Top-100 Prospect List Showdown: AL East

Putting together a Top-100 prospect list is a massive undertaking and any site that takes on the challenge deserves to be recognized for their efforts. Since I have just over a week before I have to publish my next S2S Team Prospect List, I wanted to do something a little different while I have this small window. The team prospect lists are a grind and require a ton of research and writing time to put together and I thought that comparing various Top-100s would be a good way to change gears and provide a (hopefully) useful services to our readers

I’m not looking to be overly insightful with these six articles – one for each division – or draw any groundbreaking conclusions. Just looking for a way to compare the rankings and give some of the sites that took on the task of producing a Top-100 – like Nathaniel did for S2S – a little extra love.

The sources I have selected for this 6-part miniseries are:

• Baseball Instinct (BI)
• MLB.com (MLB)
• MLB Prospect Portal (Port)
• Project Prospect (Proj)
• Scout.com (SC)
• And of course the S2S rankings (S2S) are included.

So let’s turn to the AL East – which had 38 players make a Top-100 – and see how each list stacks up next to the others on a team-by-team basis.

Baltimore Orioles [4]

The O’s have the fewest number of players (4) to make a top-100 in the divsion but two of them are unanimous selections. To paint the picture in brighter colors still, both Bundy and Machado are solidly in the top-20 (on average). Baltimore has two great pieces to build around but unfortunately they’re going to need a lot more high-upside talent to compete in the East.

Most curious ranking(s): Nothing really stands out here. I suppose the inclusion of Bridwell is the “most” curious as he’s been statistically substandard, but he was young for his level in 2011 and is a high upside guy.

Boston Red Sox [11]

If you’re a Sox fan you’re probably happy to see that 11 players made a Top-100 but it’s not all roses and lollipops. Bogaerts is the only consensus selection among the 11 Boston farmhands ranked and Middlebrooks is only other player to be included on more than 50% of the lists. Even the rankings on Xander have a fair amount of disparity as he ranges from as high as #18 and as low as #72.

Most curious ranking(s): Garin Cecchini at #37. Not so much because he made a list but due to the fact that Baseball Instinct had him so high while none of the other 5 sources included him at all.

New York Yankees [5]

It’s pretty clear who the three best prospects are in the Yankees system but how they match up to one another is another matter entirely. Banuelos comes out on top on 5 of the 6 lists with the one outlier being Nathaniel’s selection of Sanchez. Four sources place Sanchez 3rd amongst the trio which is a bit surprising to me as Betances appears destined for the bullpen while Sanchez is a catcher and handled the SAL well as an 18-year old.

Most curious ranking(s): The fact that Bichette made just one of the six lists. I thought S2S would be in the minority leaving him off our Top-100 but it looks like most sources are taking a wait and see approach on him just as we are.

UPDATE: I forgot that Jose Campos – #82 on the S2S Top-100 – made his way to the Yankees in the Pineda/Montero trade. His omission in the above table was unintentional.

Tampa Bay Rays [7]

Matt Moore is the best pitching prospect in baseball right now and it’s not even really that close. Hak-Ju Lee is an interesting case study and one of the reasons I wanted to put this “showdown” series together to put some rankings side by side. Scout.com and S2S rank him in the 20s while Baseball Instinct, Prospect Portal and Project Prospect have him in the 60-70 range. MLB.com falls right in the middle. It’s a statement on how much ranking methodology can play a role in where guys get slotted and I find it absolutely fascinating.

Most curious ranking(s): That only two Rays made their way onto the S2S list and the reappearance of Tim Beckham on a couple of Top-100s.

Toronto Blue Jays [11]

The Jays have one of the best systems in all of baseball and it’s easy to see why with 11 players getting ranked. Yes, its the same number as the Red Sox turned in but Toronto’s group has a very different “feel.” Marisnick and d’Arnaud were included on all 6 lists while Hutchison and Gose both made 5 and Syndergaard made 4.

Most curious ranking(s): I’m stunned that our ranking of Drew Hutchison is such an extreme outlier relative to his standing on other lists. I also continue to be blown away that so many sources rank other Jays pitching prospects ahead of him. While Nathaniel did our Top-100, I’m also an unabashed D-Hutch supporter as you can see here.

~~~~~

For a truly great resource for all your prospect rankings be sure to check out Fantasy Rundown.

You can follow us on Twitter @Seedlings2Stars and yours truly @thebaseballfish. You can also keep up to date with all things S2S by liking our Facebook page.