Community Prospect #48
by gatling on Feb 5, 2026 12:14 PM EST
142 comments
With 24.4% of the vote, Grant Green is elected Community Prospect #47.
1. Jason Heyward - 51%
2. Stephen Strasburg - 76%
3. Buster Posey - 20% (43% runoff)
4. Michael Stanton - 20% (54% runoff)
5. Jesus Montero - 20% (45% runoff)
6. Brian Matusz - 21%
7. Pedro Alvarez - 23%
8. Desmond Jennings - 29%
9. Carlos Santana -37% (50% runoff)
10. Neftali Feliz -37% (50% runoff)
11. Justin Smoak - 46%
12. Domonic Brown - 23% (59% runoff)
13. Madison Bumgarner - 30%
14. Martin Perez - 28%
15. Dustin Ackley - 31%
16. Chris Carter - 33.6%
17. Jeremy Hellickson - 29.4%
18. Michael Taylor - 36.9%
19. Alcides Escobar - 37.0%
20. Christian Friedrich - 29.0%(53.2% runoff)
21. Logan Morrison - 45.6%
22. Ryan Westmoreland - 24.7%
23. Aroldis Chapman - 32.0%
24. Wade Davis - 40.8%
25. Fernando Martinez - 30.5%
26. Aaron Hicks - 33.3%
27. Kyle Drabek - 34.0%
28. Lonnie Chisenhall - 24.5%
29. Jenrry Mejia - 18.8%(51.6% runoff)
30. Yonder Alonso - 25.5%
31. Matt Moore - 19.0%(70.7% runoff)
32. Brett Wallace - 24.3%
33. Dan Hudson - 20.2%
34. Freddie Freeman - 17.4%
35. Jhoulys Chacin - 21.2%
36. Casey Kelly - 27.8%
37. Casey Crosby - 29.8%
38. Starlin Castro - 27.5%
39. Brett Lawrie - 18.4% (42.9% runoff)
40. Derek Norris - 17.3% (42.9% runoff)
41. Tyler Flowers - 20.2%
42. Tyler Matzek -22.7%
43. Jacob Turner - 23.0%
44. Michael Montgomery - 30.8%
45. Dee Gordon - 22%
46. Julio Teheran - 19.4%
Players will get 1 round on the poll as a tester, if they fail to draw 5% they will then be removed and sit out up to 3 rounds.
Players off the poll(will sit out up to 3 rounds): Chris Withrow(#47-3.3%), Ryan Kalish(#47-1.1%), Arodys Vizcaino(#47-4.4%), Josh Vitters(#47-3.3%), Aaron Crow(#47-4.4%), Jiovanni Mier(#46-1.1%), Todd Frazier(#46-2.2%), Matt Dominguez(#46-1.1%), Simon Castro(#46-1.1%), Tanner Scheppers(#45-2%), Mike Moustakas(#45-2%), Wil Myers(#45-4%), Zach Britton(#45-0%), Jarrod Parker(#45-2%), Jake Arrieta(#44-4.4%)
Tester pool: Josh Reddick, Ike Davis, Miguel Sano, James Darnell, Ethan Martin, Shelby Miller, Tim Beckham, Thomas Neal
The candidates with previous round vote %:
Brett Jackson
Jaff Decker 11.1%
Jared Mitchell
Michael Saunders 8.9%
Alex Colome
Zach Stewart
Josh Bell 15.5%
Jordan Lyles 10.0%
Jason Castro
Hector Rondon 8.9%
Donovan Tate
Over 130 AB/50 IP cutoff for eligibility
Please vote using the +1 system, not the rec system. Rec'd votes will not be counted in this poll, only actual posts with +1.
1 recs |
142 comments
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Vote with a +1 here for Brett Jackson
RIP Nick Adenhart
by gatling on Feb 5, 2026 12:17 PM EST reply actions 5 recs
+1
went Decker last time, but Jackson is a more complete player already. Don’t know much about Rondon, but I appreciated someone’s writeup on him from a couple polls ago, could go his way as well; same thing with Vizcaino. Simon Castro and Vitters are off now, I like them as well.
by PrincetonCubs on Feb 5, 2026 2:42 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Vote with a +1 here for Jaff Decker
RIP Nick Adenhart
by gatling on Feb 5, 2026 12:17 PM EST reply actions 5 recs
+1
"Ninety percent I'll spend on good times, women and Irish Whiskey. The other ten percent I'll probably waste."
by strums on Feb 5, 2026 12:45 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Vote with a +1 here for Jared Mitchell
RIP Nick Adenhart
by gatling on Feb 5, 2026 12:17 PM EST reply actions 5 recs
+1
Yes.. if a foul ball comes to the dugout, someone will be able to save Harold Baines. That’s great, but I don’t see how that helps us win games. x3 - Grinder In Training
by e-gus on Feb 5, 2026 5:52 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Vote with a +1 here for Michael Saunders
RIP Nick Adenhart
by gatling on Feb 5, 2026 12:17 PM EST reply actions 5 recs
Vote with a +1 here for Alex Colome
RIP Nick Adenhart
by gatling on Feb 5, 2026 12:18 PM EST reply actions 5 recs
Vote with a +1 here for Zach Stewart
RIP Nick Adenhart
by gatling on Feb 5, 2026 12:18 PM EST reply actions 5 recs
+1
Finally, please stay on poll.
"I generally avoid temptation unless I can't resist it" ~ Mae West
by Blicks on Feb 6, 2026 11:40 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Vote with a +1 here for Josh Bell
RIP Nick Adenhart
by gatling on Feb 5, 2026 12:18 PM EST reply actions 5 recs
+1
"mark kotsay for $1.5 million. or jim thome for $1.5 million.
gosh. i’m going to have to think about this one for a bit." larry
"We're gonna do this f*ucking thing over again cuz I just f*cked it up.....oh, we're live, I didn't know that" Bert Blyleven
by smoooooth on Feb 5, 2026 12:35 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
+1
www.oriolesprospects.com | twitter @orioleprospects
by ravensfan3 on Feb 5, 2026 12:35 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
+1
"I was going to say, 'You’re gay for Elvis.' But then I realized that I, too, am gay for Elvis." ~Adam J. Morris.
by Kinslerhomer on Feb 5, 2026 1:43 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
+1
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
by Brickhaus on Feb 5, 2026 2:04 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Vote with a +1 here for Jordan Lyles
RIP Nick Adenhart
by gatling on Feb 5, 2026 12:18 PM EST reply actions 5 recs
+1
Freude, schoener Goetterfunken,
Tochter aus Elysium,
Wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische dein Heiligtum.
by t ball on Feb 5, 2026 2:39 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Vote with a +1 here for Jason Castro
RIP Nick Adenhart
by gatling on Feb 5, 2026 12:19 PM EST reply actions 5 recs
+1
JD’s like, "you want some fucking pitching? Here’s all the pitching you can stand. Now choke on it, bitches!"- RCCook
by laxtonto on Feb 5, 2026 6:14 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Vote with a +1 here for Hector Rondon
RIP Nick Adenhart
by gatling on Feb 5, 2026 12:19 PM EST reply actions 5 recs
+1
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results.
by biggentleben on Feb 5, 2026 2:39 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
+1
like him better than Bell and it looks like this is the race right now
by daveh33 on Feb 5, 2026 5:16 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Vote with a +1 here for Donovan Tate
RIP Nick Adenhart
by gatling on Feb 5, 2026 12:19 PM EST reply actions 5 recs
If you want to vote only for Padres, that’s fine. But only vote for one per poll.
by zego555 on Feb 5, 2026 9:03 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
My bad
I just thought that since I’m probably the only Padres fan voting in these things, it would even things out in terms of the voting.
by sdpads24 on Feb 6, 2026 2:58 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Vote with a +1 and name here for anyone not listed above
RIP Nick Adenhart
by gatling on Feb 5, 2026 12:20 PM EST reply actions 4 recs
+1 Thomas Neal
Kevin Frandsen: The best SS on the Giants roster
Hoping for BowkerMania to hit AT&T; Park in 2010
by Gobroks on Feb 5, 2026 7:47 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Mitchell
He was the best of the available choices. I have others ahead of him, but the write-in votes aren’t all that productive so I went with the best on the board.
by jar75 on Feb 5, 2026 12:41 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Jason Castro
Others around here have never been as high on him as me, but when I look around, I don’t see many other places he’s not top 50 at this point.
31 - Mayo
38 - Callis
24 - Lingo
46 - Manuel
He was also ranked the 3rd best guy by the coaches in the California League, behind only Posey and Friedrich. He was 6th in the AA Texas League, but the 5 guys ahead of him there are on the board already as well.
I’d have liked to see more power in AA, but otherwise have no complaints about the numbers. I think he got a bit under rated coming out of college, partly due to his broken hamate in his Jr year hurting his numbers. Maybe also due to Stanford’s extreme pitcher’s park environment. Since then though -
OPS
0.922 - Cape Cod (outhitting teamates B. Posey and G. Beckham)
1.043 - senior season (park adjusts to about 1.130)
0.767 - NYPL (first 162 pro PA)
0.925 - Hawaii
0.916 - A+ (243 PA)
0.747 - AA (268 PA)
0.474 - AFL (only 48 PA)
The extra base hit rate this year dropped from one every 8.7 PA in A+ to one every 17.9 PA in AA. But the solid strikeout and walk rates remained, with 25 walks to 35 SO. And still he hit .293 with a .362 OBP there. I think it’s just a case of him adjusting to the new level.
In any case, the solid overall approach probably means he will continue to hit some, and he is solid defensively, in the words of his BA scouting report “in every regard”. That’s probably not a star player, but it does sound like it might be an above average starter overall for the catcher position.
by acerimusdux on Feb 5, 2026 1:58 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Of the available choices
I have it as Saunders, Rondon, J. Castro, Brett Jackson as the 4 to debate. Can’t vote for Mitchell/Tate when I think Brett Jackson is simply better overall than both of them, in terms of value right now. I like Decker’s bat a lot, but I just don’t think I can vote for him as top 50. Maybe that’s not fair, and I’ll ponder it for the next vote. I think Lyles ceiling is probably Rondon-ish, so Rondon’s safety makes it the easy call for me. Colome is too far away for me, and admittedly, on Stewart, I’m not sure what to think. I like Josh Bell quite a bit, but I wouldn’t take him over the above 4.
Sorry, no in depth thought process for this one on several players. I’m going J. Castro or Rondon here. Castro should reach the bigs and be, at the very least, a decent catcher, which gives him the value bump over Saunders for me. Brett Jackson has some more work to do. Castro … yeah I’ll go that route.
by toonsterwu on Feb 5, 2026 2:04 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
I'm voting Scheppers as soon as he's back on.
The Rangers front office is much more confident in his health than outsiders are, and recently scoffed at some of the reports they’ve seen on the internet about how breakable everyone assumes he is. Many writers treat him as if he’s radioactive or something, but I just don’t see him as having that much more risk than all of the other pitchers.
Freude, schoener Goetterfunken,
Tochter aus Elysium,
Wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische dein Heiligtum.
by t ball on Feb 5, 2026 2:44 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
damn
i’m totally shocked they didn’t come out and say how injury prone is publicly. dumbasses!!!
baseball rules.
by doublestix on Feb 5, 2026 3:12 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
They drafted and signed him
and they have a well respected medical staff, so I doubt they think he’s a ticking time bomb.
Freude, schoener Goetterfunken,
Tochter aus Elysium,
Wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische dein Heiligtum.
by t ball on Feb 6, 2026 12:49 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I'll go half way
I disagree with you that he doesnt have much more risk than all of the other pitchers - I would rank him among the riskiest.
BUT his upside is so substantial that it outweights much of the risk. Right now he’s preparing as a starter and the Rangers seem to seriously think he can start. Ive watched a good bit of video of him and nothing really bugs me about his mechanics, though they arent the smoothest in the world.
Im voting Scheppers after Mitchell gets on.
by alskor on Feb 6, 2026 1:24 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Decker
I’m not quite ready to vote for him yet, but he is a very solid prospect. I was thinking about this the other day - you know who he reminds me of? Nick Swisher. Similar plate approach, similar body type, and similar skill sets.
by guru4u on Feb 5, 2026 3:16 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Swisher's...
a pretty much league average defensive outfielder. Decker projects to be worse than that. Love the bat, question where he’ll play, and very, very concerned about how he’ll age given that he’s already pretty immobile as a teenager.
by slamcactus on Feb 5, 2026 3:26 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I feel the same way
except I would add I dont know exactly how much I like his bat. Its pretty good… not sure its really anything special or great… and it damn well better be with his limitations.
by alskor on Feb 5, 2026 10:44 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Dacker's a lot wider
And a better contact hitter probably.
by Daniel Berlyn on Feb 5, 2026 7:31 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Decker v. Mitchell
Looking at one of these guys this round, anyone really have an opinion as to one over the other?
by MightyMoose on Feb 5, 2026 3:31 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
B/w those two
I’d probably lean Mitchell if he can stick in CF. Love Decker’s bat, but I think Mitchell should be alright offensively and the value of being in CF would help. That said, I prefer Brett Jackson over both.
by toonsterwu on Feb 5, 2026 3:51 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Jackson
I read your post above. I don’t know too much about him, other than the pre-draft stuff. Is there someone you liken him to?
by MightyMoose on Feb 5, 2026 4:09 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Andy Van Slyke is my comp
Jackson has 20/20 potential and GG caliber defense with .290/.355./.480 type lines. They are also coincidentally both LH and 6’2
I’ve heard people throw Jim Edmonds as a comp, I don’t foresee that much power with Jackson but who knows, Jackson easily has better baserunning skills and is almost certainly faster overall.
by two fishsticks on Feb 5, 2026 7:08 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Jackson vs. Jackson
How do you think Brett compares to Austin? I think Brett could be a bit better defender, but he’s not showing any more stolen base ability. Overall tools are probably similar. Is he going to show any more in game power?
Austin in 2007 hit .345/.398/.566 at age 20 after his promotion to A+, while striking out once per 5.9 PA at that level. The biggest red flag there was the full season strikeout rate of once per 5.1 PA, though it had improved at the higher level. The next year at AA, the strikeout rate was once per 5.2 PA and his line was .285/.354/.419. This year at AAA, the strikeout rate was once per 4.5 PA and his line was .300/.354/.405. The point is he was able to maintain his average and OBP while moving up partly by sacrificing some of that power.
So my question is what will happen with Brett, who had an xbh per 14.6 PA this season while striking out once per 4.4 PA? And, in low A ball, that rose to once per 4.0 PA. The BA writeup suggests the Cubs could have Jackson start this year in AA, but I’m skeptical they are going to have a guy skip A+ ball who was striking out once every 4.0 PA in low A.
I appreciate there is some raw power potential there, but I’m doubting it will translate that quickly into performance at higher levels. I expect the next couple of years for Brett will look a lot like the last couple of seasons for Austin. Are the tools much better? Is there much more power/speed/defense there?
by acerimusdux on Feb 5, 2026 8:20 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
i believe we had a good comp on an earlier thread on b. jackson, and it was drew stubbs.
by giantdonkey on Feb 5, 2026 9:32 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Cubs are anticipating
20-25 HR’s from Brett. They believe he has that level of power, if not more. I don’t know if his tools are much better than Austin’s, but I believe they are better.
There’s a small chance Cubs start him at Daytona, but there are some strong rumblings, beyond BA, that he’ll go to Tennessee and the Southern League. The Cubs showed a mixture of aggressiveness and patience last year (patient on Vitters, amongst ohters, aggressive on Castro/Jay Jackson/Brandonb Guyer/Dan McDaniel/Ryan Searle/Casey Coleman/even Junior Lake and a few others).
by toonsterwu on Feb 5, 2026 10:04 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I like his tools considerably more than Austin's...
but much stronger chance of flameout.
- for me.
by alskor on Feb 5, 2026 10:46 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
agreed
Flameout rate is much higher. I am open to an Austin tester here, though I don’t think he should get on.
by toonsterwu on Feb 5, 2026 10:49 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Ah...
didnt even realize that the html messed up there. I was saying #79 for me on Jackson. Fwiw, I have Decker one behind him at #80. Im not really sold on either guy.
by alskor on Feb 5, 2026 11:01 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I don't do comps that well
but Brett Jackson looks like, if he develops, that he’ll stick as a good to plus defender in CF. He has one major wart right now, and that’s discipline. That said, I was never as concerned as others about the discipline pre-draft (I don’t believe the numbers in Cape/Northwoods, discipline wise, was that bad, and he had a jump in K’s from his soph-junior campaigns that coincided with his power development - I’m no expert, but I can imagine some hitters needing to find a new balance once their power develops). Now, I didn’t have him ranked this high early on (my first post-season Cubs list had him tentatively in the 5th or 6th spot). That said, the reports indicate
a) The kid isn’t a hacker. He knows his strike zone.
b) He handles the bat very well in regards to being able to adjust for situational hitting.
Both of those are good signs, IMO. No, he’s never going to be a plus discipline guy, but I think he’ll find a solid balance. I just think, as of now, the overall package is better than Decker’s. I love Decker’s bat, but let me see how it does higher up before getting too giddy on it, and Brett has a positional value to him.
Mitchell is a much more interesting comparison. That said, Brett is projected to have better power (20+ HR expectations) and is likely to be a better defender. I’m a bit iffy on calling him 5-tool, even though the Cubs Oneri Fletia has (I’m not sure Brett has plus arm, somewhere from average to good). Mitchell has an edge in speed, but Brett’s no slouch. Mitchell has a tiny edge in discipline, but for the above reasons, I’m just not as concerned as of now on Brett’s discipline. I pretty much have the discipline more of a draw, and Brett’s power is a huge nod for me.
by toonsterwu on Feb 5, 2026 10:01 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Why wasn't Arrieta added back on?
Even atheists believe in Matt Wieters
by wickedwitch on Feb 5, 2026 7:03 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
He'll be on next poll
There were only 6 open spots and I wanted to give Colome his first run as a tester, so the 5 guys ahead of Arrieta were added along with Colome.
RIP Nick Adenhart
by gatling on Feb 5, 2026 8:26 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Austin Jackson
Why is Austin Jackson being ignored on this list? I see too much love here for guys just drafted who haven’t played yet at higher levels. The Tigers traded for Austin to make him their starting CF. Almost everybody who is rating prospects sees a lot more in him than they see in several of the guys who already made this list.
by davidalan51 on Feb 5, 2026 8:29 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
I agree as well
Too much prospecting, almost ignoring the extreme levels of risk in half of these young players
by jaroche6 on Feb 5, 2026 9:38 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Suffers from a perceived low ceiling
He may have a high floor, but that gets ignored in the total assessment around these parts.
I think he’ll have a Fukudome type career (10ish HR and a high OBP/low SLG), a 4th OF on a high payroll team or a starter on a low payroll team, I don’t believe this is worthy of a top 50 spot.
As long as Jackson isn’t stealing $12 million a year in his prime years like K-Fuk then his performance will be appreciated though.
by two fishsticks on Feb 5, 2026 10:29 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
totally OT
but I believe Fukudome made some major strides last year. Instead of collapsing, all he had were two bad months. Granted, bad month is a bad month, no way around it, but it wasn’t like his 2008 campaign, where he simply collapsed. He had a bad June and a bad September. If those bad months can simply be below average months, he could really jump in “value”. Granted, he had a torrid summer last year, so there’s some balancing out, but I wonder if Kosuke might end up surprising and giving close to the value of his contract when all is said and done. Keep in mind that, for this first two years, his salary was 19.5 million, and his performance value, according to fangraphs, was 18.4. This, despite his collapse offensively in 08 and playing out of position in 09.
Anyhow like I said, totally off topic.
by toonsterwu on Feb 5, 2026 10:47 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I disagree that AJax has a high floor
I don’t think he’ll have a high OBP at all, he doesn’t walk that much so he’ll have to hit .290+ to have a decent OBP. I’m guessing him in the .270/.320/.380 range unless things really come together for him, a bat like that will end up giving back any positives he has in positional adjustment and the likely above average defense he will play. I’d guess him as a 2nd division starter or 4th OF on a good team(again, unless he finally translates those tools into skills). He’s a cheap option for a team to run out there, but I don’t see him as top 100 material at this point.
RIP Nick Adenhart
by gatling on Feb 6, 2026 11:59 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
That being said
if there is some real vocal support for him, he’ll get a tester.
RIP Nick Adenhart
by gatling on Feb 6, 2026 12:00 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
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