
Q: Rob Gee from Georgia asks:
How does a relief pitcher like Bard make the list whereas Melancon doesn’t? Since they’re the same age, and if both have upside as closers, doesn’t K:BB trump raw K numbers, especially since Bard racked up a ton of K’s against the Sally League?
A: John Manuel: Bard has better stuff and performed better; Bard had great strikeout numbers and gets a ton of groundballs. He also has a smoother delivery and better health history. You can blame me because even though I think highly of Melancon, I ranked Bard higher than anybody else, his stuff is at another level than any other reliever on the list; he’s sitting 97-99 mph at times with tremendous life down in the zone.
Here’s their answer for those who live for the Bard/Melancon debate. I can’t really disagree if it’s based off pure stuff even though I don’t think Bard should be in the top 100.
I’m surprised no one mentioned this yet:
You guys disappoint me.
I apologize. I will now commit seppuku.
Ahh!!!I was going through the list and I saw no one mentioned the little Brett Gardner tid-bit…Was feeling kinda confident.Thinking of what I was going to write and “ish” like that and…BAM!Stole my “thundah”…