Well prospecting certainly is open to interpretation and opinion, heck you can’t even agree what makes a great prospect. That in mind, I think it’s a bit harsh to completely give up a source of information like BA because they go out on the fence with young/raw players more than you would like. I don’t know about KG but I imagine BA sees more prospects in person than John does. That isn’t a shot at him or the work he does but just an attempt to show perhaps BA has more to go off of when projecting these players out. I agree the wait and see approach is better with young/raw players but I just keep that in mind when reading BA’s stuff. PP often goes far out on the limb with young players as well but I wouldn’t stop reading either BA or PP’s stuff because I think they are a little to gunho on their rankings. Saying Brown wont develop the power or the defense to be a regular in RF is just as bad as saying he will in my opinion. I’m not trying to say you are wrong but just that the way BA does their prospecting isn’t necessarily wrong either.

dominic brown is a legitimate #1. all those things that scouts say about the next great ballplayer could, and should, be said about dom brown. he’s a legit 6’5". he’s wiry as hell. he eats ground like, well, not like greg golson – and that’s on the basepaths, and in the field. the ball jumps off his bat; it flies. the fact that he has pretty good plate discipline to go on top of the toolshed that is his body, well, THAT merits being at the top of this list.

Of course, all of us have different opinions on how to rank prospects. Some like the more conservative route and thus agree more with John. Others like the home run approach better (high risk, high reward) and thus like the BA approach better. Personally, I like the KG approach. Kevin tends to lean conservative like John, but he also likes to blend in those high upside guys when the upside is tremendous. That is how someone like Neftali Feliz gets ranked #42 on his pre-2008 list, when other sites either did not rank him at all or ranked him in the 80s or 90s.

There is no right or wrong answer here though. If you do not like BA’s way of ranking, then do not buy the book or support them whatsoever. Same with KG and John. Just try not to call out their rankings as crap because their prospecting theory is different than yours.