Top 15 Corner Outfield Prospects

February 2, 2009

All Positions: C / 1B / 2B / SS / 3B / CF / OF / P

Top 15 Corner Outfield Prospects
No.   Player   Pos.   Comments   Age   Org   Lvl
1   Travis Snider   LF/DH   .361 wOBA across 4 levels in '08; lots of power, BB's, K's; could see regular time in bigs in '09   20.7   TOR   MLB
2   Jason Heyward   RF   6-foot-4, 220-pounder had .377 wOBA, 9.7% BB, not too many K's (14.7%) last year in Low-A 19.2   ATL   A+
3   Matt LaPorta   RF/LF   Went .279/.386/.539 ('08); plenty of power (.260 IsoP), 11.3% BB; slowed once traded to Tribe   23.8   CLE   AA
4   Mike Stanton   RF/CF   Put up crazy .318 IsoP in 1st full pro season (39 HR in 540 PA), but tons of K's, too (28.3%)   18.9   FLA   A
5   Nick Weglarz   LF/DH   Matched great BB numbers from '07 in '08 (15.6%) while K rate dropped from 24.2% to 16.9%   20.8   CLE   A+
6   Daryl Jones   LF   After putting up .275 wOBA in '07, had breakout year in '08 (.383 between A+, AA); 10.9% BB   21.3   STL   AA
7   Aaron Cunningham   LF/CF   Went .329/.400/.532 between AA, AAA; could have troubles breaking into crowded OAK OF   22.5   OAK   MLB
8   Michael Burgess   RF   Low contact rates (.246 AVG, 29.9% K), but big power (.231 IsoP); solid walk rate (10.2%)    20.0   WAS   A+
9   Jose Tabata   RF   Had .289 wOBA (329 PA) in AA with NYY before dealt to PIT (.414 in 97 PA); .326 overall   20.2   PIT   AA
10   Kellen Kulbacki   RF   Quietly went .322/.428/.589 (.430 wOBA); let's see if he can do it outside the Cal League in '09   22.9   SD   A+
11   Seth Smith   RF/LF   Had his way with AAA as 25-year-old: .411 wOBA, 15.2% BB; .346, 12.2% in 123 MLB PA   26.0   COL   MLB
12   Michael Taylor   LF   6-foot-6, 250-pounder went .346/.412/.557 between A, A+ in '08; 9.0% BB, 16.1% K   22.8   PHI   A+
13   Cole Gillespie   LF   Had .373 wOBA, 13.7% BB rate in AA as 24-year-old; no glaring weekness aside from age   24.3   MIL   AA
14   Josh Reddick   RF   wOBA dropped over 100 pts from Cal League to AA (.406 vs. .304), but BB rate improved 4%   21.7   BOS   AA
15   John Raynor   LF   See Gillespie: had .384 wOBA, 11.7% BB rate as 24-year-old in AA; 23.0% K rate; burner   24.8   FLA   AA
Honorables: Andrew Lambo (LAD), Cody Johnson (ATL), Caleb Gindl (MIL), Jaff Decker (SD), Zach Collier (PHI), and Destin Hood (WAS).        
* Our rankings combine a player's ceiling with the odds that he'll reach it and favor recent production            
** Ages are as of November 1st, 2008            
*** Level is the highest level the player has reached            
                         
<<< Discuss these rankings                

 

 

Questions about this list can be directed toward Adam Foster at adamf@projectprospect.com.