Project Prospect's Top 25 Rankings

June 13, 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   Graduated to the big leagues with his June 13th start against the Blue Jays   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   Followed up 7 ER outing in 6/7 with 12 K, 1 BB, 4 H, and 2 ER in 6.0 IP on 6/12   21   MIL   AAA   3 ↔
4   Billy Butler   LF/1B   Playing 1B/DH; .277/.395/.511 line shows he must continue to learn in AAA   21   KC   MLB   4 ↔
5   Jay Bruce   CF   Last HR was 5/30; .311/.360/.489 in June (45 ab) = his worst month in '07   20   CIN   A+   5 ↔
6   Evan Longoria   3B   On pace for a 30 HR season, but his contact and slugging are down from '06   21   TB   AA   6 ↔
7   Ryan Braun   3B   Raking in the big leagues: .317/.353/.587; 3 BB vs. 17 K shows he will slow   23   MIL   MLB   13 ↑
8   Justin Upton   CF   Average down 40 points and SLG down 100 points since 6/4; cooling down   19   ARI   AA   8 ↓
9   Clay Buchholz   RHP   Hasn't given up more than three hits in an outing since May 23rd; .177 BAA   22   BOS   AA   9 ↓
10   Jarrod Saltalamacchia   C   Averaging about 12 ab/week but he's .322/.375/.475 in the big leagues   22   ATL   MLB   16 ↑
11   Colby Rasmus   CF   .188/.264/.250 though 48 June ab; last HR was on 5/29; 1 XBH in last 9 games 20   STL   AA   10 ↓
12   Homer Bailey   RHP   Has actually done an exceptional job retiring batters this season: .198 BAA   21   CIN   MLB   12 ↔
13   Brandon Wood   3B   Hidden behind his .240/.339/.407 Triple-A line, Wood is 8/8 in sb attempts   22   LAA   MLB   11 ↓
14   Andrew Miller   LHP   In another mini-sample of MLB stats (11.1 IP), he's close to more BB than K   22   DET   MLB   15 ↑
15   Clayton Kershaw   LHP   Finally pitching again after being given rest ever since his June 3rd start   19   LAD   A   14 ↓
16   Andy LaRoche   3B   Just 7-for-27 (.259) with 3 XBH - all 2B - since returning to AAA from the bigs 23   LAD   MLB   17 ↑
17   Felix Pie   CF   Has gone 13-for-41 with 4 sb in 4 attempts over his last 10 big league games   22   CHC   MLB   25 ↑
18   Fernando Martinez   CF   He'd be developing fine if he was .281/.349/.385 in A+; he's doing it in AAA   18   NYM   AA   20 ↑
19   Kevin Slowey   RHP   3 MLB starts (17.0): 3.71 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, and 4 HR; expect improvement   23   MIN   MLB   19 ↔
20   Cameron Maybin   CF   Hasn't hit a HR since 5/29; hasn't hit a double since 5/20; no triples since 5/4   20   DET   A+   21 ↑
21   Will Inman   RHP   Second in the minors in Ks (98, 78.2 IP); .198 BAA, 1.71 ERA, 23 BB, 4 HR   20   MIL   A+   22 ↑
22   Adam Jones   CF   38.5 XBH % since start of 2006 and .317/.392/.581 this year in Triple-A   21   SEA   MLB   NR
23   Reid Brignac   SS   A fixture at the back end of Top 25 despite graduations: .251/.307/.391 line   21   TB   AA   25 ↑
24   Joey Votto   1B   After 43.2 XBH % in 2006 just 28.6 % this year; will never be a fantasy stud   23   CIN   AAA   NR
25   Adam Miller   RHP   Moves in due to graduations; hopefully you didn't buy high on him during ST   22   CLE   AAA   NR
Honorable Mentions: Joba Chamberlain, Daric Barton, Jacoby Ellsbury, Carlos Gomez, Andrew McCutchen, Bill Rowell, and Michael Bowden.
Graduated (final ranking): Josh Hamilton (9), Hunter Pence (18), Travis Buck (23).                
Dropped Out of Top 25 (previous ranking): None.                
* 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 17th, 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 June 4th 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