I’ll go with him over Cortes. FWIW, I think BA will have him in the top 20, while the next best Royals prospect, Cortes, will likely be ranked somewhere in the 40-55 range.

I get the feeling this one and the next one won’t really be close in terms of votes.

…How far are you going in terms of prospect lists? I was considering beginning a top prospect list/discussion thread. Obviously, you – and likely others on this site – have more access and knowledge of prospect information than I do, but I consider myself mildly informed.

Here is my top 20 prospect list. Explanations and statistics will likely accompany the own fanpost. Hell, I’ll grade them here, as well, and give them rudimentary explanations. My grading scale is a bit friendlier than that of John Sickels.

1. Mike Moustakas (A) #3/4-hitter potential, All Star bat
2. Eric Hosmer (A) #3/4-hitter potential, All Star bat
3. Kila Kaaihue (A-) *He’s proven enough to me
4. Daniel Cortes (A-) *#2-starter potential, needs dominant third pitch to be #1-caliber
5. Daniel Duffy (B+) *Tom Glavine-lite, with a few more hits spread in
6. Carlos Rosa (B+) *He can already post extremely solid results as set-up man….probably a #3/#4 SP at best
7. Tim Melville (B+) *#3 potential
8. Daniel Gutierrez (B+) *Lights-out potential, injury history hurts him a bit
9. Mike Montgomery (B) *#3
10. Blake Wood (B) *not as big of a fan of this guy
11. Johnny Giavotella (B-) *GRIT!
12. Jason Taylor (B-) *I really like this guy…I don’t care what anyone says…4-tool potential, great OBP/speed/athleticism
13. Julio Cesar Pimentel (B-) *Fallen stock, B- because of lack of K-rate, GB% be damned
14. Jeff Bianchi (C+) *2B-value helps, big-time
15. Tyler Sample (C+) *Bobby Jenks? Or Runelvys Hernandez?
16. Joe Dickerson (C+) *Being a cornerman without much range/speed hurts his projection a bit
17. Derrick Robinson (C+) *Joey Gathright of today with a bit more doubles potential….not a fan, but sounds like a Moore guy
18. David Lough (C+) *Sleeper
19. Sam Runion (C+) *Disappointed tremendously this year
20. Chris Hayes (C+) *C’mon! Who can’t support this guy? Chad Bradford in the making!

Just a thought.

Is that because chicks dig the long ball or because strikeouts are facist?

…it exposes one’s feelings about the development of minor league pitching. That’s a dicey guessing game. But I went with Cortes over Hosmer because Cortes has done something for a few years. I just can’t vote for a prospect who has not even one minor league year under his belt. – TL

I hear a lot of people say ‘so and so has #4 potential, or #3 or #2…" And I sort of get what they mean by it; they want to say that player x is not an obvious #1, like, say David Price. Clayton Kershaw. Tim Lincecum. I understand that, but I also think it’s kind of funny to say that pitchers project to such specific rotation slots. Greg Maddux certainly wouldn’t have projected to be an ace, nor Tom Glavine for that matter. Braves fans might have/probably said “Glavine’s a #3” when he was in single and double-A. Having said that, I think saying Danny Duffy, who just posted more ridiculous stats in high-A ball than I’ve seen in a long time—like 1.3 or 1.4 K’s per inning and less than one walk/hit per inning—projects as a #3 is, well, I don’t see that projection at all. No offense to whoever posted it. While I do understand single-A projections are kind of silly in and of themselves, the kid certainly has ace potential if we’re using that word. (I also understand that the MW league is a pitcher’s league, so I don’t want to go too crazy here, but if you’re really curious to see him in AA next year, raise your hand).

See Todd Van Poppel