MLB’s major league season is now ended, and the offseason reviews have begun. Today, we will review the top prospects that played in the AAA leagues this season, the International League and the Pacific Coast League.
This is the last of a series of posts on the top ten prospects in each league. This series is not entirely indicative of where a player may end up in a top 100 MLB prospect list as a player may not have played long enough to be considered. There aren’t hard and fast rules here, just a general “was this guy here long enough to be considered” feel. On a short-season league, that’s probably about 40-50 plate appearances or a handful of starts. For a full-season league, it’d probably be about double that, but once again, that can be waived in general if a guy made such an impact on the league that it’s hard to ignore his impact on being part of that league.
Call to the Pen will be having a top 100 list released in the early winter, so be looking for that as well, but for now, this should whet your prospecting appetite outside of scouting reports to come on some of the top prospects in the game!
International League
1. Byron Buxton, OF, Rochester (Twins) – Those who pay attention only to the major leagues will wonder how I could put Buxton this high, but to that I’d respond that even if you only watched his major league performance, Buxton’s performance from the time he returned from AAA in September is evidence of the elite upside that Buxton presents in the major leagues. Buxton may suffer from some level of prospect fatigue as people have been hearing about him for so long that they expect that he’d be a star by now. He’s still a guy with elite running ability and plus-plus defensive skills. Buxton also has plus raw power, though until his time in September, he’d not transitioned that to even above-average in-game power at the big league level. His time in Rochester was a .305/.359/.568 line with 11 home runs and 7 stolen bases over 190 at bats. He has to work on his two-strike approach to reduce his strikeouts, but that’s really the biggest question left from the minor leagues for Buxton. Everything else is simply transitioning to the majors.
2. Trea Turner, SS, Syracuse (Nationals) – Turner has been a dynamite player since his drafting, and he was such an impact player that he ended up altering the rules of trading draft picks after the Nationals insisted on his inclusion in the three-team deal that eventually sent Wil Myers from the Rays to the Padres. Turner has a plus contact ability and plus speed, if not plus-plus. His biggest issue is his proclivity to fall in love with pulling the ball and altering his swing a bit, leading to high swing and miss. Turner played exclusively at shortstop in Syracuse, and he was a guy who could play shortstop at the big league level passably, but the Nationals moved him to center field due to need at the big league level. He was understandably raw in center field in the big leagues, but scouts did think he could eventually learn the reads to be an above-average center fielder.
3. Gary Sanchez, C, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (Yankees) – If Buxton had prospect fatigue, Sanchez may have had prospect exhaustion. He has been around for a long time in the minds of those who follow the minors, but the perception has always been that he was a bat-first guy. Sanchez took exceptional steps forward the last two seasons defensively, however, and now profiles as at least an average defensive catcher in his lateral movement with a plus arm, giving him an overall above-average defensive package behind the plate. With the bat in his hands has really never been in question, and in the major leagues, he went completely crazy, knocking out 20 home runs in only 201 at bats. While that pace won’t keep up, Sanchez is a legit power-hitting right-handed catching option that should give both average and power with a decent enough walk rate to give an .800 OPS, which in the current offensive environment for catchers would put him among the elite offensive catchers in the game.
4. Tyler Glasnow, RHP, Indianapolis (Pirates) – Glasnow was injured before he could really show his stuff in the major leagues, but the towering (6’8) righty showed his stuff with Indianapolis before being promoted in July. He has an elite fastball that runs into the upper 90s and has impressive sink, made even more difficult to handle from his downward plane. He also has a wicked hard curve and a change that he’s made progress with. He has struggled with his delivery, an issue for many tall pitchers, and it’s hurt his control, but in spite of those control issues, Glasnow was able to post a 1.87 ERA and 133 strikeouts over 111 innings in AAA, allowing a scant .175 average against.
5. Austin Meadows, OF, Indianapolis (Pirates) – Meadows suffered through an injury-riddled season in 2016, with a delayed start from a broken orbital bone to a hamstring injury that cost him a month in the middle of the season. His time in AA didn’t look pretty if you look just at the batting average, but it is impressive that Meadows posted a .246 isolated power score in AAA as a 21 year-old in his short time in the league. Meadows profiles as a hitter with a solid contact skill along with plus power and plus speed. Defensively, he has the instincts to work in center field, but he also has the arm and offensive skills to work at either corner going forward in Pittsburgh’s loaded outfield.
6. Blake Snell, LHP, Durham (Rays) – Snell had an incredible 2015 season that brought him from off the prospect radar to Baseball America’s Minor League Player of the Year. He followed up with another excellent season, split between AAA and the major leagues. He did make his major league debut in April, but in a spot start. In June, however, he was called up for good. His time with Durham was impressive with a 3.29 ERA and 90 strikeouts in 63 innings. Snell has a fastball that ranges up to high-90s with a very effective pair of breaking pitches in a curve and slider, but his best pitch continues to be his change, which is incredibly difficult for right-handed hitters to read out of the hand and has been a swing-and-miss pitch for him. Snell struggled with his control both in AAA and even more so with the Rays, but if he can get that under control, he’s got a very elite upside with his pitch mix from the left side.
7. Jameson Taillon, RHP, Indianapolis (Pirates) – Taillon returned form Tommy John and hernia surgery in 2016 and took a bit to shake off the rust from nearly two seasons missed. Before his surgery, Taillon was considered a top-15 to top-20 prospect in the entire game, and he quickly exhibited that level of production with Indianapolis, and once he did, the Pirates wasted no time in getting him to the major leagues and leaving him there, meaning Taillon only threw 62 innings with Indianapolis. Those innings were impressive, however, with a 2.04 ERA, .196 average against, and a 6/61 BB/K ratio, exhibiting elite control of his pitches. He works with a sinker and a four-seam fastball. He has a hard curve that he works low in the zone to also generate weak contact and a solid change. Taillon may not be a guy who strikes out a batter per inning, but he pounds the zone and his pitches are such that he’ll generate a lot of weak contact.
8. Ozzie Albies, IF, Gwinnett (Braves) – Albies’ slash line may not look pretty for Gwinnett at .248/.307/.351, but he was 19 when he was brought up to Gwinnett, and his time in Gwinnett saw huge prospect growth for Albies. He struggled initially when he arrived in the league while still playing shortstop, but as the team made the decision that the future of the infield in Atlanta would be Dansby Swanson at shortstop and Albies at second base, he moved to second in Gwinnett. From that point, he hit .267/.350/.347 with a much better strikeout rate and flashed his incredible speed, stealing 6 bases in 25 games as a 2B with Gwinnett before moving back down to AA Mississippi to play alongside Swanson until the end of the season. Albies has much more power than one would imagine based on his frame, drawing plenty of offensive comparisons to Jose Altuve, and his defense at second base is very high level. A fractured elbow in the AA playoffs leads to some assurance that Albies will most likely be in Gwinnett to start 2017 as well as he works his way back from the injury before taking over 2B for the near future in Atlanta.
9. J.P. Crawford, SS, Lehigh Valley (Phillies) – While being very young in the International League does give him some pass for his struggles, Crawford did show some struggles with his ability to make solid contact at the plate. He can certainly walk to get on base, though often with a reported passive approach at the plate where he’s willing to watch plenty of pitches go by. Crawford’s frame should project to have solid power, but his bat path currently makes contact and power prohibitive. He is still a very solid defender, rating as a plus overall defender with extremely smooth abilities defensively and an above-average arm. He’s young enough to still make strides, but his stock is down for me for sure.
10. Josh Bell, 1B, Indianapolis (Pirates) – Bell is the fourth Indianapolis player on the top 10, which tells you the level of talent that passed through the Pirates’ AAA affiliate this season, though that’s exactly what happened – they passed through. Bell was one that was there for nearly the entire season, coming up for a brief appearance in the summer and then for the rest of the year one Indianapolis was eliminated from playoff contention. Bell has worked on his first base defense since moving out of the outfield, but he still has some work to do. He does have a legit switch-hitting power bat with a very solid pitch recognition, leading to a .295/.382/.468 slash line this season.
Next: PCL