The Top 300 Prospects
Whew. What you have before you is a project that spanned more than five months and included more than 30,000 words. To say that it was a massive undertaking for one person would be an understatement but it was a fun (and challenging) time. I want to thank all the readers for their (mostly constructive) comments; although I have been covering the minors for more than five years, this was my first attempt at my own Top 10 lists for every organization in Major League Baseball.
If you’re reading these lists for the first time, keep in mind that they do not include 2009 draft picks or international signings. Top 10 lists including ’09 draft picks can be found in FanGraphs’ 2010 Second Opinion fantasy companion.
A special thanks to all those who provided me with background information.
American League West
Texas Rangers | Top Prospect: Neftali Feliz, Starting Pitcher (MLB)
Seattle Mariners | Top Prospect: Michael Saunders, Outfielder (MLB)
Oakland Athletics | Top Prospect: Chris Carter, First Baseman (AAA)
Los Angeles Angels | Top Prospect: Hank Conger, Catcher (AA)
National League West
Colorado Rockies | Top Prospect: Christian Friedrich, Starting Pitcher (A+)
San Francisco Giants | Top Prospect: Buster Posey, Catcher (MLB)
San Diego Padres | Top Prospect: Simon Castro, Starting Pitcher (A-)
Los Angeles Dodgers | Top Prospect: Devaris Gordon, Shortstop (A-)
Arizona Diamondbacks | Top Prospect: Jarrod Parker, Starting Pitcher (AA)
American League Central
Kansas City Royals | Top Prospect: Mike Montgomery, Starting Pitcher (A+)
Detroit Tigers | Top Prospect: Casey Crosby, Starting Pitcher (A-)
Chicago White Sox | Top Prospect: Tyler Flowers, Catcher (AAA)
Cleveland Indians | Top Prospect: Carlos Santana, Catcher (AA)
Minnesota Twins | Top Prospect: Aaron Hicks, Outfielder (A-)
National League Central
St. Louis Cardinals | Top Prospect: Lance Lynn, Starting Pitcher (AA)
Pittsburgh Pirates | Top Prospect: Pedro Alvarez, Third baseman (AA)
Cincinnati Reds | Top Prospect: Yonder Alonso, First baseman (AA)
Chicago Cubs | Top Prospect: Andrew Cashner, Starting Pitcher (AA)
Milwaukee Brewers | Top Prospect: Alcides Escobar, Shortstop (MLB)
Houston Astros | Top Prospect: Jason Castro, Catcher (AA)
American League East
Toronto Blue Jays | Top Prospect: Brett Wallace, 3B/1B (AAA)
Boston Red Sox | Top Prospect: Casey Kelly, RHP (A+)
Tampa Bay Rays | Top Prospect: Desmond Jennings, OF (AAA)
Baltimore Orioles | Top Prospect: Brian Matusz, LHP (MLB)
New York Yankees | Top Prospect: Jesus Montero, C (AA)
National League East
Washington Nationals | Top Prospect: Stephen Strasburg, RHP (AFL)
Philadelphia Phillies | Top Prospect: Domonic Brown, OF (AA)
Florida Marlins | Top Prospect: Michael Stanton, OF (AA)
Atlanta Braves | Top Prospect: Jason Heyward, OF (AAA)
New York Mets | Top Prospect: Fernando Martinez, OF (MLB)
Why do you have Strasburg listed when you said it doesn’t include 09 draft picks?
Oh and by the way, I loved these prospect lists. Very informative.
If you read the Nationals summary, Marc says that he is making an exception for Strasburg since he is probably the best prospect in baseball.
Oh ok, thanks.
Where do you think Austin Jackson and Daniel Schlereth fit in Detroit’s system? Will you update the Tigers list to include them?
Since I’m a Tigers fan I’d like to know this as well. Personally I think I’d put Jackson at number 2 behind Crosby . For me Schlereth is a little tougher to rank because I really don’t know a whole lot about him but from some of the things I’ve read from other scouts he would be around 200 overall which I think would probably put him at number 5 behind Crosby, Jackson, Avila and Sizemore. Possibly a couple spots lower but behind them for sure. By the way since their list doesn’t take into account 09 draft picks I’m not taking into account Jacob Turner or Andy Oliver. If you did Jackson would be 3 behind Turner and Crosby and Schlereth would probably be at 7 or 8 behind both Turner and Oliver.
Not really a *top* 300….but 30 top 10′s!
Can you rank the top 100? I know there are a lot of prospect lists out there, but I’m curious how your list would go. Thanks.
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