Project Prospect's Top 25 Prospect List

May 7, 2007
Check back every Monday for the only weekly updated Top 25 prospect rankings on the internet
No. Player   Pos Notes Age Org Level   Pre.
1   Tim Lincecum   RHP   Gave up 2 HR in big league debut after not allowing any in 31.0 Triple-A innings   22   SF   MLB   2
2   Josh Hamilton   OF   9-for-21 w/ 2 HR, 3B, 2B last week; .306/.398/.671…Still don't think he's serial?   25   CIN   MLB   3
3   Phil Hughes   RHP   Expect him to be healthy and done w/ rehab in time to join Yankees around July   20   NYY   MLB   1
4   Billy Butler   OF   Making contact as often in MLB as in AAA, but just 1 XBH in 6 big league games   21   KC   MLB   5
5   Alex Gordon   3B   4-for-20 w/ no XBH last week; .175/.316/.278; No where to go but up?   23   KC   MLB   4
6   Yovani Gallardo   RHP   14.0 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 18 K last week; 0.97 WHIP since start of '06   21   MIL   AAA   7
7   Brandon Wood   3B   Limited to 7 at-bats last week w/ return of Figgins; 1-for-11 with a 1B in bigs   22   LAA   MLB   8
8   Jay Bruce   OF   Six of his 10 hits last week went for extra bases (30 at-bats); .331/.379/.612   20   CIN   A+   9
9   Daisuke Matsuzaka   RHP   17 ER in last 18.0 IP; Not an ace; w/ 1.32 WHIP, still a solid bet to be No. 2 starter 26   BOS   MLB   6
10   Evan Longoria   3B   Hit 6th HR on Sun; now has 24 HR in 350 pro at-bats; .333/.452/.578 this year   21   TB   AA   11
11   Justin Upton   OF   8-for-22 with one XBH last week; 17 BB vs. 24 K this year; .365/.456/.577   19   ARI   A+   14
12   Homer Bailey   RHP   Had 156 K vs. 50 BB in 138.2 IP last year: 18 K vs. 13 BB in 27.1 IP so far in '07   21   CIN   AAA   12
13   Andy LaRoche   3B   Could find hot stroke in majors; expect bigger impact than Buck has given A's   23   LAD   MLB   10
14   Clayton Kershaw   LHP   Hamstring forced him to miss Sat start; "It's just precationary," Kershaw said.   19   LAD   A   17
15   Jarrod Saltalamacchia   C   Roped a 1B for first MLB hit on Sun; we expect him to be moved to AAA shortly   22   ATL   MLB   13
16   Ryan Braun   3B   Didn't start Fri., Sat., Sun; battling an injury?…no official news as of Sun night   23   MIL   AAA   16
17   Cameron Maybin   OF   2 XBH in last 30 ab; batting .309/.442/.536 this year (97 ab); still very raw   20   DET   A+   15
18   Fernando Martinez   OF   12-for-25 w/ 4 2B and 4 BB vs. 3 K last week; and all this in Double-A!?!?!?!?!?!   18   NYM   AA   19
19   Clay Buchholz   RHP   Ranked 47th on our Jan. 3 Top 100 list; 35 K vs. 3 BB and 18 HA in 27.1 '07 IP   22   BOS   AA   NR
20   Travis Buck   OF   14 BB vs. 24 K vs. 16 H (62.5% XBH) = .211/.341/.447; odd but productive line   23   OAK   MLB   20
21   Matt Garza   RHP   6.0 IP, 6 HA, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K last week; still has .263 BAA, but getting on track   23   MIN   MLB   24
22   Elijah Dukes   OF   Down to .233/.347/.407 after 5-for-23 (1 XBH) week; still has been very solid   22   TB   MLB   18
23   Colby Rasmus   OF   12-for-28 w/ 7 XBH (2 HR) last week; batting .277/.348/.535 as youngin in AA   20   STL   AA   NR
24   Hunter Pence   OF   45.7% XBH since start of '06…and he's kept that pace so far in the big leagues   24   HOU   MLB   NR
25   Reid Brignac   SS   8-for 29 w/ 3 XBH last week; batting .300/.333/.482; barely hangs onto No. 25   21   TB   AA   25
                             
Honorable Mentions: Will Inman, Felix Pie, Adam Miller, Jacoby Ellsbury, Joey Votto, James Loney, Carlos Gomez.                
Graduated (last week's ranking): Adam Lind (Honorable Mention).                
Dropped Out (Top 25 ranking): L. Hochevar (21), J. Votto (22) J. Loney (23).                
                             
* our rankings combine a player's ceiling with the odds that he'll reach it                
** ages are as of May 13th, 2007                    
*** Level is the highest level the player has reached                
**** Pre. is the player's rankings from last week's Top 25                
                             
<<< Click here to see our April 30 Top 25 Rankings                

 

Disclaimer
Our in-season Top 25 rankings are a tool that we’ve chosen to implement for the first time this season. We realize that this weekly exercise cannot be as thorough as creating a Top 100 prospect list – which involves months of thought and research. So why even bother publishing these rankings? For fun.

Just like any coaches poll or other in-season rankings, our rankings won’t be as concrete as the ones that can be made when you’re looking at something somewhat after the fact. (We’re still adjusting to the volatile nature of in-season rankings as well.) Lists will stray far from then maybe come back to looking like our previous prospect lists. A few odd names will work their way into the rankings--emphasis is on recent performance.

Think of these rankings like a giant coliseum battle. Everyone will be going after everyone; the air will be cluttered with dust. Then our Top 100 prospect list will be our take once the dust settles. Until then, just remember that's we're trying to judge a battle while it's still in progress.

We hope to provide an entertaining glimpse of our thought process, and a snapshot of how the prospect scene changes throughout the season.

A few other important notes: 1) More than ever, we’re going to begin relying on numbers for our rankings. Perhaps we could make better lists by regularly talking to people in the industry, but that’s not our style. 2) We’ll be balancing 2006 and 2007 numbers in order to draw upon the best sample that we see fit – the same methods will be applied to each prospect.


I am prepared to answer questions in more detail upon email request,

Adam Foster
Project Prospect Founder
adamwfoster@gmail.com