Top 25 Position Prospects

by Project Prospect
September 1, 2009
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Rk   Player   Pos   Comments   Age   Org   Lvl
1   Jason Heyward   RF   Plus power, contact ability and good patience; best high school hitter since J. Upton?   20.1   ATL   AA
2   Carlos Santana   C   He should be MLB-ready in 2010; speed and elite contact ability are all he's missing   23.4   CLE   AA
3   Jesus Montero   C/DH   Seamless A+ to AA transition; unlikely to stick at C; broken finger ended season early   19.8   NYY   AA
4   Buster Posey   C   MLB-ready hitter has very few offensive weaknesses; solid defender; decent speed   22.4   SF   AAA
5   Pedro Alvarez   3B   Plus power hitter with good patience...minus contact? .400+ AA BABIP isn't sustainable   22.6   PIT   AA
6   Dustin Ackley   CF/1B   Storied NCAA bat may have up-the-middle defense in his bag of tricks; very polished   21.5   SEA   NCAA
7   Desmond Jennings   CF   Speedster and strong all-around hitter could turn into one of game's elite center fielders   22.9   TB   AAA
8   Fernando Martinez   CF/OF   Outstanding raw power + strong contact ability; has been out since July (knee surgery) 20.9   NYM   MLB
9   Mike Stanton   RF   While his power is outstanding, he's struggled with his strikeout and walk rates in AA   19.8   FLA   AA
10   Justin Smoak   1B   Has been patient and made decent AAA contact; surprisingly low IsoP due to injuries?   22.8   TEX   AAA
11   Michael Taylor   LF/RF   Mashing up MiLB ranks w/ strong set of offensive tools and numbers to back 'em up   23.7   PHI   AAA
12   Matt LaPorta   LF/1B   Great bet to be average or better MLB hitter; just doesn't have much defensive value   24.7   CLE   MLB
13   James Darnell   3B   Among the top bats we've seen in '09; chalk slow promos up to defensive development   22.6   SD   A+
14   Alcides Escobar   SS   Light-hitting above-average defender doesn't need to do much w/ bat to be solid regular 22.7   MIL   AAA
15   Michael Saunders   LF/CF   Having breakout power + contact season; could surface as strong regular at this pace   22.8   SEA   MLB
16   Matt Dominguez   3B   We gave him a healthy boost for his plus D; bat looked sweet in July -- for real?   20.0   FLA   AA
17   Chris Carter   1B/OF   Below-average defender but a great line-drive hitter who draws walks and runs well   22.7   OAK   AAA
18   Logan Morrison   1B   Power is big question mark here; likely a big league bat; relatively low ceiling, though?   22.0   FLA   AA
19   Domonic Brown   RF   Rise in K%, drop in BB% from A+ to AA is something to keep an eye on; high ceiling   22.0   PHI   A+
20   Yonder Alonso   1B   June broken hamate bone has shortened his season; how much power is really here?   22.4   CIN   AA
21   Alex Avila   C   From outstanding NCAA bat to potential average big leaguer over night? Let's see more   22.6   DET   MLB
22   Ryan Kalish   CF   Check out his month-to-month AA power progress; value takes a hit if he moves off CF   21.4   BOS   AA
23   Nick Weglarz   LF   Has been unlucky this year (.249 BABIP, 14% LD); slow start, slow finish (shin bruise)   21.7   CLE   AA
24   Todd Frazier   2B   We hear his glove could be average at 2B; his bat would easily be a plus at the position   23.6   CIN   AAA
25   Caleb Gindl   LF   Brevard is masking another special hitter; power will ultimately determine his upside   21.0   MIL   A+
Honorable Mentions
26   Mat Gamel   3B   Scary AAA + MLB contact struggles; power not that impressive given he's been in PCL   24.2   MIL   MLB
27   Jaff Decker   LF   Decent contact hitter w/ little defensive value who walks a ton and hits for power   19.5   SD   A
28   Brett Lawrie   2B   Earned AA promo in 1st season; tons of raw power, breakout potential; good K%, BB%   19.6   MIL   AA
29   Derek Norris   C   Awesome power and walk rates; below-average contact hitter who may move off C   20.6   WAS   A
30   Brett Wallace   3B/1B   Polished hitter, but his power isn't impressive in park/league context; could stick at 3B   23.0   OAK   AAA
Graduated: Kyle Blanks (18). Dropped out: Mat Gamel (11).            
* Ages are as of September 1, 2009; Lvl is the highest level the player has reached; Our rankings put a lot of weight into floor as well as ceiling
                         
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