
Let’s Agree to Disagree
There were 58 players who appeared on all six lists, ranging from Ronald Acuna, with an average ranking of 1.3, to Albert Abreu, with an average ranking of 79.7. There was general agreement near the top of the list, particularly in the top 10. One top guy with a small amount of disagreement was Yankees prospect Gleyber Torres, who was ranked as high as #3 (Baseball Prospectus) to as low as #12 (Fangraphs).
Cleveland catching prospect Francisco Mejia was quite high on the lists of Baseball Prospectus (#5) and Keith Law (#7), but down at #20 on the Baseball America list. He made headlines in 2016 when he put together a 50-game hitting streak, which was the longest in the minor leagues since 1954. He hit .297/.346/.490 as a 21-year-old in Double-A last year and even got into a handful of games in the major leagues last September. His bat is ahead of his glove right now, but if he can stick at catcher he has all-star potential.
Baltimore outfield prospect Austin Hays was mentioned earlier. Of all the players who appeared on all six lists, Hays had the biggest disagreement in the rankings. Baseball America (#21) and MLB.com (#23) really liked him and Call to the Pen (#39) had him in the top half of their top-100. The other three sources weren’t as high on Hays. Baseball Prospectus had him ranked #72. Keith Law had him at #79. And Fangraphs had him down at #90.
Other players with considerable disagreement included shortstop Nick Gordon (high ranking of #35, low ranking of #93), infielder Luis Urias (high of #28, low of #89), shortstop Franklin Barreto (high of #24, low of #94), and first baseman Ryan McMahon (high of #31, low of #99).