Baseball Prospectus Futures Guide 2020

Baseball Prospectus

Description

FUTURES GUIDE 2020 features: - Detailed reports on top 10 prospects for every major-league team. - Condensed reports on many additional key prospects for each team. - Top talents 25 years old and younger for each team. - Baseball Prospectus' 2020 organizational rankings. - Top 101 real-life and fantasy prospects. - Top 50 players who entered pro baseball in 2020. - Essays on prospect hype cycles and what scouting grades mean.

Informations

• Publié par: Baseball Prospectus
• Date de parution: 05 mars 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781732355590
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

FUTURES GUIDE 2020
The Top Prospects For Every MLB Team and more
Edited by Craig Brown and Nick Schaefer
Mark Anderson, Mark Barry, Demetrius Bell, Sydney Bergman, Jacob Bickman, J.P. Breen, Smith Brickner, Craig Brown, Ben Carsley, Kevin Carter, Alexis Collins, Ricky Conti, Spring Marie Cullen, Scott Delp, Patrick Dubuque, Steve Givarz, Nathan Graham, Samuel Hale, Wilson Karaman, Keanan Lamb, David Lee, Allison McCague, Tyler Oringer, Jeffrey Paternostro, Keith Rader, Jen Mac Ramos, Jesse Roche, Bret Sayre, Ginny Searle, Jarrett Seidler, Ben Spanier, Tyler Stafford, Forest Stulting, Matt Sussman, Matt Trueblood, Collin Whitchurch, Brandon Williams, Matt Winkleman, Jeff Wiser, Kazuto Yamazaki
Dave Pease, Consultant Editor Robert Au, Harry Pavlidis and Amy Pircher, Statistics Editors

Copyright © 2020 by DIY Baseball, LLC. All rights reserved
This book or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and the author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: paperback ISBN-10: 1732355584 ISBN-13: 978-1732355583
Project Credits Cover Design: Michael Byzewski at Aesthetic Apparatus Interior Design and Production: Jeff Pease, Dave Pease Layout: Jeff Pease, Dave Pease
Cover Photos Front Cover: Jo Adell. © Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Baseball icon courtesy of Uberux, from https://www.shareicon.net/author/uberux
Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Table of Contents Top 101 Prospects link by Jeffrey Paternostro and Jarrett Seidler Arizona Diamondbacks link Atlanta Braves link Baltimore Orioles link Boston Red Sox link Chicago Cubs link Chicago White Sox link Cincinnati Reds link Cleveland Indians link Colorado Rockies link Detroit Tigers link Houston Astros link Kansas City Royals link Los Angeles Angels link Los Angeles Dodgers link Miami Marlins link Milwaukee Brewers link Minnesota Twins link New York Mets link New York Yankees link Oakland Athletics link Philadelphia Phillies link Pittsburgh Pirates link San Diego Padres link San Francisco Giants link Seattle Mariners link St. Louis Cardinals link Tampa Bay Rays link Texas Rangers link Toronto Blue Jays link Washington Nationals link Organization Rankings link by Jeffrey Paternostro The View From Behind the Backstop: No One Reads Your Gamer in 2019 link by Jeffrey Paternostro Catching the Outliers link by Wilson Karaman Dynasty Top 101 link by Ben Carsley, Jesse Roche and Bret Sayre Top 50 Signees link by Bret Sayre and Jesse Roche The Top 31 Dynasty Players Outside U.S. Pro Ball link by Jesse Roche Index of Names link



Jump to Table of Contents
Top 101 Prospects
by Jeffrey Paternostro and Jarrett Seidler

1. Wander Franco, SS, Tampa Bay Rays
Franco is a switch-hitting shortstop who we think will either stay there or end up at second. He has a high chance at a plus hit/plus power outcome. He hit .327/.398/.487 as an 18-year-old playing at Low-A and High-A, and walked more than he struck out at both levels. If it wasn’t for Nick Madrigal, we’d be talking about how he has the best bat-to-ball skills of any top prospect, despite his youth. He’s been the best player in his age cohort for years now, with the signing bonus and past rankings to prove it. While he’s not quite as toolsy as some of the players just below him on this list, he’s still pretty toolsy, and he’s blending it with dominant performance. He’s the boring choice to be the best prospect in baseball, but clearly the right one.
2. Jo Adell, OF, Los Angeles Angels
Baseball is an entertainment business. That often gets lost beneath a haze of $/WARP analysis, four-and-a-half hour playoff games with picture-in-picture ads from Jaguar and arguments over whether the inconsistent seam height of baseballs has been purposeful. Now, generally speaking, good baseball is more entertaining than bad baseball, and good players more entertaining than bad. And Adell is going to be a very good baseball player. But he also gets that this is an entertainment business, and if that means staying past his allotted time in the batter’s box during Futures Game batting practice to try and hit a ball off the scoreboard at Progressive Field—despite the wind blowing in—he’s happy to oblige. Adell came up just a few rows short in the end, but it’s one of our abiding memories of the 2019 season. And fair play, given his 70-grade raw power he had a shot at it. There’s a potential plus hit tool that could carry that pop into major league games as soon as April 1st. And no foolin’, while Franco has a better chance to be a very good player for a long time, Adell has the most upside of anyone on this list. He may not get there, but it sure will be entertaining to watch him try.
3. Gavin Lux, SS/2B, Los Angeles Dodgers
We have a lot of pithy little sayings here on the Baseball Prospectus prospect team. “Catchers are weird,” “There’s no such thing as a number three starter” and “Jo Adell is an icon” to name just a few. “Player development is not linear” is another one. It sure wasn’t for Lux. He was in the mix for the back of our 2019 Top 101, but missed for merely being a polished middle infielder with a strong collection of average or solid-average tools. Very early in 2019, it became clear something had changed. He had grown into a stronger, but no less athletic frame. He looked more like a sure-shot shortstop, but with the flexibility to be above-average at other spots. The doubles power grew into over-the-fence power without giving up any plate coverage or sacrificing a patient approach. All of a sudden, Lux was slugging .719 in Triple-A and made the Dodgers playoff roster—where he mashed a pinch-hit home run in NLDS Game 1. We still think he’s polished and high probability, but now he’s probably going to make a few All-Star games. There wasn’t a single tool breakout here, everything just got a little bit better. Put that mix of plus tools in a shortstop and, well, that’s a heady brew.
4. Adley Rutschman, C, Baltimore Orioles
This is the highest the previous summer’s 1-1 has landed on the 101 in quite some time. The circumstantial evidence from the draft process supports it; Rutschman was the consensus top player in the draft process from start to finish and set a record bonus number, under a system that incentivizes teams to shave money with the top pick to go after big-bonus preps later. Our looks at Rutschman after the draft flashed the expected offensive tools, led by two mirrored and near-perfect swings geared for power. We also saw a strong, polished base of defensive abilities, and we firmly believe that he will excel in the soft factors of catching as well. Will blowing up a highly-drafted switch-hitting Orioles catching prospect inevitably lead to Matt Wieters jokes? You bet. But Wieters is a four-time All-Star who has compiled over 20 WARP, so is that actually that bad?
5. MacKenzie Gore, LHP, San Diego Padres
As best pitching prospects in baseball go, Gore is not the most exciting example to write about. It’s not his fault. He’s a very good pitching prospect. We are literally saying he’s the best pitching prospect. There just isn’t an easy hook—although there is a very easy hook. Gore got a full, blister-free season under his belt, with the stipulation that “full” in our modern times means 20 judiciously spaced starts of 55-75 pitches, totaling 101 innings. So, it’s still not clear exactly what the stuff will look like as a traditional 180-inning, every fifth day, starter. It’s clear what it looks like now, though, and it’s dang impressive. Gore boasts a deep arsenal of pitches led by a mid-90s fastball from the left side that he commands well for a 20-year-old with fewer than 200 pro innings under his belt. A plus-or-better curve—the aforementioned easy hook—and potentially above-average slider and change round out the repertoire. He gets good extension and deception from his funky delivery right out of the Ministry of Silly Walks. So there’s no need to always look on the bright side of life to see that Gore is one of the elite pitching prospects in all of baseball.
6. Luis Robert, OF, Chicago White Sox
Professional baseball is a game for all shapes and sizes. Prospects on this list will range from 5-foot-7 (Nick Madrigal, allegedly) to 6-foot-7 (Oneil Cruz). There are beanpole pitchers and BIG BOY SZN corner mashers. There is no perfect baseball body. However, if there was a perfect baseball body, it might be Robert’s. Built like an NFL wideout with the plus-plus run times to match, everything just looks easy when he’s on the field or in the batter’s box. The 21-year-old blitzed three levels to the tune of .328 and 32 home runs in 122 games, finishing the year on the doorstep of the South side. He looks like he should be a corner outfielder, but is perfectly fine roaming center. The offensive tools are All-Star level. The one question left: Can Robert’s “see ball, hit ball” approach work against the best pitchers in the world? We’ll find out in 2020.
7. Jarred Kelenic, OF, Seattle Mariners
We said l