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Friday, January 27, 2023

MLB Pipeline Top 100 Prospects

How often have any of us in the last 20 years been jealous of the Orioles?

The Top 10
1. Gunnar Henderson, 3B/SS, Orioles
2. Corbin Carroll, OF, D-backs
3. Francisco Álvarez, C, Mets
4. Jordan Walker, OF, Cardinals
5. Anthony Volpe, SS, Yankees
6. Andrew Painter, RHP, Phillies
7. Grayson Rodriguez, RHP, Orioles
8. Jackson Chourio, OF, Brewers
9. Marcelo Mayer, SS, Red Sox
10. Elly De La Cruz, SS/3B, Reds

villageidiom Posted: January 27, 2023 at 03:03 PM | 18 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
  Tags: prospects, prospects rankings

Reader Comments and Retorts

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   1. villageidiom Posted: January 27, 2023 at 03:44 PM (#6114805)
By team:

8 Baltimore
7 Los Angeles, Cleveland
6 Texas
5 St. Louis
4 Boston, Arizona, Queens, Washington, Pittsburgh, Tampa, Cincinnati, Colorado
3 Milwaukee, North Side, Miami, Detroit, Minnesota, Bronx
2 Anaheim, Oakland, San Francisco, Seattle, San Diego, Philadelphia, South Side
1 Houston, Toronto, Kansas City
0 Atlanta
   2. JRVJ Posted: January 27, 2023 at 04:06 PM (#6114808)
The really remarkable thing about the Orioles is that none of those 8 prospects are from Latin America (or East Asia).

If the Orioles were genuine players internationally (*), their organization would be even scarier.

(*) Don't know whether they're making inroads internationally.
   3. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: January 27, 2023 at 04:15 PM (#6114810)
Jordan Walker is an absolute stud. That is all.
   4. Jack Sommers Posted: January 27, 2023 at 09:19 PM (#6114833)
A couple of D-backs comments:

Pipeline didn't include Gabriel Moreno because he was on the Blue Jays roster a total of 61 days in 2022, even though he got just 79 PA sitting behind Kirk and Jansen, so he's not rookie eligible. Baseball America ranked him 12th overall anyway.

I reached out to Jim Callis, (who is a really nice guy by the way) and he said the following on Moreno:

If Gabriel Moreno hadn't been ineligible for our Top 100 because he exceeded the rookie service-time limits, he would have ranked in the top 10-15 prospects overall. He stands out with some of the best hitting ability in the minors, though there's some question as to exactly how much power he'll have. He shows athleticism and arm strength behind the plate and the ability to play other positions as well.


So but for some poor roster management by the Blue Jays, the D-backs would have 5 , not 4

Comparing Baseball America / Pipeline

Corbin Carroll. 2/2
Gabriel Moreno 12/10
Jordan Lawlar 13/11
Druw Jones 24/15
Pfaadt. 27/59

That's a nice concentration of potentially high impact prospects in the top 15- 25 or so
   5. Jack Sommers Posted: January 27, 2023 at 09:21 PM (#6114834)
Jordan Walker is an absolute stud. That is all.


He sure is. I saw a lot of him in the Arizona Fall League. He definitely is a guy who pops out at you on the field. The ball jumps off his bat.
   6. Howie Menckel Posted: January 27, 2023 at 09:40 PM (#6114836)
Mets had none from 2018-20, so having 4 now (all hitters - C 3B C OF) is quite an improvement.

and have avoided talking fantasy baseball here for decades, BUT I have the NL 1-3-5 (Carroll-Walker-Chourio) at criminally cheap prices and also (NL-only) 15 Luciano, 17 Tovar, and 27 Abel - all in the top 50 overall on the list.

I noticed 5-10 years ago that the uber-stud prospects seemed to be panning out at a higher rate than before, so I shifted my strategy from "the future is now" to mining for gold. my Harris II last year was ROY so that works, too, lol

ok, back to MLB talk for me....
   7. Walt Davis Posted: January 28, 2023 at 01:26 AM (#6114849)
#4: Not poor roster management. He was up for about a month across June-July when Jansen was on the IL. Over that stretch he got 15 starts in 33 team games. He was brought back sometime in Sept when rosters expand to 28 ... given Kirk is at DH about half the time, it makes sense to use an extra spot on a 3rd C, especially one as good as Moreno. They could have and maybe should have given him more PT during that second stretch but nothing wrong with the roster management. (They were in a bit of a race but were in excellent shape for a WC spot but were in a tight race for HFA which eventually became an un-tight race.) He was also on their postseason roster although he didn't appear.
   8. BDC Posted: January 28, 2023 at 08:25 AM (#6114852)
Rangers have six, but only two are in the top half, and one of those (Josh Jung) is already their starting major-league third baseman. Still better than their miserable prospect list for the past decade or more, for sure.
   9. Dolf Lucky Posted: January 28, 2023 at 09:05 AM (#6114854)
I've never been a prospect maven, and am even less so now than when I was younger.

With that in mind, a question and a comment:

Question: The Reds have four top-100 prospects on this list and all are left-side infielders. My uninformed perspective is that this kind of positional concentration is unusual. For those who would know better...is it unusual?

Comment: I haven't been this excited for a Reds hitting prospect (de la Cruz) since Jay Bruce. My wife was pregnant in 2008 and I unsuccessfully lobbied to name the boy Bruuuuuuce. She overruled me, which turned out to be a wise decision. For better or worse, I have no babies on the horizon for me to suggest the name Elly for.
   10. Cris E Posted: January 28, 2023 at 01:11 PM (#6114875)
Funny thing is the Reds picked up two other IF guys from the Twins last summer, Steer and Encarnacion-Strand, so their top 15 has 4 P, 1 C, 1 OF and the rest are SS or 3B. I guess get the best bodies in and sort out the lineup card later.
   11. Walt Davis Posted: January 28, 2023 at 03:25 PM (#6114891)
#9 Not a maven either and I certainly have no numbers for you but I wouldn't think this was too unusual. Obviously you'd usually have at least one pitcher in your top 4, etc. but when you don't... It probably depends on things like the age distribution of these top prospects. Pretty much any highly rated 18-19 yo position prospect will be a SS or CF. Or be Juan Soto. As they progress, most will get run off SS/CF. Two of the Reds' guys are 18-19, one at SS, the other at 3B -- the MLB.com writeup on Collier (3B) already suggests a move to RF.
   12. Walt Davis Posted: January 28, 2023 at 03:44 PM (#6114895)
Looking through the top guys:

Henderson -- SS/3B
Carroll -- LHT
Alvarez -- C
Walker -- 3B moving because of Arenado
Volpe -- SS
Chourio -- started as SS, moved to CF due to arm issues
Mayer -- SS
de la Cruz -- SS/3B
Lawlor -- SS
Holliday -- SS
Cartaya -- C
Jones -- CF (with "plus-plus speed")
Wood -- CF (sounds like a Heyward type)
Merrill -- SS

That's all the position guys in the top 20 and Carroll is the only one over 21. The first defensively limited player is Casas at #23 ... also 23 yo. The first young guy without speed is #26 Termarr Johnson and his writeup starts with In the past, high school players who profiled as second basemen weren't thought of as premium Draft prospects.

The scout/mavens fascination with speed continues and of course they might be right. I think it's fair to say that the most promising young players are those who combine a bat with speed. If nothing else, they've got at least two paths to the majors. Usually at least one of those paths will eventually close but keep the perfect dream alive as long as possible.
   13. Darren Posted: January 28, 2023 at 03:51 PM (#6114898)
The consensus among scouts was that Mayer was both the best hitter and best defender in his Draft class, a potential combination of Corey Seager's bat and Brandon Crawford's glove.


Awoooogggaaaa! I know it says potential but damn, that's fun to dream about.
   14. Darren Posted: January 28, 2023 at 03:55 PM (#6114901)
Does Pipeline consider Japanese imports prospects the way some others do? I'm wondering if Yoshida wasn't eligible or just didn't make the cut.
   15. Brian Posted: January 28, 2023 at 04:34 PM (#6114909)
Wasn't it Earl Weaver who said (Paraphrasing) "Give me a roster of all shortstops and I'll figure it out"?
   16. The Duke Posted: January 28, 2023 at 11:38 PM (#6114935)
I guess this is one reason the dodgers could allow so many people to leave - lots of talent about to hit.
   17. JimMusComp misses old primer... Posted: January 29, 2023 at 12:31 AM (#6114942)
He definitely is a guy who pops out at you on the field. The ball jumps off his bat.


“He has a good face.”

“He’s the kind of guy who when he walks into a room his sick has been there for 2 minutes already.”

   18. . . . . . . Posted: January 29, 2023 at 02:05 AM (#6114946)
Man this list has a hardon for guys who can’t make consistent contact. Doesn’t matter how hard they hit; a bunch of these guys are going to crash and burn because they can’t make enough contact to matter.

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