Putting together a Top-100 prospect list is a massive undertaking and any site that takes on the challenge deserves to be recognized for their efforts. Since I had just over a week between S2S Team Prospect Lists, I wanted to do something a little different while I have this small window at my disposal. The team prospect lists are a grind and require a ton of research and writing time to put together and I thought that comparing various Top-100s would be a good way to change gears and provide a (hopefully) useful services to our readers
I’m not looking to be overly insightful with these six articles – one for each division – or draw any groundbreaking conclusions. Just looking for a way to compare the rankings and give some of the sites that took on the task of producing a Top-100 – like Nathaniel did for S2S – a little extra love.
The sources I have selected for this 6-part miniseries are:
- Baseball Instinct (BI)
- MLB.com (MLB)
- MLB Prospect Portal (Port)
- Project Prospect (Proj)
- Scout.com (SC)
- And of course the S2S rankings (S2S) are included.
So let’s turn to the AL West – which had 28 players make a Top-100 – and see how each list stacks up next to the others on a team-by-team basis.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim [4]
| Position | Player | S2S | BI | MLB | Port | Proj | SC |
| OF | Mike Trout | #1 | #3 | #3 | #3 | #1 | #2 |
| SS | Jean Segura | #73 | #39 | #55 | #87 | #53 | #22 |
| RHP | Garrett Richards | #67 | |||||
| 3B | Kaleb Cowart | #93 |
It’s good to have Trout, but beyond that the Angels have the least amount of Top-100 talent within the division.
Most curious ranking(s): Nothing stands out here as the inclusions of Richards and Cowart on one of these lists is easily justifiable. However, I am surprised that 2B Taylor Lindsey didn’t make the back half of at least one of these lists.
Oakland Athletics [7]
| Position | Player | S2S | BI | MLB | Port | Proj | SC |
| RHP | A.J. Cole | #30 | #62 | #88 | #56 | #79 | #76 |
| RHP | Brad Peacock | #38 | #92 | #75 | #54 | #57 | #85 |
| OF | Michael Choice | #70 | #50 | #59 | #50 | #59 | #29 |
| RHP | Jarrod Parker | #31 | #26 | #36 | #17 | #23 | |
| RHP | Sonny Gray | #85 | #37 | #31 | |||
| OF/SS | Grant Green | #94 | #92 | #47 | |||
| 1B | Chris Carter | #99 |
Update: I overlooked LHP Tom Milone – another product of the Gio Gonzalez trade – who was #60 in our Top-100. He was not included on any of the other 5 lists.
Prior to the offseason deals, the primary prospect intrigue surrounding the A’s was tied to Michael Choice. Now this list looks a lot more rosy than it would have otherwise, but it comes at the expense of the major league pitching staff. There is a great deal of discrepancy within the rankings of each player, even the three that were unanimous selections.
Most curious ranking(s): Jarrod Parker‘s omission from the S2S list stands out like a sore thumb. Beyond that, Grant Green cracking a Top-50 at #47.
Seattle Mariners [6]
| Position | Player | S2S | BI | MLB | Port | Proj | SC |
| RHP | Taijuan Walker | #23 | #27 | #18 | #23 | #41 | #77 |
| 2B/SS | Nick Franklin | #41 | #40 | #52 | #40 | #35 | #40 |
| C/DH | Jesus Montero | #42 | #5 | #12 | #4 | #4 | #5 |
| LHP | James Paxton | #43 | #22 | #77 | #37 | #36 | #71 |
| LHP | Danny Hultzen | #46 | #20 | #16 | #21 | #19 | #13 |
| 3B/1B/OF | Vinnie Catricala | #59 | #69 |
This might be my favorite table yet. Six Mariners made a Top-100 and five of them were consensus selections. Even Catricala made it comfortably onto two lists. Another amazing thing about this organization is how close the rankings are on each player – relative to the other teams I’ve covered thus far.
Most curious ranking(s): The elephant in the room is definitely our ranking of Montero at #42. Scout.com’s ranking of Walker all the way down at #77 is also an eye-opening outlier.
Texas Rangers [11]
| Position | Player | S2S | BI | MLB | Port | Proj | SC |
| SS | Jurickson Profar | #2 | #10 | #7 | #13 | #7 | #7 |
| RHP | Cody Buckel | #19 | |||||
| LHP | Martin Perez | #25 | #32 | #29 | #27 | #15 | #15 |
| RHP | Neil Ramirez | #47 | #45 | ||||
| LHP | Miguel De Los Santos | #49 | |||||
| RHP | Barret Loux | #95 | |||||
| SS | Rougned Odor | #80 | |||||
| 3B | Mike Olt | #43 | #78 | #96 | #62 | ||
| OF | Leonys Martin | #89 | #44 | ||||
| RHP | Yu Darvish* | #5 | |||||
| C | Jorge Alfaro | #97 |
With 11 players represented in the above table, the Rangers matched the Red Sox and Blue Jays for the honor of most guys included in a Top-100 (so far anyway). Obviously Darvish appears on only one list but would have certainly joined Profar and Perez as consensus picks had he been under contract earlier in the offseason.
Most curious ranking(s): The lack of love for Cody Buckel. Either we’re delusional or we’re way out ahead of the curve on this one.
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For a truly great resource for all your prospect rankings be sure to check out Fantasy Rundown.
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