Known prospect grade changes

As the editing and production process moves forward for the 2016 Baseball Prospect Book, I am finalizing the Top 50/50 prospects list. That part of the process should be complete this evening.

There are always a few one-step grade changes at this point; as I slot players on the list, there are always a few examples of "I now like player X less than I did back in November when I wrote him up" issues that crop up. Here are the important ones so far.

J.P. Crawford, SS, Phillies: Old Grade A; new Grade A-: This is a slotting issue. I prefer Orlando Arcia to Crawford. Arcia was a Grade A-. After studying Arcia again, I decided to stay with the A-, which means Crawford had to move down a notch so he could fit behind Arcia properly on the top 50.

Aaron Judge, OF, Yankees: Old Grade B+; new Grade B: I still love his upside but there were some Grade B outfielders I like better, which meant that Judge had to move down to fit with his peer group.

Austin Meadows, OF, Pirates: Old Grade A-; new Grade B+: This is a slotting issue. I prefer Indians outfield prospects Bradley Zimmer and Clint Frazier to Meadows. Both of them were rated Grade B+. After due consideration, I decided that I wanted them to stay with the B+ grades, which meant Meadows had to move down to B+ to slot properly behind them.

Sean Newcomb, LHP, Braves: Old Grade A-; new Grade B+: Old grade did not sufficiently account for his command issues.

Adam Brett Walker, OF, Twins: Old Grade B-; new Grade C+: Old grade did not sufficiently account for his contact problems.