Well, the Tigers have exactly one position player prospect in the Top 30: Colt Keith, an infielder who ranks...yep, 30th. (Detroit does have two pitchers in the Top 15, but, of course, TINSTAAPP.)

I don’t quite get these rankings. John Rhodes is putting up an .850-ish OPS as a 20 years old in High A Delmarva, and is considered the #8 position prospect in all of MLB? Every other ranking I can find has him between #15 and #30 in the whole Orioles’s system, far behind guys like Jordon Westburg, Kyle Stowers, Colton Cowser, and Cesar Prieto, none of whom are even listed here.

I don’t quite get these rankings. John Rhodes is putting up an .850-ish OPS as a 20 years old in High A Delmarva, and is considered the #8 position prospect in all of MLB? Every other ranking I can find has him between #15 and #30 in the whole Orioles’s system, far behind guys like Jordon Westburg, Kyle Stowers, Colton Cowser, and Cesar Prieto, none of whom are even listed here.

From what I can tell, the list isn't actually prospect rankings (which would include things like scouting reports, reputation, when taken in draft, etc), on other portions of the site it has rankings and those line up more with traditional rankings (it has Rhodes as 27th best prospect for the Orioles) This list feels like it was designed to identify who might be moving up in prospect lists, so that dynasty leagues can identify them earlier. It's why he calls it a larceny list, trying to steal prospects that might not be as well identified, but who's component numbers indicate potential value.

That's exactly right. The list has Zac Veen ranked higher among Rockies prospects than Ezequiel Tovar, even though Tovar is a shortstop at AA hitting .318/.386/.546, while Veen is a corner outfielder at high A hitting .266/.375/.464. They're both 20. All that means is that prospect hounds have recognized Tovar but haven't really noticed Veen yet.

For me, I find it hard to get excited about a prospect with a name as fake-sounding as "Zac Veen." But at least he's willing to take ball four, the first Rockies prospect since Chris Iannetta to have that in his tool set.

For me, I find it hard to get excited about a prospect with a name as fake-sounding as "Zac Veen."

Very trendy spoonerism though.

I see what you did there

All that means is that prospect hounds have recognized Tovar but haven't really noticed Veen yet.

Veen was drafted 9th overall two years ago. Prospect hounds knew who he was before Tovar started to blossom. Tovar had a sub-620 OPS in 2019.

Speaking of prospect lists, can somebody explain to me why Colson Montgomery does so poorly on them? He is a young 20, plays shortstop, and has done nothing but hit since his debut last year.

Re: Montgomery didn't hit that much last year. Virtually no power at all though this year he seems to have added some and he's been excellent so far. Baseball America says that his size might push him off shortstop though they seem to think he can stick there. BA has him #99 in their latest update in June and he's been raking in a recent promotion to Hi A. That looks like a guy who will climb the list fairly quickly.