Baseball America’s just released their list of the 50 best mid-season prospects, and (as always) it’s fascinating. Before diving in -- to the shallow end, anyway -- a few caveats.
Twins dominate mid-season prospects list
USA TODAY Sports
One, they're considering only players who have exhausted their rookie eligibility or weren't on a major-league club's 25-man roster on the 1st of July. Which is perfectly reasonable. But there are times when I prefer a more expansive definition of the word "prospect". Sometimes I think "prospect" should apply to any young -- pick your age -- player who hasn't played well in the majors yet, but still has a measurable chance of doing so. Is Dustin Ackley a prospect? Not according to most people. But I would take him ahead of a bunch of guys on the prospect list, even though we're still waiting for him.
But I digress. My other caveat: All prospects aren’t created equal. It’s fun to point which teams have four prospects on the Top 50 list and which teams have one. But that might lead to a faulty assumption that having the No. 18, No. 27, and No. 43 prospects is better than having the No. 2 prospect alone.
Actually, that might be better. I’m sure someone’s done the research. I’m just saying that while placing on the list is good, placing high on the list is better. And you’d rather have Nos. 53 and 54 (which we can’t see) than just No. 49.
Anyway, this is a good day to be a Twins fan, because here are the top three prospects on the list:
1. Byron Buxton - TWINS
2. Oscar Taveras - Cardinals
3. Miguel Sano - TWINS
Also, pitcher Alex Meyer comes in 32nd, and if pitcher Kyle Gibson hadn't been called up just before the 1st of July, I'll bet he would have made the list too.
A few other things that jumped out at me ...
- Baseball America's got Baltimore's Dylan Bundy in the No. 17 slot, along with this comment: "Tommy John surgery is a significant setback, but teams would still love to have him." Yes, they would. But would they love to have him more than they'd love to have the 18th guy on the list, or the 28th guy? I doubt it.
- The rebuilding Astros can boast the No. 9, No. 20, No. 22, No. 31, and No. 46 prospects on the list.
- The rebuilding Yankees have the No. 34 and No. 45 prospects on the list.
- The rebuilding White Sox don't have anybody at all on the list. If they don't make some trades this month, they're doing it wrong.
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