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
Reader Comments and Retorts
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1. villageidiom Posted: January 27, 2023 at 03:44 PM (#6114805)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
If the Orioles were genuine players internationally (*), their organization would be even scarier.
(*) Don't know whether they're making inroads internationally.
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:
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
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.
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....
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.
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.
Awoooogggaaaa! I know it says potential but damn, that's fun to dream about.
“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.”
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