BA's and BP's top 50 midseason lists

http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/midseason-top-50-injury-cant-knock-buxton-1/

Here's BP's list since it's behind a pay wall.

1. OF Byron Buxton (Twins)
2. SS Carlos Correa (Astros)
3. 3B Kris Bryant (Cubs)
4. SS Francisco Lindor (Indians)
5. SS Javier Baez (Cubs)
6. SS Addison Russell (Cubs)
7. RHP Lucas Giolito (Nationals)
8. RHP Dylan Bundy (Orioles)
9. RHP Noah Syndergaard (Mets)
10. RHP Robert Stephenson (Reds)
11. RHP Jonathan Gray (Rockies)
12. RHP Alex Meyer (Twins)
13. 3B Joey Gallo (Rangers)
14. RHP Archie Bradley (Diamondbacks)
15. LHP Julio Urias (Dodgers)
16. 3B Miguel Sano (Twins)
17. OF Joc Pederson (Dodgers)
18. 2B Arismendy Alcantara (Cubs)
19. SS Corey Seager (Dodgers)
20. C Austin Hedges (Padres)
21. RHP Hunter Harvey (Orioles)
22. C Blake Swihart (Red Sox)
23. RHP Braden Shipley (Diamondbacks)
24. OF David Dahl (Rockies)
25. C Jorge Alfaro (Rangers)
26. RHIP Jameson Taillon (Pirates)
27. RHP Kohl Stewart (Twins)
28. SS Raul Adalberto Mondesi (Royals)
29. RHP Aaron Sanchez (Blue Jays)
30. OF Stephen Piscotty (Cardinals)
31. RHP Tyler Glasnow (Pirates)
32. RHP A.J. Cole (Nationals)
33. LHP Daniel Norris (Blue Jays)
34. RHP Mark Appel (Astros)
35. OF Raimel Tapia (Rockies)
36. SS J.P. Crawford (Phillies)
37. OF Albert Almora (Cubs)
38. SS Tim Anderson (White Sox)
39. OF Josh Bell (Pirates)
40. LHP Henry Owens (Red Sox)
41. RHP Jose Berrios (Twins)
42. OF Jesse Winker (Reds)
43. RHP Nick Kingham (Pirates)
44. OF Hunter Renfroe (Padres)
45. OF Brandon Nimmo (Mets)
46. OF Nick Williams (Rangers)
47. RHP Michael Lorenzen (Reds)
48. RHP Luis Severino (Yankees)
49. RHP Alex Gonzalez (Rangers)
50. RHP Miguel Almonte (Royals)

Wow, never understand who does these rankings....Complete BS....Bryant has 30 HRs at AAA and AA combined within half of a season...An ddon't forget his average hasn't dipped below .340.....IDK about BA, but if i wanted the best player in baseball...I want G Stanton (w/.300 plus average)...not Carlos Gomez or J segura.

remixdjinx said:

Wow, never understand who does these rankings....Complete BS....Bryant has 30 HRs at AAA and AA combined within half of a season...An ddon't forget his average hasn't dipped below .340.....IDK about BA, but if i wanted the best player in baseball...I want G Stanton (w/.300 plus average)...not Carlos Gomez or J segura.

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Good grief, he's #3. What's the complaint?

You have to like the comments from BA about Bryant - "Power has been just as advertised, while his defense has been better than expected."

More interesting is on BP they have Almora in the 30's. BA Alcantara in the 30's.

My opinion Alcantara is the better prospect now.

TL1961 said:

Good grief, he's #3. What's the complaint?

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We'll they have 2 DL cases ahead of him. Sano also was injured but dropped.

Just feels like favoritism.

CSF77 said:

We'll they have 2 DL cases ahead of him. Sano also was injured but dropped.

Just feels like favoritism.

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I have no problem with Buxton where he is. In 638 PAs in 2013 he hit 15 homers and stole 57 bases while basically having a .330/.420/.520 triple slash and having likely Andrew Jones level defense. Sano is a bit different because while he clearly has immense power, he stirkes out a ton and isn't gonna hit for average. Sano arguably shouldn't have been that high to begin with Buxton's defense alone at CF is likely worth consideration for top 10. When you add in 60 SB potential with 15-20 HR potential it's a pretty sick combo. Buxton is one of 3-4 players with above 70 speed rating in all of the top 100.

Carlos Correa from the scouting rankings is essentially Baez with a slightly better arm. However, Correa has yet to show the kind of power Baez has. In 1016 PAs he has hit 18 HRs and has 36 SB. As such, I have difficulty with him being rated higher. That being said, Correa may be a safer prospect than Baez because his walk and K rates are a lot nicer. He is only 19 and Baez was only on a roughly ~30 HR pace as a 19 year old. I think Correa is deserving of a top 15 spot and from there you're kind of splitting hairs often.

The guy I kind of have a problem with is Joey Gallo being so high. You're talking about the likely best power hitter in the minors. But you're also talking about someone who struck out 42.3% of the time in AA and 26.0% in A+ and he has been 30%+ a lot of the time. We talk about Baez's worries with K rate but Gallo is close to being a 3 true outcome guy.

You can see the premium placed on short stops.

Now becomes the challenge for Theo and Jed, how do you guys get them off that list and on to the major leage roster.

I felt Correa was a top 10. Not #2.

I can buy the Bux argument.

Looking at the Ss's

Russell
Linder
Correa
Baez

That would be my ranking.

Linder by D only. SS is a core D position.

Baez only brings 1 tool to the discussion and that is his plus power. IMO he should have been moved off SS last year but SS tends to boost prospect rankings and perceived values. But as we are seeing with the trade for Russell Theo gets that it is a D position.

Russell has been compared to Larkin with power. He should get bigger and I can see that pushing him off SS also.

So in reality I would rank them Lindor than Correa because I believe they will be SS's.

Honestly I could see Baez in LF. He has a strong arm and has the instincts for it. He is ranked for his bat not his glove. He could go to RF but I believe they will hold out for Soler.

Bryant should stick at 3B. I don't see them moving him off unless his errors are over 20 per. Than I expect a position change. More like what happened to Braun. If A-Ram and his meh D can play 3B nothing says Bryant can't.

Russell not sure to be honest right now. This time next year we should have a better idea.

CSF77 said:

Baez only brings 1 tool to the discussion and that is his plus power.

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That's perhaps over critical of Baez. He stole 20 bases last year, 27 in 2012 and has 15 this year which puts him on pace maybe for 25. I'd consider 15 SB to be "average" so 25 would be plus IMO though admittedly that's going to go down as he gets older. His hit tool is perhaps underrated as well. His biggest problem there is that it's his least developed skill which gives him the K issues. He's never going to be Tony Gwynn there but it wouldn't shock me to see him hit in the .280-.290 range which again would be plus. As for his defense, it's better than people realize. People saw the high error total last year and don't realize that the vast majority of it was in Daytona during a 70 game stretch of which he had I believe 31 errors. Castro had a similar issue in Daytona where had something like 30 errors in 90 games. Again, Baez is never going to be Ozzie Smith there but it wouldn't shock me if he was as good as Castro and perhaps slightly better in time.

Ultimately, I don't think it matters as I would put Baez at 3B. By doing that you probably buy yourself 2 years to make a decision on Castro. Bryant kicks out to RF easy. Alcantara stays at 2B. Then you're just waiting on Russell to see what he does. If he's the player he appears to be then you have to decide on Castro. However, sliding him to 2B wouldn't be terrible as at 27 he's going to start to be less of the defender he used to be over the next 3-5 years especially when you consider he's already had 4 years in the majors(opposite argument of Shark). And by that point Alcantara will have had enough time to show you whether or not he's the guy you want going forward at 2B. If he is, maybe you trade Castro or consider Alcantara else where. If he's not well then you still have Castro.

Baez played 2B, CF, SS in HS, AFAIK. Why would he be moved to 3B when Bryant is apparently doing nicely there? Since it appears he (Baez) has decent range, wouldn't it make sense that either he moves to 2B or corner OF...depending on whether or not Alcantara continues to improve and how well he does in CF at Iowa?

CSF77 said:

We'll they have 2 DL cases ahead of him. Sano also was injured but dropped.

Just feels like favoritism.

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For who?

Parade_Rain said:

Baez played 2B, CF, SS in HS, AFAIK. Why would he be moved to 3B when Bryant is apparently doing nicely there? Since it appears he (Baez) has decent range, wouldn't it make sense that either he moves to 2B or corner OF...depending on whether or not Alcantara continues to improve and how well he does in CF at Iowa?

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Agree with this. You don't project a player to move to a spot that they have no history playing. Bryant has played 3B and RF. But Soler projects RF also and is also a top 100 and a plus defender with power. Not to mention if he continues this hitting he could be on Iowa next. Health has been his concern not talent or how developed. IMO he would have been on the team this year but his injuries held him back.

Almora is in question. Alcantara has been moved to CF recently. There is a need for a CF next year and he would fill it.

The way we should look at things is Bonifacio is going to be a FA. That opens a need for a lead off. Alcantara has been groomed for it this year and has now been moved to CF. Now Baez has not been moved off of SS but he has HS experience at 2B and the OF. If he was projecting at 3B where he has little to no history it makes little sense to let him sit at SS vs doing what they are doing with Alcantara.

To me it either leads me to believe that they are thinking of selling Castro post All Star game as his value is peaking and Baez has been left as a SS for this reason OR Baez has the history to transition to 2B.

Bryant IMO will be the 3B. I believe with Soler getting hot it is making that clearer.

Parade_Rain said:

Baez played 2B, CF, SS in HS, AFAIK. Why would he be moved to 3B when Bryant is apparently doing nicely there? Since it appears he (Baez) has decent range, wouldn't it make sense that either he moves to 2B or corner OF...depending on whether or not Alcantara continues to improve and how well he does in CF at Iowa?

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Your definition of "nicely" is vastly different than mine. 23 errors in 328 chances for Bryant for a .930 fielding%. People criticize Baez's defense. Well Baez including that very flukey Daytona stint has 78 errors in 1335 chances for a .942 fielding%. Bryant had 14 errors in Tennessee this year alone which is quite high out of 3B that sees less balls. Additionally, Baez has shown improvement in AAA and while Bryant has shown some in AAA he's still at .944. I keep telling people this but they apparently don't seem to care because Bryant's mashing the ball. Ultimately you're not going to see him at 3B in the majors playing defense like that.

As for Baez to 2B, it's a possibility. However, 3B and SS are fairly similar positions. Chipper Jones was a SS in the minors. Manny Machado who is now a 3B played 4 games there in the minors. It's fairly common move to see. I could name multiple examples. As far as I'm aware, the determination between 2B/3B after a move off of SS has more to do with the type of player. It might be slightly easier at 2B defensively but if you are the type of player who's less power and more speed a 2B transition makes more sense than 3B where you expect more power. At 3B, you will often bulk up for that power and it wont hurt you where as 2B still tend to keep their nimbleness. As Baez is arguably the top power bat in the minors 3B is a logical transition where as someone like Alcantara who has more speed and less pop went to 2B.

CSF77 said:

Agree with this. You don't project a player to move to a spot that they have no history playing.

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Isn't that the exact thing people are doing with Alcantara? He'd never played OF prior until AAA and has only played 10 games there ever in the minors.

TL1961 said:

Good grief, he's #3. What's the complaint?

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I think i explained it well. The question should be to you, Do you think Buxton is and wil be better than Bryant?

Seriously does it really matter where their ranked?

I mean does it have an effect on anything if a kid is ranked 1 , 5 , 10 or 20 ?

Just because a kid ranked higher in minors then another kid doesn't mean he gonna have a better career

chibears55 said:

Seriously does it really matter where their ranked?

I mean does it have an effect on anything if a kid is ranked 1 , 5 , 10 or 20 ?

Just because a kid ranked higher in minors then another kid doesn't mean he gonna have a better career

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Then why do they rank players?

remixdjinx said:

Then why do they rank players?

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No other reason I can think of but for the pure enjoyment of being able to rank something..

Just like ranking top 50 music , beautiful women, etc. Etc.

remixdjinx said:

Then why do they rank players?

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Why is there a pre-season NCAA Football Top 25? No one has played a damn game yet.