NO Will MYERS???? really

No Zack Stewart either. If not for the Halladay trade the Jays would have had no prospects in the top 100. Did any other team have that happen?

The omission of Trevor Reckling is absolutely ridiculous. I also think Manuel Banuelos and Jose Tabata should be on there. And why the hype over Zach Britton and Josh Bell all of the sudden? Britton's numbers aren't that great for his age, and Bell has been mediocre for the last four years.

Just wondering what the reasons were for Montero over Posey and Santana? Not all prospect lists have it in that order. I agree with this list, but just wondering what Baseball America's stance is.

I don't agree with Matusz over Feliz. No GM in their right mind would trade Feliz for Matusz. Just look at what both did in their brief taste in The Show last year. This minor concern of whether Feliz will end up in the bullpen is not reason enough to penalize his ranking.

Can you give us a list of those that fell off (by not making the majors) and maybe a brief reason why?  For instance, Ben Revere of the Twins.

About where would Chris Tillman and Matt Latos appear on this list? They were just over the 50 inning limit.

Couple of quick answers and thanks for the patience with our site, which wasn't 100 percent prepared for everyone's interest in the Top 100 today.
• Mier plays a premium position and should stay at SS. That, plus his strong debut, were big assets for him. Myers didn't miss by much but I touched on why he missed
• Scott Sizemore's not quite well-rounded enough for me, though it wouldn't surprise me for him to land on our Top 20 Rookies. I just think his ceiling—decent hitter, fringy defender at 2b—wasn't quite enough for me to rank him. I don't think he actually got any support in our offices.
• Revere didn't miss by much. Jim Callis and I recorded a podcast that sounds awful thanks to my poor technical skills; we'll try to do it again. But in the podcast we talked about Revere, and I think I wish he was on most of anyone who missed. He missed because there are questions about his defense and power; if you're grading him out, his speed and hit tools are both well above-average, his power and arm are both below or well-below, and his defense is fringy if not below. He's a tough call; our voting left him just out.

If Jordan Shafer had not had his torturous two-month run in Atlanta last summer, and in the process forfeited his eligibility for this list, would he have made your Top 100?  In other words, who do you like more going forward, Shafer or, say, Peter Bourjos?

Jose Iglesias? Was this an omission or do you have serious questions about his ability?

I missed Montero vs. Posey vs. Santana .  . . Montero's bat wins that argument by quite a bit for all of us. It's top of the line power to go with a top of the line hit tool.

Sorry, didn't finish my thought earlier re:Norris.  Was wondering why he ranked closer to Castro than to Santana/Posey.  Thanks.

Oh … why the big gap between Jared Mitchell and Brett Jackson?  The reports seem to suggest that Brett's discipline issues aren't as serious as some believed at the time of the draft.  I believe BA's own report indicated that he had good strike zone awareness (can't think of the exact words right now).  There were positive reports on his ability to handle the bat in situational purposes.  He has better power potential than Jared, and he's a much better defensive centerfielder.

John, thanks for your answer… I guess I was surprised that facing the low level competition worked against Norris since it apparently didn't work against Aaron Hicks or Ryan Westmoreland.  I like the fact that you guys are aggressive when it comes to some low level guys as it gives a deeper vision of the future.  Thanks again.  Great job as always on the list and the Handbook.

Maybe it's just a difference in approach, but certainly a number of lists have had Hector Rondon in the 50s.  Of course these are just rankings for fun, but I'm guessing that you have serious questions about his ceiling, considering how close he is to majors.  I personally think his record (and age) would put him well above the collection of low-A fireballers.

Out of curiosity why did you not respond to the Zack Stewart entry? Was able to see him last year and seems to be a few years away from being a solid number 2 starter…

RE: Rendon: Usually I like pitchers like him that command the fastball so well, but he also fits another category—RHPs with a breaking ball that's short—that makes me cautious. The fastball has to be very, very good for that profile to work. Guys I can think of who have pulled it off are guys like Curt Schilling, or late-career Roger Clemens. Rendon doesn't have that kind of fastball, even though it's his best pitch. I could see him more as a reliever in the future.
• Hosmer just didn't do anything encouraging last year, other than play. He got hurt, he had the eyes business . . . just nothing impressive. We haven't given up on him, but at the same time we didn't think he earned a Top 100 spot. FWIW, he was on one of our Top 100 lists but more in the 120 range for the rest of us.

My bad on Stewart: He didn't miss by much either, and we liked him a lot at midseason, he nearly made our Top 50. I think we're a bit confused by how he's going to be used, with the Jays now saying he's going to start. He's both relieved and started, and more scouts we've talked to seem comfortable viewing him as a reliever than as a starter. He *could* be an impact reliever but he's going to have to close or be a premium setup guy to be a Top 100 guy. That reliever part is what kept him off, but he was discussed for sure.

Don't forget we have players chatting from 4 p.m. ET into the night with Jason Castro of the Astros leading it off at 4 p.m. I have to run but we'll try to answer more questions here later tonight/tomorrow.

How about Chris Heisey?

Based on the team top 10's, he would be first out for the Reds. He may not be the ceiling of a Jason Heyward, but has shown no reason why he won't be a valuable major leaguer. Along with that, he would also seem to have a somewhat higher floor than most of the guys on this list.

OPS of .900 in his AA/AAA season. Strong hitting carried over to AFL. K/BB went up in AAA, but it would seem to me more like wear down at the end of the season (he had also played Puerto Rican Winter Leauge the previous winter) rather than having been discovered by the pitchers. He seems like a guy who could very reasonably go 20/20 while playing Plus defense at any of the three outfield positions. My fear is that he could be a candidate to be a Top 50 next year after being left in Louisville where he will continue to rake while the reds accept mediocrity from Gomes/Dickerson and leaves him eligible for next year.

I thought Mat Gamel had already reached rookie eligibility last year, reaching exactly 130 at bats. Wouldn't that make him ineligible for a list like this or do you use different criteria?

Jim- Gamel had 128 at-bats in 2009.

Am quite surprised to see the O's Josh Bell rated so high.
2 questions if I may.
1] Bell seems to struggle batting RH. Do you think he should discard the switch hitting?
2] How far off was Brandon Synder? Within the 150?
 
Thanks .
 

Jake Arrieta seems low at 99. The numbers weren't great, but he still projects as a mid rotation starter, no?

Oh ok, thanks for clearing that up. I thought once a player hit 130 AB (or 50 IP for that matter) they were no longer rookie-eligible. I didn't realize they had to exceed that.

How close was Danny Duffy? Three pitch repertoire, good command, and throwing left-handed make him a safe bet to become a mid-rotation starter. It's hard for me to see how a guy like Peter Bourjos makes it over him.

If you don't factor in risk and distance from the majors, which guys move up in the list dramatically? Who do you feel has the highest ceiling, even if they may not achieve it?

Manny Banuelos is the guy highest on my list not on here, but I understand that. He was down the Yankees list a ways. The lack of Borchering on the list surprises me. Looking at team rankings, he's the one I would have expected that wasn't here. On the other hand, Alex White surprises me all the way up at 65. He was 9th on the Indians list. Otherwise not much for shockers and seemed to follow team rankings fairly closely.
Did Max Stassi get any consideration?

Did Jon Niese miss the list just because of his hamstring injury? I think he's generally underestimated. After a terrible start in AAA, Niese had a stretch of 9 starts in Buffalo where he only gave up 7 ER. When he really focuses on his effectiveness as a pitcher and how he uses and commands his pitches, Niese can be a great pitcher, and he will do that and he will be a great pitcher

I'm a Rays fan, but Reid Brignac is absurdly high at #54. I don't see how you can rate a guy that high who has no power, no speed, doesn't draw walks, hasn't hit above .300, has repeated AAA twice and is old for a prospect.

Maybe jumping the gun here, but where will Edwin Salcedo end up that that the Braves have come to terms and all signs point towards him still being only 18?

1. Wil Myers should be on here. The fact that he isn't can only be explained by his name being forgotten when assembling this list. Adam Moore is a decent catcher, but not where near the talent Myers is. And yes, his position is a question mark, but that didn't stop Montero, Frazier and a slew of others making the top 50. An frankly, with as strong of an arm as he has, and as athletic as he is, it would be hard for me to believe that he couldn't play catchers in the MLB before at least 2 or 3 other catchers on this list.
Also, if he's not a known quantity, then why rank Chad James in the top 80, when he hasn't thrown a pitch in the minors. The same goes for Ackley, Miller and a few others, granted both are more talented than James.
2. Reckling could miss any Top 100 list easily– there's a handful of guys I would put on here before him. I agree with leaving him out, and would even but Fabio or Richards in front of him on a top 200.
3. I like Tom Neal a lot, but Wil Myers, Bobby Borchering, Matt Dominguez, Randall Delgado, Scott Sizemore, Anthony Rizzo, Tyler Flowers, Wilin Rosario, Craig Kimbrel, Wilmer Font and others all deserve to make this list before he does.
All and all I think this is a decent list. I like it better than Keith Law's. I think Daryl Jones is overrated, and so is Tabata. There's a good chance Tabata could be a line drive-hitting 25 year old, and if that's the case he's no prospect.

No Aroldis Chapman, Ian Desmond or any of the prospects the Jays got in the Halladay trade!?!?

Hey Special K, put down the pipe and check out #22 and #25.

SpecialK – Blue Jays received Mike Taylor who is ranked 29th and traded him for Brett Wallace ranked 27th. Also Travis d'Arnaud came in at 81. 

What about Allen Craig??  I don't get why you guys don't seem to think much of him.  Crazy solid numbers in '08 AA (.304/22/85/.867) and '09 AAA (.322/28/83/.921).  Plus, with that crummy 3B situation in StL where they're handing the job to Freese who already failed in the same exact situation last year, Craig could be the answer — plus has nice position versatility. Also – Dominic Brown: I like his skill set as you guys do but he hasn't really done much to warrant #15?!?  Thanks.

Apologies — I now see the disocurse above re: Schafer.

Where is Jenrry Mejia? He is only 19 can throw a mid 90's fastball can touch 99-100 mph. Also has an okay curve and good changeup. This guy hates mets prospects. Fernando Martinez at 77 Jenrry Mejia not on the list.

ScoutingBook had a great post and review on this a couple of days ago that says a lot about why different lists get different results. They say a lot of nice things about the BA list.
http://www.scoutingbook.com/bl.....2010-12510