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Baseball America http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/ The Home For Baseball Insiders Mon, 25 Mar 2013 16:56:43 EST en-us http://www.baseballamerica.com/images/baonlinelogo4.gif Baseball America http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/ 96 9 1 2013 Top 100 Prospects Chat With John Manuel and JJ Cooper http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/top-100-prospects/2013/2614754.html Content: Moderator: Baseball America editors will chat about the Top 100 Prospects starting at 2 p.m. ET. Shawn McDonald (Dallas): Taking everything into account, who do you think will get more MLB ABs this season, Taveras or Profar? And how many do you project for each? John Manuel: Thanks everybody for coming. I'll start us off and JJ Cooper will be in as well. I'd lean toward Profar there, in part because Taveras still isn't on the 40-man roster. I don't see the Cardinals keeping Taveras down for long, and I have a harder time seeing where Profar plays. Does he wind up in CF? I could see it for 2013. Our Top 20 rookies meeting is coming up shortly and figuring out the 2013 playing time for both those guys is a real challenge. Izzy (New York): Seems like some of the guys who are far from contributing are higher on this list than on others (Correa, Buxton, etc). Does BA weight ceiling a bit more? John Manuel: It depends on the individual. We had seven staffers contribute their own top 150 lists, put them in the spreadsheet and then debated how the list turned out. Considering how much we . . . Tue, 19 Feb 2013 16:55:14 EST http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/top-100-prospects/2013/2614754.html Top 100 Prospects: Risk Factors http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/rankings/top-100-prospects/2013/2614741.html Content: See also: Top 100 Prospects See also: Top 100 Prospect Tidbits See also: Top 100 Prospects By The Numbers See also: Top 100 Prospects Podcast See also: Top 100 Prospects Best Tools See also: Top 100 Prospects Chat See also: Top 100 Prospects Process Keeps Improving See also: Some Bargains Were Found Among Top 100 Prospects See also: Five Top 100 Near-Misses To Watch In 2013 See also: All-Time Top 100 Prospects List See also: Updated Team Top 10 Prospect Lists Wild Things Will Need To Add Control To Succeed Three pitchers who cracked the Top 100 Prospects list walked more than five batters per nine innings last season at the low Class A level. Yet power righthanders Archie Bradley (No. 25 pictured above), Aaron Sanchez (65) and Kyle Crick (66) all catch scouts' attention with double-plus fastballs and curveballs that could be consistent put-away pitches with improved consistency. How optimistic should we be about Bradley, Sanchez and Crick cutting back on free passes as they climb the minor league ladder? Below are nine righthanders of recent vintage who had trouble finding the plate in the low minors but went on to make at least 30 career . . . Tue, 19 Feb 2013 12:15:11 EST http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/rankings/top-100-prospects/2013/2614741.html Top 100 Prospects: Best Tools http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/rankings/top-100-prospects/2013/2614746.html Content: After sorting through all of the grades, here are the players at the head of each class including Oscar Taveras (pictured above): . . . Tue, 19 Feb 2013 12:14:54 EST http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/rankings/top-100-prospects/2013/2614746.html Top 100 Prospects By The Numbers http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/top-100-prospects/2013/2614745.html Content: Here's a look at the Top 100 Prospects list breaks down in a number of categories. With prospects like Trevor Rosenthal (pictured above) the Cardinals are among three organizations leading the way in number of Top 100 Prospects. . . . Tue, 19 Feb 2013 12:08:59 EST http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/top-100-prospects/2013/2614745.html 2013 Top 100 Prospects http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/top-100-prospects/2013/2614739.html Content: See also: Top 100 Prospect Tidbits See also: Top 100 Prospects By The Numbers See also: Top 100 Prospects Risk Factors To Consider See also: Top 100 Prospects Podcast See also: Top 100 Prospects Best Tools See also: Top 100 Prospects Chat See also: Top 100 Prospects Process Keeps Improving See also: Some Bargains Were Found Among Top 100 Prospects See also: Five Top 100 Near-Misses To Watch In 2013 See also: All-Time Top 100 Prospects List See also: Updated Team Top 10 Prospect Lists This year's Top 100 Prospects list is all about breaking down the list to its essential elements. For every player in the Top 100, we have rated five tools on the 20-80 scouting scale, based on his realistic future ceiling. We've also included breakdowns of the Top 100 from every angle, from risk factors associated with some types of players to demographics of the list, and a look forward and a look back. Our 24th annual Top 100 Prospects list is the definitive annual ranking of the best professional talent in baseball below the major league level, and a culmination of our offseason prospect coverage. Eligibility for the list follows our standard prospect guidelines, which . . . Tue, 19 Feb 2013 12:00:51 EST http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/top-100-prospects/2013/2614739.html Five Near-Misses To Watch http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/rankings/top-100-prospects/2013/2614743.html Content: Deciding the final spots on the Top 100 Prospects list is never easy. These five near-misses missed the Top 100 in large part because of their brief track records—none has spent a month in full-season ball yet. Keep an eye on all five, as they could be big movers on next year's list. Josh Bell, of, Pirates: Health is the only thing keeping Bell (pictured on the right) off the Top 100. He was one of the top high school bats in the 2011 draft class, but he has seen little of the field as he tries to recover from a serious knee injury. Joey Gallo, 3b, Rangers: The Nevada high school career home run record holder (pictured on the left) added an Arizona League home run record in his pro debut. His power is near the top of the scale. Gallo needs to improve his contact rate and his defense at third to move onto this list next year. Adalberto Mondesi, ss, Royals: Mondesi (pictured on the right), the son of former big leaguer Raul, was 16 when the Pioneer League schedule began, but that didn't keep him from holding his own offensively and defensively. If he can show . . . Mon, 18 Feb 2013 16:51:40 EST http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/rankings/top-100-prospects/2013/2614743.html The 32nd Team http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614633.html Content: We put 900 scouting reports in each edition of the Prospect Handbook, and 30 more in the supplement we send to people who order the book directly from Baseball America, and yet we always have a few more. Extra reports are created when transactions add prospects to a system and push others out of an earlier version of our Top 30 lists, or when we tinker with the order and write up additional players. And some of our writers just supply a few extra reports because they can't help themselves. We used to call the leftover reports the 31st Team and started posting them online in 2003, the third year of the Handbook. In 2009, when we began giving readers who purchased the Handbook directly from us a bonus supplement with an additional prospect for each organization. That essentially became the 31st Team, so now we consider the extras the 32nd Team. Last year's edition of the 32nd Team featured 15 prospects, most notably Jose Quintana, who jumped from high Class A and went 6-6, 3.76 as a rookie with the White Sox in 2012. No one else appeared in the majors, though lefthander Scott Snodgress jumped to No. 6 . . . Tue, 05 Feb 2013 16:48:09 EST http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614633.html 2013 Overall Team Top 10 Prospects List http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614594.html Content: There's never a time when a Top 10 Prospect list isn't changing. As soon as we publish a Top 10, teams will start making trades that force up to tear up those rankings. Since the Blue Jays Top 10 went public on Nov. 7, the club has traded away five of the prospects on that top 10. The Tampa Bay Rays have added two prospects to their top five, as have the New York Mets. But as we've wrapped up our final Top 10 Prospects list of the offseason, we felt it was the perfect time to bring up to date all of our Top 10s. So here's how they would stand on the final day of January, 2013. For historical purposes, the Handbook and the Top 10s on the date they were posted are the "official" Top 10s. The 2013 Top 10 Prospects page will continue to serve as the link to the Top 10s as we posted them, but these are as up-to-date as we could make them. Surely by the middle of February, a trade or two will have shuffled players around again—the list is always changing. . . . Thu, 31 Jan 2013 12:01:24 EST http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614594.html 2013 San Francisco Giants Top 10 Prospects http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614593.html Content: The Giants strived for more than a half-century to win their first World Series title in San Francisco. They didn't make their faithful wait nearly as long for the next parade down Market Street. The road was far more treacherous than in 2010. This time, it included six elimination games in the first two rounds against the Reds and Cardinals, and those fiery hoops only forged stronger steel. Upon reaching the Fall Classic, the Giants overwhelmed the Tigers to claim a four-game sweep and win their second championship in three seasons—the closest the National League has come to a dynasty since the Big Red Machine repeated in 1975-76. Those Reds had Johnny Bench. These Giants have Buster Posey, who won the Bench Award as college baseball's top catcher at Florida State in 2008, along with the Golden Spikes and Baseball America's College Player of the Year awards. Four years later, he racked up a whole new set of hardware: a batting crown after leading the majors with a .336 average, a Silver Slugger award, NL comeback player of the year honors and a landslide choice as the NL MVP. Before Posey, the Giants hadn't drafted and developed an all-star . . . Wed, 30 Jan 2013 10:25:05 EST http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614593.html 2013 San Francisco Giants Top 10 Prospects With Scouting Reports http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614592.html Content: The Giants strived for more than a half-century to win their first World Series title in San Francisco. They didn't make their faithful wait nearly as long for the next parade down Market Street. The road was far more treacherous than in 2010. This time, it included six elimination games in the first two rounds against the Reds and Cardinals, and those fiery hoops only forged stronger steel. Upon reaching the Fall Classic, the Giants overwhelmed the Tigers to claim a four-game sweep and win their second championship in three seasons—the closest the National League has come to a dynasty since the Big Red Machine repeated in 1975-76. Those Reds had Johnny Bench. These Giants have Buster Posey, who won the Bench Award as college baseball's top catcher at Florida State in 2008, along with the Golden Spikes and Baseball America's College Player of the Year awards. Four years later, he racked up a whole new set of hardware: a batting crown after leading the majors with a .336 average, a Silver Slugger award, NL comeback player of the year honors and a landslide choice as the NL MVP. Before Posey, the Giants hadn't drafted and developed an all-star position . . . Wed, 30 Jan 2013 09:59:52 EST http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614592.html San Diego Padres Top 10 Prospects Chat With Matt Eddy http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614590.html Content: Matthew Eddy: Thanks for stopping by. Let's chat Padres. @Jaypers413 (IL): Thanks for the chat, Matt. How high are you on 3B Fernando Perez? Could he be a fast riser, and does he remind you of anyone in particular? Matthew Eddy: Well, this chat is going to peak early. 3B Fernando Perez might be the most promising under-the-radar prospect in the system. I hesitate to call him a sleeper because he was a third-round pick in June and because he ranks in the Padres' top 20. Perez's offensive ceiling appears to be considerable due to his fluid lefty stroke, terrific balance and burgeoning power. Case in point: He hit .338/.399/.571 as an 18-year-old with wood bats in junior college last year. While he may play 2B early in his pro career, most evaluators expect him to play 3B if he reached the higher levels. Ben (Leland Grove): Is Zach Eflin's health back to 100%? Do you see a future mid-rotation arm in him? Matthew Eddy: Supplemental first-round RHP Zach Eflin began (triceps tendinitis) and ended (mono) last season on the sidelines, so it's tough to give him a strong grade for health at this time. Unless his breaking ball improves . . . Mon, 28 Jan 2013 16:36:14 EST http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614590.html 2013 San Diego Padres Top 10 Prospects http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614588.html Content: The Padres opened the 2012 season with a $55.2 million payroll, the lowest in the game. But Josh Byrnes, in his first year as the team's general manager, had every reason to expect in-season improvement as a young roster gained experience and San Diego's abundance of upper-level pitching prospects made their way to Petco Park. After all, the Athletics followed a similar course all the way to a division crown over in the American League. In fact, the Padres did improve in the second half, going 47-36 in the final three months of the season. But a miserable first half condemned them to their fourth second-division finish in the last five years. Worse, their on-the-cusp pitching prospects turned out to be on-the-shelf bystanders, with the four brightest plagued by arm injuries. Righthanders Casey Kelly and Joe Wieland and lefties Robbie Erlin and Juan Oramas had pitched Double-A San Antonio to the Texas League title in 2011. San Diego hoped that quartet, following additional seasoning in Triple-A, would provide rotation support in the second half of 2012. Instead, Wieland and Oramas had Tommy John surgery in the summer, while lesser elbow injuries sidelined Kelly for three months and Erlin for nearly . . . Mon, 28 Jan 2013 10:46:13 EST http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614588.html 2013 San Diego Padres Top 10 Prospects With Scouting Reports http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614585.html Content: The Padres opened the 2012 season with a $55.2 million payroll, the lowest in the game. But Josh Byrnes, in his first year as the team's general manager, had every reason to expect in-season improvement as a young roster gained experience and San Diego's abundance of upper-level pitching prospects made their way to Petco Park. After all, the Athletics followed a similar course all the way to a division crown over in the American League. In fact, the Padres did improve in the second half, going 47-36 in the final three months of the season. But a miserable first half condemned them to their fourth second-division finish in the last five years. Worse, their on-the-cusp pitching prospects turned out to be on-the-shelf bystanders, with the four brightest plagued by arm injuries. Righthanders Casey Kelly and Joe Wieland and lefties Robbie Erlin and Juan Oramas had pitched Double-A San Antonio to the Texas League title in 2011. San Diego hoped that quartet, following additional seasoning in Triple-A, would provide rotation support in the second half of 2012. Instead, Wieland and Oramas had Tommy John surgery in the summer, while lesser elbow injuries sidelined Kelly for three months and Erlin for nearly . . . Mon, 28 Jan 2013 10:30:22 EST http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614585.html 2013 Los Angeles Dodgers Top 10 Prospects Chat With Jim Shonerd http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614583.html Content: Jim Shonerd: Good afternoon, everyone. I'm shifting out of college preview mode back into Dodgers mode, so bear with me as I try to get this chat in before the Triangle gets snowed in. And by snowed in, I mean gets one inch that causes widespread panic. Let's do this! Burke Granger (Columbus, OH): Are the ceilings of Chris Reed and Onelki Garcia really that much higher than Steven Rodriguez to justify their higher ranking? Paco has already reached the Majors and had success in meaningful September games. To me it seems similar to Lance Lynn being ranked #7 overall on the Cardinals system, behind Tyler Jenkins last season. Jim Shonerd: Starters have greater value, so as long as we're confident they'll pitch in the majors, we tend to give them the nod over relievers, even ones that have already gotten there. Grant (NYC): Did Alex Castellanos merit any consideration? What is his role likely to be going forward? Jim Shonerd: Castellanos ended up just on the outside of the top 10. The Dodgers see him fitting best as an outfielder, but their trade for Skip Schumaker likely pushes Castellanos out of the big league picture for now. He's been . . . Fri, 25 Jan 2013 16:22:25 EST http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614583.html 2013 Los Angeles Dodgers Top 10 Prospects With Scouting Reports http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614582.html Content: What a difference a year makes. The Dodgers have gone from the thriftiness and legal battles of the Frank McCourt era to buying the biggest houses in Beverly Hills, with no signs of slowing down. After two years of watching McCourt's ownership spiral downward, the Dodgers finally began turning the page when he agreed to sell the team via bankruptcy auction in November 2011. In late March 2012, Guggenheim Baseball Management won control of the team, beating out bids by Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban among others. GBM bid $2.15 billion for the Dodgers, obliterating the U.S. sports record of $1.1 billion the Miami Dolphins went for in 2009. The group, which is led by Mark Walter and also includes Los Angeles Lakers icon Magic Johnson and former Braves and Nationals president Stan Kasten, figures to make back its money with a proposed deal to start a new regional sports network that will be worth an estimated $6 billion. Money has been flowing freely since the sale. No longer shackled by McCourt's financial limitations, the Dodgers most decidedly entered win-now mode. General manager Ned Colletti went all-out to fortify the big league roster during the 2012 season, making a pair . . . Fri, 25 Jan 2013 07:33:31 EST http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614582.html 2013 Los Angeles Dodgers Top 10 Prospects http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614580.html Content: What a difference a year makes. The Dodgers have gone from the thriftiness and legal battles of the Frank McCourt era to buying the biggest houses in Beverly Hills, with no signs of slowing down. After two years of watching McCourt's ownership spiral downward, the Dodgers finally began turning the page when he agreed to sell the team via bankruptcy auction in November 2011. In late March 2012, Guggenheim Baseball Management won control of the team, beating out bids by Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban among others. GBM bid $2.15 billion for the Dodgers, obliterating the U.S. sports record of $1.1 billion the Miami Dolphins went for in 2009. The group, which is led by Mark Walter and also includes Los Angeles Lakers icon Magic Johnson and former Braves and Nationals president Stan Kasten, figures to make back its money with a proposed deal to start a new regional sports network that will be worth an estimated $6 billion. Money has been flowing freely since the sale. No longer shackled by McCourt's financial limitations, the Dodgers most decidedly entered win-now mode. General manager Ned Colletti went all-out to fortify the big league roster during the 2012 season, making a pair . . . Thu, 24 Jan 2013 15:44:30 EST http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614580.html 2013 Colorado Rockies Top 10 Prospects Chat With Jack Etkin http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614573.html Content: Goose (Maine): What happened to Drew Pomeranz? Normal bump in the developmental road or something more significant? Jack Etkin: Let's get the Rockies chat started. There are a lot of questions already, so without further ado....Drew Pomeranz is 24 and has played two professional seasons. During that time, he has pitched a total of 267 innings, and 115 have been in the big leagues. So he has done a lot of his learning at the highest level, which is hard, and he needs and will get experience. The four-man rotation worked against Pomeranz, because he can strikeouts that elevate his pitch count. He was sent back to Triple-A in May for about six weeks to work on his delivery _ get more over the top and regain his velocity. He basically just needs to pitch and at the outset of 2013, there is no certainty that will be with the Rockies or Triple-A Colorado Springs. Greg (Fullerton, CA): How close were the top two guys? Arenado seemingly took a little step back last season while Dahl started incredibly strong. Jack Etkin: Numbers-wise Arenado's year wasn't that impressive. But he took a big step forward in learning not to let things . . . Tue, 22 Jan 2013 17:43:40 EST http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614573.html 2013 Colorado Rockies Top 10 Prospects http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614567.html Content: The Rockies plumbed new depths in 2012, compiling the worst record in franchise history at 64-98, so significant changes were probably to be expected. After reaching the playoffs in 2009 when Jim Tracy took over as manager in May, Colorado has been in steady decline, going from 92 wins to 83 to 73 to 64. After trying various fixes without success, the organization got radical in 2012. In mid-June, the Rockies implemented a four-man rotation and alloted each starter about 80 pitches. That plan reduced the opportunity for valuable sidework between starts, among other problems, and was scrapped after two months. The pitching staff ended the season with a 5.22 ERA, the highest in the majors and the team's worst since 2004, as the organization continues to struggle with the vagaries of playing at altitude. Colorado's 35-46 record at Coors Field last season was its worst ever, and its starters' ERA at home was 6.70. In August, general manager Dan O'Dowd and assistant GM Bill Geivett essentially switched responsibilities, with O'Dowd shifting his focus to player development and scouting while keeping the GM title. Geivett became senior director of major league operations and established an office in the clubhouse conference . . . Tue, 22 Jan 2013 10:26:40 EST http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614567.html 2013 Colorado Rockies Top 10 Prospects With Scouting Reports http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614566.html Content: The Rockies plumbed new depths in 2012, compiling the worst record in franchise history at 64-98, so significant changes were probably to be expected. After reaching the playoffs in 2009 when Jim Tracy took over as manager in May, Colorado has been in steady decline, going from 92 wins to 83 to 73 to 64. After trying various fixes without success, the organization got radical in 2012. In mid-June, the Rockies implemented a four-man rotation and alloted each starter about 80 pitches. That plan reduced the opportunity for valuable sidework between starts, among other problems, and was scrapped after two months. The pitching staff ended the season with a 5.22 ERA, the highest in the majors and the team's worst since 2004, as the organization continues to struggle with the vagaries of playing at altitude. Colorado's 35-46 record at Coors Field last season was its worst ever, and its starters' ERA at home was 6.70. In August, general manager Dan O'Dowd and assistant GM Bill Geivett essentially switched responsibilities, with O'Dowd shifting his focus to player development and scouting while keeping the GM title. Geivett became senior director of major league operations and established an office in the clubhouse conference . . . Tue, 22 Jan 2013 10:17:20 EST http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614566.html 2013 Arizona Diamondbacks Top 10 Prospects Chat With Bill Mitchell http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614565.html Content: Bill Mitchell: Welcome to the 2013 Arizona Diamondbacks prospect. It's an organization that has had an interesting off-season, to say the least. We've already got a lot of questions in the queue so let's kick it off a few minutes early. @Jaypers413 (IL): Thanks for the chat, Bill. Assuming Bradley's command is consistent and he holds his own in the CAL, do you believe he could finish out the season in Mobile? Bill Mitchell: Jaypers, it's always a pleasure to hear from you. I really like Archie Bradley, so we'll begin the chat with a question on the young right-hander. While Bradley had some command issues in his first pro season, not unexpected for a pitcher in his first pro season, he showed good progress in instructional league. When he misses with his pitches he still doesn't get hit. He could make it to Double-A by the end of the season, but with the organization's depth in pitching there's no reason to rush him. Grant (NYC): What's your opinion of the DBacks' late signing of Felipe Perez? Thoughts on why he wasn't drafted? Is he someone on your top 30? Bill Mitchell: Grant, Felipe Perez wasn't drafted because of his . . . Mon, 21 Jan 2013 15:18:15 EST http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614565.html 2013 Arizona Diamondbacks Top 10 Prospects With Scouting Reports http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614559.html Content: Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers hasn't been shy about overhauling his roster. He made changes after taking the job at the end of the 2010 season, most notably to the bullpen, and Arizona improved by 29 victories and won the National League West in 2011. The Diamondbacks geared up for another run at the postseason in 2012 by signing free agent Jason Kubel and trading prospects Jarrod Parker, Ryan Cook and Collin Cowgill to the Athletics for Trevor Cahill and Craig Breslow. But injuries and the inability to duplicate the 48 come-from-behind victories of 2011 contributed to 13 fewer wins, a .500 record and a third-place finish. Towers started remaking the 2013 roster before last season ended. When former franchise cornerstone Stephen Drew never got his bat going after he came back from ankle surgery, Towers shipped him to Oakland for fringe shortstop prospect Sean Jamieson. He swung another deal with the A's in October, a three-team transaction with the Marlins that brought Heath Bell and Cliff Pennington to Arizona in exchange for Chris Young, who wasn't the same after injuring his shoulder crashing into an outfield wall in April. Towers added more bullpen help by swapping third-base prospect Ryan Wheeler . . . Mon, 21 Jan 2013 09:08:03 EST http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614559.html 2013 Arizona Diamondbacks Top 10 Prospect http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614558.html Content: Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers hasn't been shy about overhauling his roster. He made changes after taking the job at the end of the 2010 season, most notably to the bullpen, and Arizona improved by 29 victories and won the National League West in 2011. The Diamondbacks geared up for another run at the postseason in 2012 by signing free agent Jason Kubel and trading prospects Jarrod Parker, Ryan Cook and Collin Cowgill to the Athletics for Trevor Cahill and Craig Breslow. But injuries and the inability to duplicate the 48 come-from-behind victories of 2011 contributed to 13 fewer wins, a .500 record and a third-place finish. Towers started remaking the 2013 roster before last season ended. When former franchise cornerstone Stephen Drew never got his bat going after he came back from ankle surgery, Towers shipped him to Oakland for fringe shortstop prospect Sean Jamieson. He swung another deal with the A's in October, a three-team transaction with the Marlins that brought Heath Bell and Cliff Pennington to Arizona in exchange for Chris Young, who wasn't the same after injuring his shoulder crashing into an outfield wall in April. Towers added more bullpen help by swapping third-base prospect Ryan Wheeler . . . Mon, 21 Jan 2013 09:00:35 EST http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614558.html 2013 St. Louis Cardinals Top 10 Prospects Chat With Derrick Goold http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614552.html Content: Moderator: Derrick Goold will answer your Cardinals questions beginning at 11 a.m. ET. Derrick Goold: Good morning. Everybody got a cup of coffee and is done reading the morning paper? Excellent. Let's start. Thanks for joining me here for an hour so to talk about the Cardinals' top 10 prospects list that appeared this morning at BaseballAmerica.com and is out in the current issue of BA (on newsstands now!). My name is Derrick Goold and I cover the Cardinals for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. You can see all of our coverage of the big-league club and minor-league system at StlToday.com. Each year I help editors at BA put together the top 30 and accompanying scouting reports for Baseball America and its annual Prospect Handbook (on bookshelves soon!). This my chance to field questions about that list, about the top 10, and about the system as a whole. Here's hoping I can keep up and finish with a high fielding percentage. Off we go. Ben (Leland Grove): Was it a close call between Martinez and Rosenthal when picking the system's best fastball, and what was the deciding factor? Derrick Goold: Absolutely. It was also a close call on who ranked No. . . . Wed, 16 Jan 2013 14:11:39 EST http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614552.html 2013 St. Louis Cardinals Top 10 Prospects http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614551.html Content: When the Cardinals took the field for Game Five of the National League Championship Series with hopes of a second consecutive trip to the World Series, starting pitcher Lance Lynn was one of six players on the lineup card who was drafted and developed by the organization. Eleven of the 15 players who appeared in the game were homegrown, and third baseman David Freese has spent most of his career with St. Louis after arriving as a minor leaguer via trade. This wasn't a fluke. This is the future. "For us to have sustained success we have to be able to produce players internally," GM John Mozeliak says. "We knew without that it was going to be hard to be successful because the free-agent market was not a place we wanted to be using resources." The Cardinals lost Game Five and squandered a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series against the Giants to fall one win shy of defending their NL pennant. But while 2012 ended in disappointment, it also marked a positive move in the first year after the departures of Albert Pujols and Tony LaRussa. Though Lynn won 18 games and was picked as an all-star in . . . Wed, 16 Jan 2013 08:42:01 EST http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614551.html 2013 St. Louis Cardinals Top 10 Prospects With Scouting Reports http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614550.html Content: When the Cardinals took the field for Game Five of the National League Championship Series with hopes of a second consecutive trip to the World Series, starting pitcher Lance Lynn was one of six players on the lineup card who was drafted and developed by the organization. Eleven of the 15 players who appeared in the game were homegrown, and third baseman David Freese has spent most of his career with St. Louis after arriving as a minor leaguer via trade. This wasn't a fluke. This is the future. "For us to have sustained success we have to be able to produce players internally," GM John Mozeliak says. "We knew without that it was going to be hard to be successful because the free-agent market was not a place we wanted to be using resources." The Cardinals lost Game Five and squandered a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series against the Giants to fall one win shy of defending their NL pennant. But while 2012 ended in disappointment, it also marked a positive move in the first year after the departures of Albert Pujols and Tony LaRussa. Though Lynn won 18 games and was picked as an all-star in his . . . Wed, 16 Jan 2013 08:22:33 EST http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614550.html