FutureSox: Top 30 Prospect List

[Quin]

The full list is here:

 

http://www.chicagonow.com/future-sox/2017/...2017-full-list/

 

Any names you're surprised didn't make it? Anyone too high or too low?

 

As Matt found out, this was actually the most homogenous list ever amongst voters.

[Quin]

11 names are new to the list just since the preseason.

 

This doesn't include people such as Skoug, Yurchak, Dedelow, Johnson, or Yrizarri. The first four made the just missed and MLB Pipeline initially had Yrizzari as #30 in the Sox system when he was acquired.

[Chicago White Sox]

Great list. My two biggest complaints are Gillaspie being too high and not including Delmonico. I get that Gillaspie was a top 100 guy for Baseball America last year, but honestly I'm not sure that was warranted based on the scouting reports I've read. I really think he should be in the low to mid 20's after guys like Burdi, Fulmer, Guerrero, Adolfo, & Basabe. And I think Nicky should be in that range as well. He's a much better athlete than Gillaspie, has the ability to play multiple positions (although poorly at this point), and is actually having a solid season. I probably like Nicky's chances of becoming a regular better than Gillaspie's at this point and he also has the floor of useful bat off the bench.

Edited August 5, 2017 by Chicago White Sox

[KnightsOnMintSt]

I would rank Stephens as the No. 2 pitcher behind Kopech. He has been so consistent this year. Would like to see him get a few starts with Charlotte this year.

 

Dylan Cease is a little high for me. I would actually switch Stephens and Cease's rankings. By the time he gets to the White Sox, I would expect Cease to be a bullpen arm, where as I expect Stephens to be in the White Sox rotation in 2019.

[Quin]

Great list. My two biggest complaints are Gillaspie being too high and not including Delmonico. I get that Gillaspie was a top 100 guy for Baseball America last year, but honestly I'm not sure that was warranted based on the scouting reports I've read. I really think he should be in the low to mid 20's after guys like Burdi, Fulmer, Guerrero, Adolfo, & Basabe. And I think Nicky should be in that range as well. He's a much better athlete than Gillaspie, has the ability to play multiple positions (although poorly at this point), and is actually having a solid season. I probably like Nicky's chances of becoming a regular better than Gillaspie's at this point and he also has the floor of useful bat off the bench.

 

Gillaspie it all depends on whether or not you believe he's a fluke.

 

Delmonico's biggest knock (by far) is his defense. Multiple positions is a misnomer - his play in LF the other night was amazingly awful.

 

I would rank Stephens as the No. 2 pitcher behind Kopech. He has been so consistent this year. Would like to see him get a few starts with Charlotte this year.

 

Dylan Cease is a little high for me. I would actually switch Stephens and Cease's rankings. By the time he gets to the White Sox, I would expect Cease to be a bullpen arm, where as I expect Stephens to be in the White Sox rotation in 2019.

 

That's a high sell on Stephens and would have him be Top 60 in baseball. Through no fault of his own, he's behind a crazy amount of arms.

[Chicago White Sox]

Gillaspie it all depends on whether or not you believe he's a fluke.

 

Delmonico's biggest knock (by far) is his defense. Multiple positions is a misnomer - his play in LF the other night was amazingly awful.

The problems I have with Gillaspie are that he's a poor athlete, a below average defender at 1B, and lacks bat speed. The batting eye is obviously plus and apparently he's got significant raw power, but if that doesn't translate to in-game power he's a dime a dozen 1B/DH at best. I'm not giving up on him just yet and was ecstatic to get him in return for Jennings, but I view him as someone whose stock is signicantly down and will need to prove himself all over again.

[steveno89]

I would rank Stephens as the No. 2 pitcher behind Kopech. He has been so consistent this year. Would like to see him get a few starts with Charlotte this year.

 

Dylan Cease is a little high for me. I would actually switch Stephens and Cease's rankings. By the time he gets to the White Sox, I would expect Cease to be a bullpen arm, where as I expect Stephens to be in the White Sox rotation in 2019.

 

Not sure how you justify Stephens being ranked above Lopez, Hansen, dunning, cease or giolito. I like Stephens, but he will turn 25 years old in a month and is still in AA ball. He'll get a chance to start, but I'm not sure he isn't better suited to becoming a reliever. Other pitchers in our system offer more projection and have better stuff in my opinion.

[bmags]

To me both Gillespie and Sheets were too high. Good work though everyone. I do think Delmonico deserved top 30 mention. He is unlikely to be a full time player but he definitely has an MLB bat. Which makes him more interesting than Gillespie to me.

[steveno89]

To me both Gillespie and Sheets were too high. Good work though everyone. I do think Delmonico deserved top 30 mention. He is unlikely to be a full time player but he definitely has an MLB bat. Which makes him more interesting than Gillespie to me.

 

Top 30 lists are more about ceilings than about floors. We have plenty of guys not in the top thirty that are more likely to play in the majors than higher really guys, like Tito polo for example.

 

Gillaspie and sheets are too high I feel as well.

[SoxAce]

Boy you guys are really, really down on Fulmer huh?

[GreenSox]

My only quibble is that Gillapsie seems at least 10 spots too high to me. But informative list -thanks for posting it.

[CWSpalehoseCWS]

Nice list. Still amazes me how many new names are on it compared to last year this time.

 

One guy I wish would have been included in the just missed article is Jace Fry. He's got some impressive stats for a guy coming off a second TJ surgery. I'm guessing that's why he doesn't seem to get any mentions? Either way, a 10.8 K/9 is pretty impressive. I would even argue he's a more interesting LHP than say, Brian Clark, despite his small sample size in Birmingham.

[Y2Jimmy0]

I didn't have Delmonico in my top 30. Some of the others did. He was tough to fit.

[Chicago White Sox]

I didn't have Delmonico in my top 30. Some of the others did. He was tough to fit.

Will you guys be providing your indivual lists? Just curious where certain guys like Gillaspie, Delmonico, etc. slotted amongst the different contributors.

[Y2Jimmy0]

Will you guys be providing your indivual lists? Just curious where certain guys like Gillaspie, Delmonico, etc. slotted amongst the different contributors.

 

 

I don't think they have in the past but mine was this:

 

1. Yoan Moncada 2B

2. Eloy Jimenez OF

3. Michael Kopech RHP

4. Luis Robert OF

5. Lucas Giolito RHP

6. Reynaldo Lopez RHP

7. Blake Rutherford OF

8. Zack Collins C

9. Dylan Cease RHP

10. Alec Hansen RHP

11. Jake Burger 3B

12. Spencer Adams RHP

13. Dane Dunning RHP

14. Carson Fulmer RHP

15. Jordan Stephens RHP

16. Casey Gillaspie 1B

17. Luis Alexander Basabe OF

18. Gavin Sheets 1B

19. Zack Burdi RHP

20. Ian Clarkin LHP

21. Jordan Guerrero LHP

22. Ryan Cordell OF

23. Micker Adolfo OF

24. AJ Puckett RHP

25. Luis Curbelo SS

26. Luis Gonzalez OF

27. Bernardo Flores LHP

28. Alex Call OF

29. Jameson Fisher OF

30. Seby Zavala C

 

[NorthSideSox72]

I'm seeing a lot of discussion on Gillaspie being too high. I think it's informative to put here, the blurb we had on him from the list:

 

Recently acquired from the Rays, Casey Gillaspie (brother of former White Sox, Conor) is the definition of a "buy low" candidate. Ranked among the top 100 prospects in MLB as recently as this past winter, Casey was looked at as a plus power bat who also showed excellent plate discipline and a quick, efficient swing. But 2017 has not been kind to Gillaspie, who has thus far slashed .227/.296/.357 in AAA and is currently on the disabled list with a broken toe. It's not just the numbers either - recent scouting reports have soured on his offensive skills, and as strictly 1B/DH profile, that is a big deal. One could rank Gillaspie anywhere from lower top ten to outside the top thirty in this system, all dependent on whether you think his 2017 thus far is a blip or a real problem. He ended up somewhere between on this list.

 

He's sort of a binary prospect. Either he is what everyone seemed to think he was going into this season (which would make him in the 9-12 range), or he's truly hit a wall in AAA (which puts him probably in the 20's). We ended up at 14.

 

[NorthSideSox72]

On Delmonico, no one who missed the list was more heavily discussed among the writers. I think we mostly or all agreed the has a major league bat, one that could be of value as a role player. The problem is, his positional "flexibility" is that he can play below average (or worse) defense at third, first, LF and RF. That makes him a tough guy to keep rostered for long. In the right role, as a PH and off day fill in at all those positions, he has bench value maybe. But the defense severely limits his ceiling.

 

[southsider2k5]

I'm seeing a lot of discussion on Gillaspie being too high. I think it's informative to put here, the blurb we had on him from the list:

 

 

 

He's sort of a binary prospect. Either he is what everyone seemed to think he was going into this season (which would make him in the 9-12 range), or he's truly hit a wall in AAA (which puts him probably in the 20's). We ended up at 14.

 

Seems pretty parallel to Matt Davidson who crushed it through the minors and then just splattered into the wall.

[NorthSideSox72]

Finally, yes, we often have our writers post their individual lists if they want to. Here is mine...

 

1 Yoan Moncada

2 Eloy Jimenez

3 Michael Kopech

4 Luis Robert

5 Lucas Giolito

6 Reynaldo Lopez

7 Blake Rutherford

8 Alec Hansen

9 Zack Collins

10 Dylan Cease

11 Jake Burger

12 Spencer Adams

13 Dane Dunning

14 Casey Gillaspie

15 Gavin Sheets

16 Luis Alex Basabe

17 Micker Adolfo

18 Jordan Guerrero

19 Jordan Stephens

20 Luis Curbelo

21 Zack Burdi

22 Carson Fulmer

23 Seby Zavala

24 Ian Clarkin

25 Luis Gonzalez

26 AJ Puckett

27 Jameson Fisher

28 Aaron Bummer

29 Ryan Cordell

30 Amado Nunez

 

My just missed, in order of last out: Bernardo Flores, Alex Call, Evan Skoug, Nick Delmonico

 

[ron883]

Tito polo out up 16 hrs, 37 sbs, 811 ops as a 21 year old CFer in A and A+ last year. Seems like he has good tools. Any reason he was left off?

[Quin]

Seems pretty parallel to Matt Davidson who crushed it through the minors and then just splattered into the wall.

 

To be fair, Davidson splattered for like three seasons.

 

Tito polo out up 16 hrs, 37 sbs, 811 ops as a 21 year old CFer in A and A+ last year. Seems like he has good tools. Any reason he was left off?

 

Depth.

[bmags]

My point with Delmonico wasn't really that he should be higher, but that the rational for not including him in the list is basically the same as why Gillaspie should be lower. He basically has to have power show big and soon for him to be interesting. Because we have a nice contact, modest power .760 OPS DH in delmonico who we don't value that much already.

[southsider2k5]

To be fair, Davidson splattered for like three seasons.

 

 

 

Depth.

 

It is absolutely much earlier for Gillaspie, but some huge red flags are there. When I read about bat speed being the primary issue, you can't get much worse than that in a league that has tons of pitchers throwing 95mph plus now.

[bmags]

Also I like Davidson, really glad he got to find himself back. But I don't see him as a major league starter unless he can get his OBP up to at least .330, and that will be hard without how little he makes contact.

 

So, as cool as it was that Davidson didn't go the way of Jacob May, he's not such an interesting example of failed prospect becoming valuable piece.

 

He still has a chance though.

[SoxAce]

Depth.

 

I'm still trying to wrap my head how Fulmer isn't in the top 20, but regarding Polo, I think he's a better prospect than Bummer and Cordell personally (going off Matt's list there).

Edited August 7, 2017 by SoxAce