Who is the top Minor League in each position?
C-
1st-
2nd-
3rd-
SS
OF-
OF-
OF-

SP -
SP -
SP -
SP -

CP -

[quote name='deraj1981' date='Oct 9 2009, 02:32 PM' post='1457648']
Who is the top Minor Leaguer AL Only in each position?
C- Jesus Montero
1st- Justin Smoak
2nd- Adrian Cardenas
3rd- Brett Wallace
SS - Tim Beckham
OF- Desmond Jenning
OF- Nick Weglarz
OF- Aaron Hicks

SP - Martin Perez
SP - Phillippe Aumont
SP - Jake Magee
SP - Micheal Inoa

CP - Josh Fields

I disagree with Weglarz, Aumont, Magee and Inoa, and to some extent Montero.

C - No one expects Montero to stay behind the plate, and in fact most see him as a DH only. A better prospect is Carlos Santana (CLE). Also Tyler Flower (CHW).

OF - Instead of Weglarz I would go with Dustin Ackley, who recently got drafted by Seattle

SP - Aumont is not a SP anymore, he was converted to RP and it looks like he's there to stay. Inoa hasn't shown anything besides raw tools for his age, and he had arm problems this year, so I would rather have a number of pitchers over him. Jeremy Hellickson (TB) and Carlos Carrasco (CLE) are better options imo.

AL

C- Carlos Santana- he makes his guitar wheep and his champagne cry
1B- Justin Smoak
2B- Scott Sizemore
3B- Brett Wallace
SS- Tim Beckham
OF- Desmond Jennings
OF- Chris Carter (they want him to play some OF...so maybe Wallace ends up at 1B)
OF- Dustin Ackley

SP- Brian Matusz
SP- Neftali Feliz
SP- Wade Davis
SP- Martin Perez
SP- Hector Rondon

RP- Josh Fields?

NL

C- Buster Posey
1B- Logan Morrison
2B- Brett Lawrie
SS- Alcides Escobar
3B- Pedro Alvarez
OF- Jason Heyward
OF- Mike Stanton
OF- Domonic Brown

SP- Stephen Strasburg
SP- Madison Bumgarner
SP- Jarrod Parker
SP- Kyle Drabek
SP- Jordan Lyles

RP- Drew Storen

I have yet to actually read anything that the Yankees say that Montero might move to 1B/DH. These are all speculations by forum trolls that say this because Montero is 6'4".

When you think about it The Yankees have gone with a sub par defensive catcher in Jorge Posada for years now. Posada is signed through 2011 which is probably right when Montero will start to break into the majors. On the other hand Tiexiria is signed through 2016 so that locks 1B down for them. So sure DH is still open but who is going to be there power house catcher if they don't resgin Jorge Posada? I really see it to be more likely that he maintains catcher his eligibility than him being strictly a DH.

Also why does this forum totally over hype on Justin Smoak so hard? The guy had a horribly disappointing year this year. Granted it was his first full year of pro ball, he played through a strained oblique, and he is still a very young and promising bat. But either way how can you over look what Chris Carter did this year? Not only did Chris Carter by far out produce Justin Smoak he has a far more proven track record in the minors. They are the same age and Carter also has less "blockage" in his road to the majors.

Which to me makes Chris Carter the hands down best 1B prospect.

Joe Mauer?

Yes Joe Mauer is a 6'4" catcher. He is one of the "exceptions". I didn't go that route mentioning Mauer because I am not sure if the Mauer example helps or hurts Montero's chances of staying at catcher. Mauer is a very rare type of player. But then again when I think about it Matt Wieters is listed at 6'5"!

Maybe because of Mauer taller catchers are starting to "catch" on in the big leagues...

NL questions:

Why leave off Christian Friedrich?

Does anyone think Storen will close for the Nats in 2010?

To be fair to those that have characterized Montero's chances at staying at C as slim, they're hardly basing it on his height alone - his footwork, mechanics and agility/flexibility are below average, and that's at age 19 - in the likelihood that he bulks up and those skills are only likely to worsen, well, I understand completely why they think that.

And, really, it's not just RW - paid content on BP & BA both report this year little has changed. I did find one source that was public - http://www.scoutingthesally.com/2009/05/je...rk-yankees.html. If that were a single report without substantiation from other sources, it would be taken with a grain of salt. But nothing from the reliable scouting sources I've read says otherwise. And, the fact that he got injured with his hand while catching a pitch, it doesn't exactly help his case.

It's not even really about his size - it's the fact that he's already a subpar catcher defensively *before* he's likely to fill out - and lose even more of the skills (flexibility, quickness) that are required to be a catcher (not even great, just average). As examples, Carlos Delgado came up as a C in the TO system - and he showed the same issues, and was converted to 1B. There are numerous more, but at work, so I'll leave it at that.

As for the tall C argument - Mauer is a great example of why he was felt to stay at C regardless of his size - because he was an excellent backstop even in his HS and MILB days - with excellent footwork, mechanics, and agility/flexibility - all skills that Montero is sorely lacking in. I realize you acknowledge Mauer is a special case - but it bears repeating how his skills have made him such a great C, and it's the same skills that Montero really lacks. Given that his bat is almost ready to help at the big stage....well, as I said earlier, I totally get the premise as sound.

Make no mistake - the skills on the offensive side are elite. But the arguments for his low likelihood to remain a C seem more than well-founded to me, and I'm sure that's why others have commented on the same.

P.S. I suspect if there is no big-budget solution present, Austin Romine likely becomes an internal solution for C, not a spectacular bat at the C, but a solid fundamentally sound C in D & game-calling who won't be an albatross at the plate (*cough* Cervelli *cough*).

P.S.S. I found a description of the season-ending injury here - all of it occurred after getting hit in the catcher's mitt with a pitch - no foul ball, etc. - just a pitch. Sounds uuuuuuuuuuugly. Given how special his bat projects to be, it can't have helped his case for this to have happened, either.

It was tough to narrow it down to just five SPs in each league. I could have easily gone with Friedrich or Jenrry Mejia in NL and Jeremy Hellickson or Casey Kelly in the AL, along with a handful of others.

The reason I went with Lyles over Friedrich is that both are dominating A ball, but Lyles is two years younger. Friedrich will reach the majors faster so arguments can be made for both.

Good points, very good article. Some actual evidence rather than just basing his future position off of just size. But in all fairness even while filling out (which at 6'4" 225, you are pretty mostly "filled out" at that point) you would think he would still get better footwork and felxability just from working at it. I am skeptical of how they compare Jesus Montero to an average High School catcher, that is clearly a total exaggeration. Other than that they seemed to bring a good scouting report.

Also I was looking at his defensive numbers (yes not great, but not as bad as everyone makes them out to be). He improved in 2009 alone from throwing out 13% (8 of 64) of base runners in Advanced A to throwing out 32% (14 of 44) of base runners in AA. This is all while playing well above his age level. Yes 32% isn't all that good but that is a very good rate of improvement especially for a kid playing well above his age level. I highly doubt many highschool catchers let alone an average highschool catcher could throw out 32% of AA base runners.

Also with his .994 fielding precentage that would have put him tied in 8th in the majors with Russell Martin and (ex Yankee prospect) Dioner Navarro.

Christian Friedrich pitched mainly in Advanced A ball this year. But at the same time Jordan Lyles is just under 3 and a half years younger but 4 grade levels younger.

I am very high on both of those pitchers, yes I agree it is extremely hard for me to say who is going to be better at this point. I rank them very closely. I too would probably give Friedrich a slight edge just due to the fact that he is a lot closer to the majors.

I like Friedrich over Lyles by a lot. Also, give me Pedro Alvarez over Wallace; especially since Pedro, IMO, has a better shot at sticking at the position.

Alvarez is a beast. I'm not a big Wallace fan but it was an AL only list, so I went with him. I had Alvarez as the best NL 3B

Opps sorry, did not realize this was AL Only...Keep an eye on Chisenhall (3b).

Do you think Grant Desme is a top three outfield prospect?

If he fixes his K's, I think he could be.

Do you think Desmond could crack the A's roster this year?

Highly unlikely unless he somehow fixes his K's. Carter isn't even up yet....

For fantasy purposes:

C: Santana- prefer his bat to Posey and should stick at catcher. If montero can stick at C, I prefer him to Santana.
1B: Smoak- tailed off a bit, but looks to be a good offensive player;I also like chris carter more than the consensus.
2B: Jemile Weeks- I'm not much of a fan, but 2B is awfully shallow in the minors.
3B: Alvarez- he'll hurt your batting average, but he's got very, very good power.
OF: Heyward- Consensus top 2 prospect, with most saying he's #1. Great combination of high ceiling and floor.
OF: Jennings- Should hit for average with great speed and respectable power. If he can improve his game power, look out.
OF: Stanton- Extremely high ceiling, but extreme K rate drags down his floor. Probably has the most power potential of any minor leaguer.

SP: Strasburg- he's probably nearly as good as AJ Burnett already.
SP: Brian Matusz- doesn't have the upside of some guys lower on the list, but has a nice repertoire along with a good deal of polish.
SP: Neftali Feliz- I think it'd be dumb not to give this kid more chances as a starter. He's far away from it, but his upside is a #1. Most effortless high 90s I've ever seen. I'd bump his value up a notch for fantasy, since barring injury, his floor looks like a pretty good closer.
SP: Bumgarner- questions over velocity are concerning and could drop him off this list. Secondary stuff also needs work.

CP: Drew Storen- Earns top ranking due to MLB-readiness and little competition in the Nats' pen. I wouldn't worry about closers much, as they're extraordinarily volatile. Pretty much any live arm could turn into the next good closer.

extremely unlikely

Does Jason Heyward still count as a prospect? He should start with the Braves and probably will have the most impact, fantasy-wise, this season.