The 2012 Baseball Prospect Book has arrived from the printer and we are shipping orders today. We ordered enough print copies to cover all pre-orders and we still have some remaining, but print copies are first-come, first-serve. There won't be a reprint, so if you want to be sure and get one, order ASAP.

The Baseball Prospect Book is Made in the USA! It is written by an American and is printed in the United States, so stimulate the American economy, support small business, and buy the BPB. It has reports on 1205 players, and is funnier than competing publications.

We are also selling .pdf electronic copies, which you can order at the same link (be sure you are ordering the thing you want). The .pdf is distributed via email each evening, usually after 10 PM CST. Please make sure to provide a valid email address. We've had some people who ordered the electronic version but didn't give us an email address that works. NOTE: Gmail users report that the .pdf often ends up in their spam filter, so if you have gmail, order the book, and don't get it, check your spam!

The college draft crop is thin this season but the prep crop is very good. Like Jameson Taillon and Dylan Bundy, Lucas Giolito will be in the conversation for the 1st overall pick. Ultimately, I don't think he will be but he has a chance. The draft is very heavy in Pitchers and Outfielders with a few solid up the middle talents. Expect this list to change a lot by the draft as there are 60 players that could have 1st round talent. Taylore Cherry at #26 could be a top 10 pick with a good spring. The new CBA could really make this a wild draft as well, but more on that in the future. I will be detailing many of these guys in the coming weeks.

For now, here is how I have it.

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Although often regarded as a disappointment given his status as the first player picked in 1998, Pat Burrell was an above-average player despite his limitations. Compare him to the other players drafted in the first round in 1998:

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Prospect Retrospective: Pat Burrell

Pat Burrell announced his retirement today after a 13-year major league career.

Let's take a look at what he was like as a prospect.

Pat Burrell was the first-overall pick in the 1998 draft. A star slugger at the University of Miami, Burrell hit .432 with 17 homers for the Hurricanes, although he was limited to 113 at-bats by a back injury. He was considered a top slugging prospect but his pure hitting skills were fairly respected as well, and he wasn't expected to need long in the minors. The Phillies moved him from third base (his college position) over to first base in pro ball, partly because he wasn't much of a fielder and partly because they already had Scott Rolen.

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The Top 25 Pitchers in Baseball: How They Were Seen as Prospects

This is the season for prospect lists. I thought I would take a trip through the wayback machine and write a prospect list of a different sort, taking the Top 25 Pitchers in Baseball (in 2011 as measured by WAR) and looking at how I rated them as prospects. I will do a separate list for hitters, probably on Wednesday.

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This morning I pulled a book off my shelf at random: The 2002 Prospect Handbook by Baseball America. I decided to take a look and see who the top prospect in each organization was that year. You can find the list below and it may make for some interesting discussion from a brief snapshot in time.

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If you ordered the electronic (.pdf) version of the 2012 Baseball Prospect Book before Friday, you should have received it early this morning in your email. We had a few people who provided inaccurate email addresses and those bounced back as undeliverable. If you think you are in this category, email for assistance at JSBN01@aol.com.

If you have a gmail account, please check your spam filter. We have multiple reports of the .pdf ending up in Gmail spam filters.

The .pdf is emailed once a day.

The paper copy of the book will start shipping Wednesday, February 1st. We still have some paper copies available but they are going quickly, so get your orders in!

Thanks, everyone!

Yoennes Cespedes (Getty)

This is really tricky. I'm not "in" the loop here, as I don't have any direct contacts in the D.R. or other Latin American countries but I do have names I've heard or read that have yet to sign. I may have missed the signings as well as many of these don't get a lot of attention. In other words, this is a work in progress and always will be. Nothing with International talent is transparent.

1. Yoennis Cespedes, OF. The Cuban defector has a couple hoops he needs to jump through before being decalred a free agent and able to sign, but he could be within a couple weeks or a couple months. There is a lot of red tape here. When he signs, he shouldn't need more than some time to acclimate to the U.S. before making his MLB debut. He could be treated similar to Leonys Martin last season.

2. Jorge Soler, OF. A younger version of Cespedes is going through a similar situation. I might prefer his potential to Cespedes but he would probably begin in Low-A or maybe High A ball as a 19 year old. A cautious team may even place him in their complex level team in the Gulf Coast or Arizona league before sending him to a full season league next year. Timing will also be a large part of this. Whoever signs him will need some patience.

After that there is a drop off. There is a talented Dominican named Helsin Martinez who I was impressed by but no one has signed him and I haven't heard anything about him lately. Not sure what's happening with him now, but I'd place him 3rd here based on talent. After that, none of the pre-July 2nd guys are big names that you should get very excited about.

I wrote about some of the signings from this season here as well.

After the jump is a list of player I believe to be international free agents as well as some July 2nd names. I haven't done my due diligence on them yet but I will have a report about them prior to J2.

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Some Intriguing Grade C Prospects to Follow in 2012.

I wrote a piece yesterday about Jorge Posada, pointing out that the retired Yankees star was just a Grade C/C+ prospect in the minor leagues. I want to expand that theme today by looking at some Grade C prospects in the upcoming 2012 Baseball Prospect Book, who in my opinion have a chance to get beyond that and surprise us.

First, here is how I define a Grade C prospect:

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MLB.com released their version of the Top 100 Prospects list for 2012 today. Here are some of my thoughts about it and it is a great topic for discussion.

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