Spring training is about a month away. Don't worry—the void in your life caused by the Major League Baseball offseason is almost over.
However, not only will you be able to watch your team prepare for the season, you'll also be able to see some of your team's up-and-coming farmhands show what they've got before they're inevitably sent back down to the minors.
The future stars of MLB are playing in towns like Colorado Springs, Corpus Christi and Toledo before their ascent to fame in major league cities.
Some of these guys won't even get an opportunity to play in the show for another three years, so this will be a way to get to know the crop of new players about to take over the reigns from the grizzled veterans heading out.
Here's a list I put together of the Top 50 prospects in baseball today. Of course, this is only my opinion, and prospect lists will vary from analyst to analyst. I'll break it down a bit afterwards.
1. Jay Bruce, OF, Reds
2. Evan Longoria, 3B, Rays
3. Clay Buchholz, P, Red Sox
4. Joba Chamberlain, P, Yankees
5. David Price, P, Rays
6. Travis Snider, OF, Jays
7. Cameron Maybin, OF, Tigers
8. Clayton Kershaw, P, Dodgers
9. Matt Wieters, C, Orioles
10. Colby Rasmus, OF, Cardinals
11. Rick Porcello, P, Tigers
12. Andy LaRoche, 3B, Dodgers
13. Jacoby Ellsbury, OF, Red Sox
14. Wade Davis, P, Rays
15. Homer Bailey, P, Reds
16. Chase Headley, 3B, Padres
30 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Aaron Baral about 1 year ago
Jacoby Ellsbury 13th? Did you watch the World Series, or any game Ellsbury played in last year?
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
Dude, he's taking professional scouts' lists and rearranging the players ever so slightly to come off as if he's some real baseball scout. It's pretty pathetic, really.
And yes, most people have Ellsbury around the top 15 to 20 range, Aaron. There are far better prospects out there besides Ellsbury, you dumb cunt.
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Evan Knopp about 1 year ago
Aaron: Ellsbury was amazing in his short stint, no doubt. However, I can't really base my entire ranking of Jacoby on such a small sample size. He could very well turn out better Rasmus or Maybin, but at this point, he doesn't have enough power to warrant a higher ranking, in my opinion. Being a Red Sox fan, I did, infact, watch pretty much every game Jacoby played in last season.
Anonymous: I, of course, looked at professional scouts lists. I'd be dumb not to, considering they're scouts an I am not. However, what I put out there was my opinion and not someone elses. I dont think there was anything slight with ranking Towles over 30 spots what he usually is. Same with Teagarden, Jennings, Hu, Parker, Barton, and Soto. All ranked much differently than the norm.
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Ari Kramer about 1 year ago
Just so you know Greg, Ellsbury is rated below Cameron Maybin according to this article. After what all of us saw from this season, Ellsbury performed much more than Maybin did. It is clear that Ellsbury should be higher than Maybin.
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Nino Colla about 1 year ago
I don't think it's fair to put people like Ellsbury and Chamberlain on these lists because it's a given they are no longer prospects and will contributing to major league teams this year. Obviously places like BaseballAmerica does it, but I still don't agree with it.
I have a big big big big BIG issue with you not mentioning one single Indian. They have one of the best farm systems in the entire league. For them to not be represented is very puzzling.
Where in the hell is Adam Miller?
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Nino Colla about 1 year ago
Whats this?
My very own fan?!
I've made it!
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Brooks Bryant about 1 year ago
guys, lay off him! he did a fine job putting together this list, and it most likely took time. Good job, looks like a pretty good list!
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Michael Taylor about 1 year ago
Just saw Adam Miller ranked 10th on MILB.com, also another omission is Fernando Martinez of the Mets who was 17th on that list. Good list otherwise, good job.
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Evan Knopp about 1 year ago
Adam Miller is someone I may have overlooked in this one. He took a step back in 2007, so I don't agree with a top 10 rank at all, but he has a ton of potential.
Fernando Martinez is someone that I've never been high on. Other than a 45 game stint last year in A ball , he has done nothing to warrant a high ranking. He's probably 55-60 on my list.
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Bradley Jenkins about 1 year ago
I challenge most of you to be able to name twenty let alone fifty major league prospects, very well put together. As with any list, especially one as open for debate seeing how the arguments are all based on potential, everyone will have their grumblings. I'd like to see Homer Bush, LaRoche, and Kershaw higher. After seeing Maybin play at Class-A West Michigan at 19 years old, I think he could be a can't miss for the Marlins (look for a big trade in a few years a la Cabrera-Willis) But as a Tigers fan I just think Rick Porcello is a little overrated. All of that said, Great Article
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Brandon Heikoop about 1 year ago
Not to knock the author, but I often have times when 'bloggers' (i too am included in this) create top 50 prospect lists. I went through each organization and picked out whom I see as the 'best prospect', however, I have chosen not to publish it, as I really do not know. I am trusting reports on SOME of the players and looking at SOME of the numbers of MOST of the players.
Fact is, the only team I would feel confident in ranking in depth, are the Indians.
This is not to say that people should not do a prospect list, but I would suggest limiting it to 10-25 prospects and finding some in depth analysis of them and why you think each player ranks at each position and what their future may be.
My top 10 is completed and it doesn't look far from what this author has published. Barton, Votto and Porcello being the exceptions.
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Josh Niemtzow about 1 year ago
I'm just a little annyoed kershaw is at 8, he's like 4 or 5 are you serious, travis snider and price and maybe before him....
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Josh Niemtzow about 1 year ago
I'm just a little annyoed kershaw is at 8, he's like 4 or 5 are you serious, travis snider and price and maybe before him....
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
Your favorite prospect sucks. -- anyone in these comments
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Daniel Haines about 1 year ago
I really like the list. What are your thoughts on Chin-Lung Hu? You're much higher on him than most.
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Andrew Ungvari about 1 year ago
How many of these guys have you actually seen play? What was your criteria when ranking these guys? Was it based solely on hunches and research? Enlighten us, please.
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
He's probably seen very little of any people on this list. That's what makes the article pointless. He's just taking a bunch of other sources, using their input, and making his own list.
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Evan Knopp about 1 year ago
Daniel: I've heard very good things about Hu from those that have seen him play. Also, from looking at scouting reports, I didn't understand why he was ranked lower in Prospect lists from guys like Keith Law.
Andrew, i've seen a very small number of these guys play. Then again, every single writer in every website that has put together a prospect list has seen a very limited number of the players they write about. A lot of it is reading scouting reports and hunches, of course.
Anonymous coward: Thats exactly what i'm doing. My article was almost as pointless as your comment.
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Andrew Ungvari about 1 year ago
"every single writer in every website that has put together a prospect list has seen a very limited number of the players they write about."
How do you know that?
Those guys at least have resources other than websites and hunches. Those guys have scouts and GMs on speed dial.
This list is no more legitimate than putting 50 names in a hat and pulling them out. I could make the same list of players and put them in alphabetical order and have as good of a chance of predicting their success.
This is actually pretty funny.
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Andrew Ungvari about 1 year ago
Please tell me which one of these guys you've actually seen.
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Evan Knopp about 1 year ago
I know this because I have common sense. Do you think Keith Law flies around the country all throughout the baseball season to these little towns to watch certain minor leaguers play? Absolutely not. That's what scouts do. Scouts relay info back to teams, ect... Its unfortunate that I questioned one of your stories and you come in here and try and rile something up.
Its actually much more legitimate than putting 50 names into a hat. If I would have put Bruce or Buchholz at 40 and 41, I would have been laughed at -- everyone knows these guys have something special and will probably contribute to their teams at the big league level very soon. Don't blame me for your lack of intelligence on the subject.
Players i've personally seen play...
Clay Buchholz
Joba Chamberlain
Jay Bruce
Homer Bailey
Johnny Cueto
Joey Votto
Ian Kennedy
Jed Lowrie
Chin-Lung Hu
Taylor Teagarden
JR Towles
Franklin Morales
Geovany Soto
Andrew McCutchen
Jacoby Ellsbury
Evan Longoria
Cameron Maybin
David Price
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Andrew Ungvari about 1 year ago
Keith Law was a scout. That's what scouts do. They travel to small towns and watch guys play. From his ESPN profile:
"Keith Law joined ESPN.com in June of 2006 as the lead baseball analyst for Scouts, Inc, covering the majors, minors and amateurs.
Before joining ESPN, Law spent 4½ years with the Toronto Blue Jays as a Special Assistant to the General Manager, and was previously a writer for Baseball Prospectus. He graduated from Harvard College and holds an MBA from the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon."
You trying to tell me that you're as much of an authority on prospects as he is??
Just because you watched the AA and AAA All-Star game on TV doesn't make you an expert.
You wrote "If I would have put Bruce or Buchholz at 40 and 41, I would have been laughed at -"
It sounds like you're being laughed at, regardless. Just read the comments.
The only that's unfortunate is that you're as ill-informed about baseball as you are about basketball.
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Evan Knopp about 1 year ago
Keith Law WAS a scout. He does a lot more writing now about other subjects that i'm sure dont allow him to do all that traveling anymore.
And, i'd definately like you to tell me where I said i'm as much as an authority as he is... really...
And I also never said I was an expert. I even said "of course, this is only my opinion" in the article. Its completely subjective. Just thought it would be fun to put together a list. And no, I've actually not seen the AA or AA all-start game. Some of these guys have already been in the majors, some played in cities that are near me, and some played in cities that my friends go to college in, where I got to visit.
Someone's taking this list even more seriously than I am... and its sad that the only reason for it is because I disagreed with you on your article. You don't even write about baseball, you dont really seem to know much about baseball. If you have a real comment other than "Dude u never saw dat guy play!!1!!!11!1" i'll respond to that, but i've already repeatedly stated that I put the list out there from scouting reports and the little i've seen -- and that its to be taken lightly. But yes, please harp on whatever straw you can grasp.
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Andrew Ungvari about 1 year ago
You're trying to say that you get your information the same way that Keith Law does. He was still a scout when most of those guys got drafted. He knows the deal on each of those guys. He doesn't pretend to have seen them all play like you do.
I'm not taking this list too serious. If anything, I couldn't take it less serious. That was kind of the whole point. I'm not criticizing it out of spite. I'm criticizing it because reading a top-50 list from a guy that gathers his information from a handful of games and magazines is laughable. If you wanna tell me about three guys on this list that I've probably never heard much about that's cool. But a top-50 list from you is meaningless.
I checked out your article to see how credible someone criticizing my article was. I haven't written about baseball because there's not much of a thirst right now for the sport since it's the off-season. You're welcome to read my lone baseball article and give me your two cents:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/5470-MLB-Baseball_s_Black_Player_The_Newest_Endangered_Species
You're welcome to challenge my baseball knowledge any day. Please calm down. You sound like you're going to harm someone. Nobody wants that. Where would I go to get my top-50 lists and unnecessary spelling errors?
Don't dish it out if you can't take it.
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Evan Knopp about 1 year ago
Ah yes, but your articles here have meaning? All the articles on this site are meaningless. They're written for fun. I promise.
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Andrew Ungvari about 1 year ago
My articles have meaning because I state a premise and then back it up with multiple reasons. If you had taken who you believed to be the top ten and gave me reasons as to why number 8 was higher than number 9 at least you could make a case.
But you put 50 names, thus minimizing anybody on the list you didn't expound on. What sets number 38 apart from 50?
Had your article been about the ten minor leaguers that you think will make an impact on big league clubs this year then I might care. But you listed 50 names and spoke about three of them.
You don't write top-50 articles with 250 words. You'd be better off breaking it down into five parts and expounding. I'd read that. Why? Because when it comes to lists, the information about each player is more meaningful then the number in front of their name. Unless, of course, you're on the list, then you care about the number.
My baseball article is about what happened to the black baseball player. I think that's meaningful and socially relevant.
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Evan Knopp about 1 year ago
Oh, ok, now I get it, oh lord of the prospect list. Weird, because not one prospect list i've seen tells you what sets #38 apart from #50. Not one. Please find a list that says things like "Desmond Jennings is better than Nick Adenhart because...." for every single player. I want to see an author that tells you exactly why every prospects is where he is on the list. Why he is better than the guy after him and why he's not as good as the guy before him. These articles don't exist.
Your article was fine, by the way. But it wasn't written for any grand purpose. No article here is. I made a list of 50 prospects, in the order I would rank them, gave a short intro, and wrote about three of them that I found especially interesting. Yeah, that's the article. You keep saying i'm the one taking it too seriously, but i've said since the beginning to take it for what its worth, along with this "Of course, this is only my opinion, and prospect lists will vary from analyst to analyst." -- straight from the article. I dont claim to be any kind of expert on the subject, but I enjoy reading and learning about prospects, so I gave it a shot.
I didn't pretend my article was something it wasn't. In the title it says "Top 50" in it. Did any reader actually think I was going to stop after every player and say "well, Hu is better than #14 because his range ect..." No. Of course not. I dont even think i've even seen any Top 10 lists like that.
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Andrew Ungvari about 1 year ago
You still don't get it. I'm not telling you to compare each prospect to the one below or above it. I'm saying if you tell me a little thing about each prospect then I'll know why they weren't ranked higher or lower. You could have separated each list by position and then broken it down as to why Homer Bailey is ranked so much higher than Nick Adenhart.
My article was written to provoke to discussion and talk about something that hasn't received received nearly enough attention.
You chose to throw a bunch of names on a list and surround it with a couple of paragraphs. It's like going to a movie and watching the credits, the first three scenes and then the movie stops.
I can't keep doing this. It's like talking to someone who doesn't speak English.
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Andrew Ungvari about 1 year ago
Evan-
What did you think of the Bedard trade? Seattle sent Adam Jones, George Sherrill, Chris Tillman, Kam Mickolio and Tony Butler to the Orioles. You probably know more about those guys than I do. I know about Jones and Sherrill. What do you know about the other guys? For a team that's now without an ace, did B'More get enough?
You gotta like the Mariners staff now. Felix, Bedard, Silva, Washburn and Batista. I think Silva and Batista are both number 5 starters but in that ballpark Silva might thrive.
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
this is a legitimate list. if you dont like it, dont read it and especially dont post on here complaining. go write to dr.phil if you have issues you want to complain about
-mike
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