Baseball America
High on:
- OF Austin Hays, Orioles–#21, avg. ranking of 54.0
- RHP Franklin Perez, Tigers–#35, avg. ranking of 58.7
- LHP Luis Gohara, Braves–#23, avg. ranking of 40.7
- INF Luis Urias, Padres–#32, avg. ranking of 49.5
- RHP Michel Baez, Padres–#28, avg. ranking of 42.0
Low on:
- SS Nick Gordon, Twins–#93, avg. ranking of 60.8
- RHP Corbin Burnes, Brewers–#74, avg. ranking of 55.0
- OF Juan Soto, Nationals–#56, avg. ranking of 38.7
- OF Luis Robert, White Sox–#58, avg. ranking of 42.0
- OF Jahmai Jones, Angels–#89, avg. ranking of 74.8
Baseball America has Michel Baez ranked #28, which puts him 10 spots higher than he ranks on any other list. The Cuban import made a big jump after his first year in pro ball. Baez is a big drink of water at six-foot-eight. He dominated A ball last year with 82 strikeouts and just eight walks in 58.7 innings. Baseball America has his ceiling as a “front-of-the-rotation starter.”
On the flip side, Baseball America is low on Nick Gordon, ranking him #93. Gordon’s next-lowest ranking is #80, by MLB.com. Baseball Prospectus and Keith Law have him in their top 40. Gordon’s stock has dropped on the BA list. In the previous three years, he ranked #61, #53, and #60. He came into last season as the Twins top prospect but has dropped all the way down to eighth. This is in part due to Gordon and in part due to an influx of young talent into the Twins system, including the number one overall pick last June, shortstop Royce Lewis. With Lewis coming up behind him, Gordon could end up moving over to second base.