Baseball Prospectus Releases Top 101 Prospects List

Jason Parks over at Baseball Prospectus released his Top 101 Prospects List yesterday. You don't have to be a subscriber to access it, so take a look. It is interesting to compare it to the Baseball America list. I will have my own up-to-date Top 120 Prospect List out next week, and of course my Top 50/50 List is already out in the 2013 Baseball Prospect Book.

Here are my observations about the BP list. Any list can be nitpicked to death and none of this is intended as a criticism. The right way to prospect is to look at multiple sources of information and opinion, with an awareness of where the author is coming from analytically. What are his biases and preferences? What are your biases and preferences? Know thyself.

***As he mentions himself, Jason is an upside-over-safety analyst and often favors pure tools over performance. He writes: "I will admit a bias against safe and secure in favor of high and hazardous. It’s just my bag, man. I have a taste for high ceilings."

***Like everyone else, Jason has Jurickson Profar of the Texas Rangers as the number one prospect, although he says he gave some thought to Oscar Taveras. I'm thinking along similar lines for next week myself...as much as I love Profar, Oscar is really getting tempting. The bat is that good.

***Jason bucks consensus a bit by placing Pirates prospect Gerrit Cole one slot ahead of Orioles prospect Dylan Bundy as the top pitching prospect.

***Like Baseball America, Prospectus is extremely high on Byron Buxton's tools and has the Minnesota Twins outfielder in the top ten.

***Mariners catching prospect Mike Zunino at 33 seems low to me.

***I like the aggressive rating of Royals shortstop prospect Adalberto Mondesi at 58.

***Like BA, Jason doesn't seem too concerned with Jake Marisnick's bat and has the Marlins outfielder at 71.

***Jedd Gyorko is 84 is another guy that seems low to me. But that's the difference in our biases: I find Gyorko's proven track record and closeness to the majors attractive.