The Top 71 prospects in baseball

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The Top 71 prospects in baseball

By     on Feb 28 2014, 1:30p

Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton, two of the consensus top-five prospects in baseball. – USA TODAY Sports
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We have condensed the Top 100 Prospects lists of Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus and Keith Law of ESPN into one convenient register. Minnesota’s Byron Buxton is ranked No. 1 on each list, making him the consensus top prospect in baseball.

Every year, numerous organizations release lists of the top 100 prospects in baseball. Each group constructs its list using different criteria. They differ on things such as what constitutes a prospect (age, experience, etc.), preferences between a high ceiling vs. proximity to the majors and simple opinions on which youngsters they think show better tools.

 

Since the rankings vary depending on who you ask, we have taken a look at three of the most popular lists — those of Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus and Keith Law of ESPN — to get a more complete look at the current landscape of the minor leagues.

There are 71 players who appear on all three lists. While each panel orders them differently, there is no debate regarding the top two prospects in baseball — Minnesota’s Byron Buxton and Boston’s Xander Bogaerts rank first and second, respectively, on each version. The complete master list of 71 players in included below, ordered by their average ranks on the different scales.

A look at the master list offers some interesting conclusions. The top of the register is dominated by shortstops, who captured five of the first seven spots and eight spots overall. There are multiple factors that could have led to this result. First, their mere presence at the scarce middle infield position could endear them to scouts and automatically raise their stock. Second, it may be easier to agree on the merits of a young position player than on the future of a young pitcher, causing the rankings of pitchers to fluctuate more wildly from list to list. Or, it could be that these particular prospects are simply better players than their peers who play elsewhere on the diamond. Either way, the influx of talent at shortstop should whet the appetite of any fan who misses the days when Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Nomar Garciaparra and Miguel Tejada ushered in a renaissance of talent at the position.

On the other hand, there seems to be a shortage of prospects on the right side of the infield. The only first baseman who made all three lists was Houston’s Jonathan Singleton, who clocked in at No. 64 overall. There were only two other first basemen who appeared on anyone’s register: Jose Abreu of the White Sox, whose status as a prospect is tenuous as a 27-year-old international free agent, and Dominic Smith of the Mets, who was No. 92 on BA’s list and was left off of BP’s list entirely despite a rave review from Law. Rougned Odor of Texas is the top-ranked second baseman at No. 47, and Kolten Wong of St. Louis (No. 57) and Arismendy Alcantara of the Cubs (No. 70) were the only others to make all three lists. However, there were seven other second basemen who appeared on at least one index.

 

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The Cubs have the most players on the master list of 71 prospects with six entrants, but the Red Sox and Astros each have nine guys who appear on at least one of the three tables. The Twins, Cubs, Pirates and Rangers each have seven players who make it onto at least one prospect inventory. On the other side of the spectrum, the Angels, Rays and Brewers were shut out of the master list entirely. The Angels had just one player show up on any group’s rankings — second baseman Taylor Lindsay, who clocked in at No. 93 according to BA. The Rays had five players show up on at least one list, but only pitcher Jake Odorizzi made it onto two of them; he was left off by Law. The Brewers, meanwhile, didn’t notch a single prospect on anyone’s register.

The Oakland Athletics present the most interesting dichotomy. They had only one player make any list, but it was highly touted shortstop Addison Russell, who placed No. 6 on the master list. The Mariners also notched only one youngster on the master list, pitcher Taijuan Walker at No. 10, but two of their other prospects were included by both BA and BP.

The Master List

Including each player’s position, team, and average rank from BA, BP, and Law. Tiebreaker goes to the player who has the highest single rank on any list (Baez and Correa each peaked at No. 4):

Rank Player Pos Team Avg
1 Byron Buxton of Min 1
2 Xander Bogaerts ss Bos 2
3 Oscar Taveras of StL 3.6
4 Javier Baez ss ChC 5.3
4 Carlos Correa ss Hou 5.3
6 Addison Russell ss Oak 8
7 Francisco Lindor ss Cle 8.3
8 Archie Bradley rhp Ari 9
9 Miguel Sano 3b Min 9.3
10 Taijuan Walker rhp Sea 11.6
11 Kris Bryant 3b ChC 13.3
12 Jonathan Gray rhp Col 13.3
13 Gregory Polanco of Pit 15.6
14 Noah Syndergaard rhp NYM 17
15 Kevin Gausman rhp Bal 17.6
16 Lucas Giolito rhp Was 18.3
17 George Springer of Hou 19
18 Dylan Bundy rhp Bal 20.3
19 Kyle Zimmer rhp KCR 22.3
20 Eddie Butler rhp Col 22.3
21 Jameson Taillon rhp Pit 22.6
22 Robert Stephenson rhp Cin 23.3
23 Mark Appel rhp Hou 23.6
24 Austin Hedges c SDP 26
25 Yordano Ventura rhp KCR 29.3
26 Albert Almora of ChC 29.6
27 Aaron Sanchez rhp Tor 31
28 Nick Castellanos 3b Det 31.3
29 Andrew Heaney lhp Mia 31.3
30 Raul A Mondesi ss KCR 32.6
31 Corey Seager ss LAD 33
32 Julio Urias lhp LAD 33.3
33 Tyler Glasnow rhp Pit 36
34 Jorge Soler of ChC 37.3
35 Travis d’Arnaud c NYM 40.6
36 Jackie Bradley of Bos 41.3
37 Joc Pederson of LAD 41.6
38 Clint Frazier of Cle 43
39 Matt Wisler rhp SDP 43.3
40 Maikel Franco 3b Phi 44
41 Lucas Sims rhp Atl 45.6
42 Alex Meyer rhp Min 46.3
43 Jorge Alfaro c Tex 46.3
44 Marcus Stroman rhp Tor 46.6
45 Kyle Crick rhp SFG 46.6
46 Billy Hamilton of Cin 48
47 Rougned Odor 2b Tex 48.3
48 Braden Shipley rhp Ari 49.6
49 Henry Owens lhp Bos 50.3
50 Max Fried lhp SDP 52
51 Chris Owings ss Ari 55.3
52 Eduardo Rodriguez lhp Bal 56.3
53 Mike Foltynewicz rhp Hou 57.3
54 Austin Meadows of Pit 57.6
55 C.J. Edwards rhp ChC 58.6
56 Garin Cecchini 3b Bos 59.3
57 Kolten Wong 2b StL 60.6
58 Kohl Stewart rhp Min 60.6
59 Gary Sanchez c NYY 62.6
60 Erik Johnson rhp ChW 63
61 Colin Moran 3b Mia 63.3
62 Stephen Piscotty of StL 64.3
63 Blake Swihart c Bos 67.3
64 Jonathan Singleton 1b Hou 72.3
65 Nick Kingham rhp Pit 72.3
66 Jesse Biddle lhp Phi 80.6
67 David Dahl of Col 80.33
68 Christian Bethancourt c Atl 82
69 Matt Davidson 3b ChW 84.3
70 Arismendy Alcantara 2b/ss ChC 84.6
71 Zach Lee rhp LAD 84.6

 

On the left, totals by team, including number of prospects on the master list and the rank of each club’s top entrant. On the right, totals by position, with Chicago’s Alcantara being counted as a second baseman:

Team # Top Pos #
Twins 4 1 rhp 27
Red Sox 5 2 lhp 6
Cardinals 3 3 c 6
Cubs 6 4 1b 1
Astros 5 4 2b 3
Athletics 1 6 3b 7
Indians 2 7 ss 8
Diamondbacks 3 8 of 13
Mariners 1 10
Rockies 3 12
Pirates 5 13
Mets 2 14
Orioles 3 15
Nationals 1 16
Royals 3 19
Reds 2 22
Padres 3 24
Blue Jays 2 27
Tigers 1 28
Marlins 2 28
Dodgers 4 31
Phillies 2 40
Braves 2 41
Rangers 2 42
Giants 1 44
Yankees 1 59
White Sox 2 60
Angels 0 (BA #93)
Rays 0 (BP #66)
Brewers 0 nope

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