BP Top 100 Prospects

by lordbyronk on Jan 31, 2008 1:35 PM EST Comment 19 comments

It's out the list of the top 100 prospects in the MLB. Mike Moustakas makes the list at #19. Luke Hochevar really took a dive down to #72. Amazing, what a difference one year makes. Here's the link if anyone is interested (it's the complete list):

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=7092

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100!

Moose is behind Price, Wieters and Porcello in his draft class, and just ahead of Jarrod Parker.

That Santana trade doesn't look that good.

From Baseball Think Factory, the breakdown by team:

7 prospects listed:
Athletics
Rangers
Red Sox

6 prospects:
Rays
Braves

5 prospects:
Rockies
Yankees

4 prospects:
Angels
Dodgers
Mariners
Reds

3 prospects:
Brewers
Cardinals
Diamonbacks
Nationals
Orioles
Padres
Pirates
Twins

2 prospects:
Cubs
Giants
Indians
Marlins
Phillies
Royals

1 prospect:
Astros
Blue Jays
Mets
Tigers
White Sox

Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com

by RoyalsRetro on Jan 31, 2008 1:42 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Swing and a Miss!

I'd take Cortes over a ton of those guys.

by doublestix on Jan 31, 2008 1:46 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Me too

If Cortes has a good year in AA in 2008, he's could easily jump into the middle of next year's list.

I probably disagree with you.

by NYRoyal on Jan 31, 2008 2:10 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Depressing...

two out of 100 just isn't enough for a small market franchise like the Royals. Also depressing that the Yankees and RedSox now are at the top of the lists in prospects as well. It used to be the one advantage small market clubs could hope to ascertain. Now that these big market clubs have competent front offices it will probably be this way for a while unless they finally fix the draft so that the best players go to the worst teams. Darn you Scot Boras and MLB.

by djk royal on Jan 31, 2008 5:20 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

It is about more than competence

Obviously front office competence is part of what's going on here, but there's more than that. Large market teams can afford to draft (and make international acquisitions of) almost entirely high-risk, high-reward talent, because they don't really need many of them to become even decent major league players. That's why they can afford to take a shot on a high-risk, high-reward teenager like Tabata. A high percentage of these guys will flame out, but the ones that don't will become top 100 prospects. Economic disparity is a bitch.

I probably disagree with you.

by NYRoyal on Jan 31, 2008 5:31 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Don't despair

In his chat Goldstein said Cortes just missed. In fact, if it had been top 110, he would have been in there according to Goldstein.

So, three out of the top 110 sounds better, right.

Considering 110 divided by 30 equals 3.67 prospects, and that the Royals just successfully added two guys from last year's list to the big league team last season, things don't sound all that bleak, do they?

That doesn't even include other very young talent already in KC, such as Bannister, Greinke, and Soria.

by loyal2s dad on Jan 31, 2008 5:33 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Still.

KG missed on his scouting report, specifically his velocity. He's a self described "velocity whore", and if he actually knew Cortes was at 93-96 rather than the 91-93 he reported, I wonder where he would be ranked.

by doublestix on Jan 31, 2008 11:14 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed

Having lots of young talent on the big league roster makes this less worrying than it otherwise would be. GMDM does need good drafts over the next couple of years, though, to keep the pipeline full. Also, this June may (hopefully) be our last top-ten draft pick for awhile, so it's important to make it pay off. This is one area of a GM's job where we don't really know anything about Moore one way or the other yet, so it'll be interesting to see how things develop.

by Melchizedek on Jan 31, 2008 9:39 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Another KG comment

In his chat session, someone asked him about the shortage of good 2B prospects and he said that is always the case and that many SS prospects will eventually move to 2B. And then he said, "In other words, the best second base prospect in the game is probably Mike Moustakas."

I probably disagree with you.

by NYRoyal on Jan 31, 2008 10:54 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

interesting

So long his range doesn't get considerably worse, I think he could be average at 2B. With his arm, he could play back farther so he could get to more balls.

That said, I hope Callaspo is a stud at 2B by then, and we don't even have to worry about that. Moose's bat will play anywhere.

by doublestix on Jan 31, 2008 11:05 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

How does Hochevar drop so much.

Sure he struggled in the minors, but part of that was working on his mechanics and I thought they wouldn't let him throw one of his better pitches. Also once he finally got promoted he was pretty good in his limited chances in the majors. I don't think he should have been dropped so much.

by TXroyal on Jan 31, 2008 11:34 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Hard to say

The results on the field were mixed. Good strikeout and walk numbers, bad ERA and that goes for both AA and AAA. A year like that is going to make any prospect drop. When I read anyone at BP or BA write about Hochevar, they never mention him being forbidden from throwing his best pitch all year long, which would explain some of the poor results. So either they didn't know about it or, for some inexplicable reason, they don't think it is important.

But I don't worry too much about this kind of thing. A prospect's rankings are going to go up and down wildly with each passing season, depending on how the player performs. He has a chance this year to vault him back to uber-prospect status or to drop even further. If he really is a good pitcher, he'll show it, hopefully at both AAA and the majors.

I probably disagree with you.

by NYRoyal on Feb 1, 2008 12:18 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I don't worry I just found it wierd.

Also I couldn't find the exact spot but on the royals team page they mentioned that they didn't want him to throw his slider while he was working on his landing. Also they did this to protect his arm and to develop his fastball control I presume. I'll try to find were I read this.

by TXroyal on Feb 1, 2008 1:36 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

it is a little weird

Which makes me question the report about his pitch selection being limited. Still, I'm not going to worry about it until he starts struggling in KC or Omaha this spring. (Which hopefully will not happen.)

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by marbotty on Feb 1, 2008 4:07 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

You doubt it?

This was reported multiple times throughout the season. Do you think it is just a fabrication?

I probably disagree with you.

by NYRoyal on Feb 1, 2008 4:56 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

that's what I recall happening

but then I couldn't find any articles on it, so I started wondering if I was mistaken

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by marbotty on Feb 1, 2008 9:39 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

espn top 100

Keith Law just posted his top 100 prospects at espn.com, its an insider post but its free. He ranks Moustakas all the way down at 47. he's the only royal to crack Law's top 100. Meanwhile he puts josh vitters the cubs 3b prospect who was also drafted last year at 17. Which is pretty much the complete opposite of every other ranking I've seen. Just thought I'd let you all know if anyone wanted to read it. I don't agree with some of his rankings but unlike the bp post, there is some info and comments about each player.

by como on Jan 31, 2008 11:45 PM EST reply actions 0 recs