Project Prospect's Top 25 Rankings

July 16, 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   Phil Hughes   RHP   Hasn't allowed a run through 5.0 rehab IP: 3 hits, 2 BB and 9 K between A+, AA   21   NYY   MLB   1 ↔
2   Yovani Gallardo   RHP   After 4.2 innings of one-hit ball on Saturday, his MLB BAA is down to .202   21   MIL   MLB   2 ↔
3   Billy Butler   1B   Went 7-for-15 with two doubles last week; now .313/.342/.479 in the bigs   21   KC   MLB   3 ↔
4   Jay Bruce   CF   Beat Upton, Rasmus to AAA; hit a HR in first AAA game; 3-for-13 last week   20   CIN   AAA   4 ↔
5   Clay Buchholz   RHP   Was given last week off; making Triple-A debut on Monday against Ottawa   22   BOS   AA   5 ↔
6   Justin Upton   CF   After month-long HR drought, went yard Sat. (9) and Sun. (10); 15 total '07 HR   19   ARI   AA   7 ↑
7   Colby Rasmus   CF   He was 4-for-15 on the week (0 XBH) before getting hit on the head on Sunday   20   STL   AA   6 ↓
8   Evan Longoria   3B   Doubled 3x as part of 7-for-17 week; batting .306/.402/.526 w/ 45 BB vs. 65 K   21   TB   AA   10 ↑
9   Brandon Wood   3B   Hit 16th minor league HR of the year on Fri.; called up to the bigs the next day   22   LAA   MLB   9 ↔
10   Jarrod Saltalamacchia   C   Batting .304/.357/.461 in bigs even after 1-for-7 week last week (0 XBH)   22   ATL   MLB   8 ↓
11   Adam Jones   CF   Went 5-for-17 with a 2B and 2 HR (23) last week; just 5 SB in 11 tries this year   21   SEA   MLB   11 ↔
12   Clayton Kershaw   LHP   Allowed 2nd regular-season HR of his career Sat.; 5.0 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 8 K   19   LAD   A   13 ↑
13   Joba Chamberlain   RHP   Has now struck out 37.4% of the minor leaguers he has faced; 4.70 K/BB rate   21   NYY   AA   19 ↑
14   Cameron Maybin   CF   "I'm about 75%, but Det wanted to be on the safe side; give it a couple weeks."   20   DET   A+   15 ↑
15   Andy LaRoche   3B   Had 4 XBH (3 2B, HR) in 7 ab last week; he's up to .292/.378/.488 on the season 23   LAD   MLB   17 ↑
16   Fernando Martinez   CF   Injured around the All-Star break for the second season in a row (hand injury)   18   NYM   AA   16 ↔
17   Homer Bailey   RHP   Return to Louisville wasn't pretty: 3.1 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 5 BB, 4 K; 1.90 K/BB in AAA   21   CIN   MLB   14 ↓
18   Jacob McGee   LHP   Roughed up: 3.2 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 5 K; rose due to other's performances/grad   20   TB   A+   20 ↑
19   Reid Brignac   SS   Also rose due to other's performances/grad; now .254/.303/.425 (355 ab)   21   TB   AA   21 ↑
20   Jeff Clement   C   Fourty-three of his 84 hits have gone for extra bases 51.2%; .269/.360/.516   23   SEA   AAA   24 ↑
21   Daric Barton   1B   Doubled 3x as part of 6-for-18 week; ranks 4th in PCL in doubles with 31   21   OAK   AAA   NR
22   Jacoby Ellsbury   CF   His 7 K vs. 0 BB was what dropped him; 3-for-20 (0 XBH) week also didn't help   23   BOS   MLB   18 ↓
23   Asdrubal Cabrera   SS   AA rebirth has put him in position to contend for top SS in minors; .324/.402/.478 21   CLE   AAA   NR
24   Andrew McCutchen   CF   .189 batting average in April, .230 in May, .266 in June, .325 through 40 July ab   20   PIT   AA   NR
25   Travis Snider   RF   Has battled a variety of injuries, but he's hitting .309/.381/.504 w/ 23 2B in MWL   19   TOR   A   NR
Honorable Mentions: Chris Marrero, Adam Miller, Will Inman, Wade Davis, Neil Walker, Joey Votto, Elvis Andrus, and Johnny Cueto.
Graduated (final ranking): Andrew Miller (12).                
Dropped Out of Top 50 (previous ranking): Will Inman (22), Wade Davis (23), and Adam Miller (25).                
* 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 July 21st, 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 July 9th Top 25 Rankings                
<<< Click here to discuss this week's 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
adamf@projectprospect.com