Project Prospect's Top 25 Rankings

June 4, 2007
Check back every Monday for the only regularly updated in-season prospect rankings on the internet
No. Player   Pos Notes Age Org Level   Pre.
1   Tim Lincecum   RHP   Very impressive through 6 big league starts: 39 K, 12 BB, 1.03 WHIP (40.0 IP)   22   SF   MLB   1 ↔
2   Phil Hughes   RHP   Injured his left ankle while rehabbing his left hamstring; Out for the season?   20   NYY   MLB   2 ↔
3   Yovani Gallardo   RHP   Continues to lead MiLB in strikeouts (98 in 67.1 IP); expect call-up any day   21   MIL   AAA   3 ↔
4   Billy Butler   LF/1B   Has played 1B 7 times, DH twice, and LF once in last 10 Triple-A games   21   KC   MLB   4 ↔
5   Jay Bruce   CF   Sarasota is favoring hitters; Bruce is just .288/.324/.439 on the road   20   CIN   A+   5 ↔
6   Evan Longoria   3B   For those who think Longoria can do no wrong: he's .245/.394/.500 vs. RHP   21   TB   AA   6 ↔
7   Justin Upton   CF   Up to .400/.452/.827 since arriving in Mobile, which has really favored hitters   19   ARI   AA   10 ↑
8   Clay Buchholz   RHP   It's funny when a 34K:9BB rate is a sign of a mild slump (over last 24.1 IP)   22   BOS   AA   9 ↑
9   Josh Hamilton   CF   Still think he's just been hot? How about 4 HR through 6 AAA rehab games?   26   CIN   MLB   8 ↓
10   Colby Rasmus   CF   Went 7-for-18 with 3 HR last week; struggling against lefties (.224/.381/.429)   20   STL   AA   11 ↑
11   Brandon Wood   3B   Focussing too much on plate discipline? 0.49 BB/K in '07 vs. 0.36 BB/K in '06   22   LAA   MLB   7 ↓
12   Homer Bailey   RHP   Maybe getting knocked around in the bigs will actually help his development   21   CIN   AAA   12 ↔
13   Ryan Braun   3B   Got healthy then hot practically overnight; 5 XBH in his first 10 MLB games   23   MIL   MLB   19 ↑
14   Clayton Kershaw   LHP   2.39 K/BB rate is mildly concerning, but 74 K through 55.0 IP is awesome   19   LAD   A   15 ↑
15   Andrew Miller   LHP   Amazing groundball rates + 17 K vs. 5 BB over last 22.2 IP = breaking out   22   DET   MLB   29 ↑
16   Jarrod Saltalamacchia   C   Braves decided they'd rather have him on their bench than in the minors?   22   ATL   MLB   14 ↓
17   Andy LaRoche   3B   Sent back to AAA last weekend; .211/.436/.263 in 38 ab with the Dodgers   23   LAD   MLB   13 ↓
18   Hunter Pence   CF   .375/.403/.625 big league line puts him in thick of ROY race with Lincecum   24   HOU   MLB   18 ↔
19   Kevin Slowey   RHP   Pitched 6.0 innings of 1-run ball in MLB debut; 5 H, 2 BB, 3 K vs. the A's   23   MIN   MLB   21 ↑
20   Fernando Martinez   CF   2-for-22 slump brings him to .279/.352/.374 season line; impressing overall   18   NYM   AA   17 ↓
21   Cameron Maybin   CF   His 2 HR last week (both on 5/29) ended a streak of 35 games without a HR   20   DET   A+   16 ↓
22   Will Inman   RHP   Great example of our take on balancing tools and production; he's a stud   20   MIL   A+   23 ↑
23   Travis Buck   RF   Demolishing lefties (.367/.441/.833); righties, not so much (.217/.339/.413)   23   OAK   MLB   20 ↓
24   Felix Pie   CF   Returned to the Cubs on Sunday and went 2-for-5 with a double and 2 Ks   22   CHC   MLB   25 ↑
25   Reid Brignac   SS   HR on Sunday ends 33-game homer-less streak; batted.216/.274/.261 in May   21   TB   AA   26 ↑
Honorable Mentions: Joey Votto, Adam Miller, Adam Jones, Jacoby Ellsbury, Carlos Gomez, Michael Bowden, and Andrew McCutchen.
Graduated (last week's ranking): Elijah Dukes (24).                
Dropped Out of Top 25 (previous ranking): Michael Bowden.                
* Our rankings combine a player's ceiling with the odds that he'll reach it and favor recent production                
** Only players with less than 130 pro at-bats or less than 50 pro innings are considered for our rankings                
*** Ages are as of June 10th, 2007                  
**** Level is the highest level the player has reached                
***** Pre. is the player's rankings from last week's Top 50.                
                             
<<< Click here to see our May 21st Top 50 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