BA Texas League Top 20
by deezle on Oct 11, 2010 12:50 PM EDT
Email
PrintRoyals take the top 3 spots.
1. Mike Moustakas, 3b, Northwest Arkansas Naturals (Royals)
2. Eric Hosmer, 1b, Northwest Arkansas Naturals (Royals)
3. Mike Montgomery, lhp, Northwest Arkansas Naturals (Royals)
4. Wilin Rosario, c, Tulsa Drillers (Rockies)
5. Martin Perez, lhp, Frisco Roughriders (Rangers)
6. Aaron Crow, rhp, Northwest Arkansas Naturals (Royals)
7. Jordan Lyles, rhp, Corpus Christi Hooks (Astros)
8. Simon Castro, rhp, San Antonio Missions (Padres)
9. Blake Beaven, rhp, Frisco Roughriders (Rangers)
10. Christian Friedrich, lhp, Tulsa Drillers (Rockies)
11. Cory Luebke, lhp, San Antonio Missions (Padres)
12. Jordan Walden, rhp, Arkansas Travelers (Angels)
13. James Darnell, 3b, San Antonio Missions (Padres)
14. Eduardo Sanchez, rhp, Springfield Cardinals
15. Rex Brothers, lhp, Tulsa Drillers (Rockies)
16. Louis Coleman, rhp, Northwest Arkansas Naturals (Royals)
17. Charlie Blackmon, of, Tulsa Drillers (Rockies)
18. Engel Beltre, of, Tulsa Drillers (Rangers)
19. Wynn Pelzer, rhp, San Antonio Missions (Padres)
20. Trevor Reckling, lhp, Arkansas Travelers (Angels)
http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/league-top-20-prospects/2010/2610776.html
51 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Beltre should be
Rangers
The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. It reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again.
List from 5 years ago
*1. Howie Kendrick, 2b, Arkansas
*2. Erick Aybar, ss, Arkansas
*3. Daric Barton, 1b, Midland
*4. Thomas Diamond, rhp, Frisco
*5. Edison Volquez, rhp, Frisco
*6. Andre Ethier, of, Midland
*7. Kendry Morales, 1b, Arkansas
*8. Yuniesky Betancourt, ss, San Antonio
*9. Jason Hirsh, rhp, Corpus Christi
*10. Justin Huber, 1b, Wichita
*11. John Danks, lhp, Frisco
*12. Joaquin Arias, ss, Frisco
13. Fernando Nieve, rhp, Corpus Christi
*14. Adam Jones, ss, San Antonio
*15. Joe Saunders, lhp, Arkansas
*16. Steven Shell, rhp, Arkansas
*17. Omar Quintanilla, ss, Midland
*18. Ubaldo Jimenez, rhp, Tulsa
*19. Josh Anderson, of, Corpus Christi
*20. Kevin Melillo, 2b, Midland
*Has played in major leagues
Not great, but not terrible.
As an Astros homer
I’m incensed that Aaron Crow and his disastrous, stock-crashing season is above Jordan Lyles. I couldn’t have found much complaint with a no. 6 ranking for Lyles, though, so maybe the complaint is more that they are too high on Crow, who I think also belongs behind Simon Castro.
http://www.crawfishboxes.com
+1
I was VERY surprised to see Crow ahead of both Castro and Lyles – the latter two are very interchangeable in my eyes. Obviously there are plenty of managers and scouts in the TL that still see Crow as a starter in the bigs.
No doubt
but reports on his stuff have never wavered this season. Generally everyone says he’s been mid-90’s, touching 98, with a plus slider. That stuff might end up playing better in the bullpen, but I guess BA still likes his chances of sticking as a starter.
Command was his problem when I saw him
I have no doubt that he has good/great stuff. He simply didn’t show much ability to locate.
http://www.crawfishboxes.com
Crow still has significantly better stuff than Lyles
Its very impressive what Lyles has done… but for me he’s like a poor man’s Freddie Freeman of pitching prospects. He’s young and doing very well – but how much more is there? Experts don’t think that much more.
Bullpen Banter
www.bullpenbanter.com
twitter: @alskor
They're really two very different cases
Largely because of the difference between hitting and pitching aging curves, but also in part because experts seem to be quite high on Freeman. I mean BA had in #20 at midseason and they’ve indicated that he’ll likely be around 15, possibly higher, by the time the top 100 comes out. Should be interesting to see where he ranks on the IL top 20 tomorrow.
Sure... wasn't the best example b/c of that.
I just meant that the same principle applies – numbers and ARL aren’t everything.
Bullpen Banter
www.bullpenbanter.com
twitter: @alskor
But that's kind of what I was getting at
ARL is extremely important for hitting prospects, while it mean very little for pitchers. I understand what you were getting at, but using a hitter as an example doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me.
I don't think ARL is why Lyles is so highly rated
It helps, but I doubt it’s the main reason.
http://www.crawfishboxes.com
Not sure what you're trying to get at here
Clearly the experts like Lyles a lot, since he’s been in the top 30-40 prospects in almost every publication’s/site’s ranking.
They wouldn’t be that impressed just by his ARL. Scouting-wise, they see a guy with potentially (all future grades) an above average fastball, plus changeup, and solid-average to above average breaking ball. Add above average command of all his pitches (plus command in the case of his fastball), and good pitchability on top of that, and you have a very good prospect.
Yes, a fair portion of that is projection, but it’s normal to have to project a little anytime you deal with a 19-year old prospect. (By the way, how many 19-year olds flash the ability to locate both secondary pitches on the corners?)
http://www.crawfishboxes.com
Even if you are "down" on Lyles
Would you still have Crow ahead of Castro? Personally I highly disagree with the ranking. The questions surrounding Crow (bullpen vs. starter) are significant enough to warrant ranking Castro ahead – even if his pure stuff isn’t on the same level as Crow’s.
No, I definitely wouldn't
and I’ll have Lyles higher, too.. (as I did this last year!)
I’m not THAT down on Lyles… I just think seeing this will be a good check on some people who are plugging him as a real top guy. He’s not that. The stuff just isn’t there for that. He is very good, though.
Bullpen Banter
www.bullpenbanter.com
twitter: @alskor
With that out of the way
The top eight are pretty great, but there’s a clear dividing line (in my opinion) between them and the rest of those prospects, who aren’t that special.
http://www.crawfishboxes.com
which top 8 are you talking about
2010 list or list from 5 years ago. I can say that I like Danks, Ubaldo, Saunders and Adam Jones more than Daric Barton, Jason Hirsch, Justin Huber and Diamond from the list of 5 years ago. I can also say that I like Luebke, Beltre and Friedrich just as much as Lyles and Castro.
I think he means this season's list
I would agree that after the top 8, there is a small drop (with the exception of Friedrich).
PPPPPPUNTO 4 MVP 2010
I'm wondering though
Are your preferences relative to the present only or are you evaluating the 5-years-old list in that context? There were good reasons why those players ranked where they did at that time.
He was eligible
Will Lingo: I would say Weeks’ stock dropped this season. (He was considered for the list because he met the minimums for plate appearances.) We have to give him a break because he missed more than two months with a hip injury, but when he did play he didn’t make much of an impression. His best tool is his speed, and it doesn’t really play because he’s not a great hitter. His defense at second is just OK, and managers didn’t see a clear major league role for him.
http://bullpenbanter.com/
not that I'm arguing with the Weeks non-placement, but
Given the huge number of relievers on this list and a few placements that seem to be the result of performance rather than major league upside, I’m curious to know how much influence the managers had on the list as opposed to the scouts.
Sometime between next April and a year later, he will convert to a center fielder
and then his glove (or lack thereof) in the outfield (and his injury status) will determine where he falls on the spectrum between 4th outfielder and star.
"We don't want our people to be preoccupied with seminude, crazy men jumping up and down who are chasing an inflated object," said Sheik Mohamed Osman Arus, head of operations for the Hizbul Islam insurgent group.
No Oakland prospects at all
This is very bad news. The A’s only have two guys who’ve even been named to a league Top 20 so far (with AAA still to come). Granted that some guys split levels and thus may end up doing poorly on this metric, but… still, I mean, that’s dismal.
"We don't want our people to be preoccupied with seminude, crazy men jumping up and down who are chasing an inflated object," said Sheik Mohamed Osman Arus, head of operations for the Hizbul Islam insurgent group.
sexiness
good to see i’m not the only big believe in Crow still. granted this was a down year for talent in this league as a whole. considering there’s like 4 relievers on the back end of this list.
R.I.P. cwhitman412, Frederick0220, & Mets2k9
Yeah... I'm really not a fan of most of these lists this year.
Bullpen Banter
www.bullpenbanter.com
twitter: @alskor
League Context
Yeah, but Chatwood in the Texas league was… not good; hard to find much to support on him if you view it strictly through the league lens. Given that these lists are (supposed to be) focused on the players’ showings within the specific league and the impressions they left specifically on that league’s constituents, not exactly a surprise that he didn’t impress the TL managers and scouts when he couldn’t throw the ball past anyone. Lingo did readily admit Reckling was a personal favorite and so got the benefit of the doubt between the two for the last slot.
by goldenblack on Oct 11, 2010 11:53 PM EDT up reply actions
Sure, but Reckling was "not good" either
My comment wasn’t entirely relating to those two, though. Just in general… the lists this year feel thrown together quickly. Lots of little errors, lots of inconsistencies. Sometimes it feels like they know these don’t matter for the top 100 so they’ve just mailed in the rankings and focused on the scouting reports.
The Chatwood-Reckling thing was just the last straw for me on this. Incredible amount of inconsistencies in logic, ranking, etc… I found many of these lists puzzling.
Bullpen Banter
www.bullpenbanter.com
twitter: @alskor
Maybe
There is some subjectivity applied by the compiler of the league in question, as Lingo’s admission on Reckling shows, but still, I find it very enlightening to see the departure in perspective from the norm those attached to the league might have had. Don’t always agree with it necessarily, but also can sometimes throw up a flag and justifiably warrant closer inspection of our expectations. Fact is, the only way you could project Chatwood onto that list is to take a macro look and draw upon what he’s shown elsewhere, which is not what the league lists are; that’s organization list territory.
by goldenblack on Oct 12, 2010 12:29 PM EDT up reply actions
I can see Chatwood missing,
and not just because of Reckling. Chatwood is going to have to fight the pejudice of scouts against guys his size, and he didn’t help himself by plummeting to a ~12% strikeout rate upon promotion. I’m a Chatwood fan and the disappearing strikeouts certainly caught my attention. He also walked three or more batters in six of thirteen AA starts. He’s got a lot to prove next year.
by blackoutyears on Oct 12, 2010 5:23 PM EDT up reply actions
He absolutely does...
but Reckling probably has even more to prove.
Bullpen Banter
www.bullpenbanter.com
twitter: @alskor
Fact is, the only way you could project Chatwood onto that list is to take a macro look and draw upon what he’s shown elsewhere, which is not what the league lists are; that’s organization list territory.
Similarly, I would argue the only way Reckling makes this list is if you do the same – and it equally applies to a bunch of other puzzling placements on previous lists.
Bullpen Banter
www.bullpenbanter.com
twitter: @alskor
Meh, I’m not trying to argue Reckling; honestly, I would have had Robinson or Carpenter in over him. That said, Reckling’s pure stuff isn’t too far behind Chatwood’s, he has a bit better build, and most importantly as pertained to this list, he did a much better job of missing bats without any worse control. I’ve never really liked him, but given a down year for the league, I’m also struggling to think of any SP prospects clearly better that weren’t already ranked ahead.
I think you're missing my point
I don’t think either should be on there, but Reckling didn’t keep Chatwood off the list, Chatwood’s own performance did.
by blackoutyears on Oct 14, 2010 11:08 PM EDT up reply actions
I agree neither should be on.
I just thought it was peculiar to see Reckling on there. Not really arguing for Chatwood.
Bullpen Banter
www.bullpenbanter.com
twitter: @alskor
Matt Carpenter
a little surprised he didn’t make it…although he did hit markedly better in his home park, which is noted for being hitter-friendly
I was surprised as well.
He hit. Played good D. Was a leader on his team in everything. And plays the game old school. No batting gloves. Sprints ON and OFF. Always the first one out to his position.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
