Greetings and salutations. I've spent the last two months under a huge pile of schoolwork trying to finish up my degree, and it's only been recently that I've gotten to really focus on things that I like to write about, like minor league baseball.
I decided to jump back into the fray by introducing my own top 50 prospects list. However, I'm pulling a John Sickels on this one and dividing those 50 prospects into two lists of 25, one comprised of pitchers and the other of position players. I would go into the reasons for that, but I think John has elaborated in the past on using such a methodology, and quite frankly I agree with it. While you could not combine the two lists to get my exact top 50 prospects (more than 25 hitters in that top 50, most likely), I think this system tends to display my feelings about players more accurately. I'm posting the first list of 25, that of pitchers, right now. I'm almost finished with the second list, but am going to hold it for another day or two.
A few house rules:
I place a somewhat higher premium than many on a player's present ability to contribute at the major league level. That means that not only do I incorporate a player's injury status into my thought process, but I also consider flaws in the player's approach that would cause them to fail at the major league level. In an interesting counter-balance, I actually hold this principle against younger prospects (who have more time to adjust) less often than I do against older prospects who are typically more set in their ways. One might think that favoring younger, riskier players in this respect would contradict myself. I think it just provides a more comprehensive perspective for myself.
I do not put much weight on how hard a player throws as an independent factor. Major league baseball players know how to hit a 95 MPH fastball, and this is in fact one of the things that differentiates a major leaguer from a minor leaguer. As a result, I tend to consider a pitcher's velocity as something within the overall context of the pitcher's approach and traits - more simply put, I evaluate guys as pitchers first, throwers second.
Am I a stathead? Nope. Am I a scouting junkie? Nope. I personally think I'm right in the middle of the spectrum. I do love evaluating statistics but I'm not married to them; this is but one of many reasons why I did not major in engineering or accounting.
Do I think I am always right? Nope. I encourage debate, dissent, outright kicking and screaming (away from the computer please). I feel confident in my opinions and the reasoning behind them, but truth be told, it's all essentially a learning exercise.
In any case, on with the show. Enjoy.
- Buchholz, Clay
- Chamberlain, Joba
- Price, David
- Kershaw, Clayton
- Porcello, Rick
- Kennedy, Ian
- Cueto, Johnny
- Gonzalez, Gio
- McDonald, James
- Davis, Wade
- Horne, Alan
- Morales, Franklin
- Mulvey, Kevin
- McGee, Jacob
- Adenhart, Nick
- De Los Santos, Fautino
- Parra, Manny
- Bailey, Homer
- Anderson, Brett
- Cortes, Dan
- Alderson, Tim
- Cahill, Trevor
- Miller, Adam ("to be a pitching prospect, one must, in fact, pitch")
- Robertson, Tyler
- Volstad, Chris