Project Prospect's Top 25 Rankings

July 30, 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   12.2 scoreless AAA IP say he's just about ready to help in the Yankees again   21   NYY   MLB   1 ↔
2   Yovani Gallardo   RHP   Hasn't given up a HR in his last 40.0 MLB innings; 1.08 WHIP, 2.72 ERA, 3-1   21   MIL   MLB   2 ↔
3   Jay Bruce   CF   Has hit safely in his last 10 games; 13-for-38 (.342) w/ 6 XBH during that span   20   CIN   AAA   4 ↑
4   Justin Upton   CF   Went 9-for-23 (.391) w/ 7 XBH and 10 BB/3 K last week; .321/.413/.559 overall   19   ARI   AA   6 ↑
5   Clay Buchholz   RHP   Missing a lot of bats but walking more in AAA, too: 5.27 K/BB in AA, 3.5 in AAA   22   BOS   AAA   5 ↔
6   Brandon Wood   3B   Singled once in six at-bats last week; was .262/.343/.479 in PCL before callup   22   LAA   MLB   7 ↑
7   Colby Rasmus   CF   Had 5 hits in 24 at-bats last week (.208) but 3 of them went for extra bases   20   STL   AA   8 ↑
8   Evan Longoria   3B   Struck out eight times last week and just 3 of his 11 hits went for extra bases   21   TB   AA   9 ↑
9   Adam Jones   CF   Averaging a HR every 14.1 at-bats since the start of May; on pace for over 30   22   SEA   MLB   10 ↑
10   Clayton Kershaw   LHP   Didn't allow a HR last week...first time that's happened since the Futures Game   19   LAD   A   11 ↑
11   Andy LaRoche   3B   After another hot week, he's hitting now batting .415/.490/.939 w/ 11 HR in July   23   LAD   MLB   12 ↑
12   Joba Chamberlain   RHP   Sent to pen in AAA to prepare for a relief role down the stretch with Yankees   21   NYY   AAA   15 ↑
13   Cameron Maybin   CF   Played in GCL Friday/Sat. after resting 26 days due to a seperated shoulder   20   DET   A+   13 ↔
14   Fernando Martinez   CF   Sidelined by hand injury during All-Star break for the second season in a row   18   NYM   AA   14 ↔
15   Reid Brignac   SS   Struggles to make regular contact against Double-A pitching continue; .257 Avg.   21   TB   AA   17 ↑
16   Daric Barton   1B   Slowing down after red-hot June, but he continues to walk more than he K's   21   OAK   AAA   18 ↑
17   Homer Bailey   RHP   Was put on DL July 19th with strained groin; had a similar injury earlier this year   21   CIN   MLB   16 ↓
18   Jeff Clement   C   Holds his ground after few batters at the back of this list hit well last week   23   SEA   AAA   19 ↑
19   Andrew McCutchen   CF   Doubled on Sunday for his 1st XBH of the week; batting .300/.385/.400 in July   20   PIT   AA   20 ↑
20   Jacoby Ellsbury   CF   Missed all of last week after sustaining a groin injury on Saturday, July 21st   23   BOS   MLB   21 ↑
21   Will Inman   RHP   Trade to SD for Linebrink shows I like Inman more than Mil, which is fine by me   20   SD   AA   22 ↑
22   Jacob McGee   LHP   With a solid 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K start last week, he's right back on track   20   TB   A+   25 ↑
23   Wade Davis   RHP   Has 7 K's in each of his last three starts and he's getting a lot of ground balls   21   TB   AA   NR
24   Travis Snider   RF   Tied for 4th in MWL in 3B; having best month since April: .286/.400/.455 (7 XBH)   19   TOR   A   24 ↔
25   Wladimir Balentien   RF   Creeps onto this list after a bunch of graduations; needs to hit more to stay here 23   SEA   AAA   NR
Honorable Mentions: Johnny Cueto, Ian Kennedy, Neil Walker, Joey Votto, Carlos Gonzalez, Chris Marrero, and Asdrubal Cabrera.    
Graduated (final ranking): Billy Butler (3).                
Dropped Out of Top 25 (previous ranking): Asdrubal Cabrera (23).                
* 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 August 5th, 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 23rd Top 25 Rankings                
<<< Click here to discuss this week's rankings              
<<< How our rankings work                  

 

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