Baseball America Top 30 (Actually, 40)

[Y2Jimmy0]

Baseball America has printed their handbooks. They listed a top 30 and then gave 31-40 as well. It's the 30th ranked system but there are lots of 45-50 grades here and lots of super young dudes so they could jump quite a bit next year. They didn't include Colas or Hernandez. 

1. Colson Montgomery SS

2. Yoelqui Cespedes OF 

3. Norge Vera RHP 

4. Wes Kath 3B 

5. Jose Rodriguez SS 

6. Andrew Dalquist RHP 

7. Jake BUrger 3B 

8. Jared Kelley RHP 

9. Sean Burke RHP 

10. Matthew Thompson RHP 

11. Bryan Ramos 

12. Jimmy Lambert RHP 

13. Jonathan Stiever RHP 

14. Jason Bilous RHP 

15. Romy Gonzalez SS 

16. Yolbert Sanchez SS 

17. Lenyn Sosa SS 

18. Micker Adolfo OF 

19. Tanner McDougal RHP 

20. Cristian Mena RHP 

21. Blake Rutherford OF 

22. Caleb Freeman RHP 

23. Luis Mieses OF 

24. Wilber Sanchez SS 

25. Yoelvin Silven RHP 

26. Bennett Sousa LHP 

27. Brooks Gosswein LHP 

28. Gil Luna Jr LHP 

29. Wilfred Veras 3B 

30. Adam Hackenberg C 

31. Kade McClure RHP 

32. Luke Shilling RHP 

33. Theo Denlinger RHP 

34. Johan Dominguez RHP 

35. McKinley Moore RHP 

36. Fraser Ellard LHP 

37. Misael Gonzalez OF 

38. Taylor Broadway RHP 

39. Johnny Ray RHP

40. Davis Martin RHP 

 

 

[Chicago White Sox]

Misael Gonzalez ranked 37th in the worst system is wild to me.

[Harold's Leg Lift]

3 hours ago, Y2Jimmy0 said:

Baseball America has printed their handbooks. They listed a top 30 and then gave 31-40 as well. It's the 30th ranked system but there are lots of 45-50 grades here and lots of super young dudes so they could jump quite a bit next year. They didn't include Colas or Hernandez. 

I don't know man looks like lots of 35-40 grades to me.  

[Y2Jimmy0]

16 minutes ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

I don't know man looks like lots of 35-40 grades to me.  

Yeah I mean it’s all subjective. System could be in 20-25 range next year 

[BigHurt3515]

We are back to last just like that? 

Damn thought we had a little more talent than that

[Harold's Leg Lift]

8 hours ago, BigHurt3515 said:

We are back to last just like that? 

Damn thought we had a little more talent than that

They did a horrific job of drafting.  I know some say the talent is on the major league roster but it's really only 2 players.  Sure Vaughn and Crochet would make the top of the list look better but the system would still be near or at the bottom. Picking towards the top of every round for as long as they and to have this little depth in the system shows what a terrible draft strategy they had.  

[Timmy U]

3 hours ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

They did a horrific job of drafting.  I know some say the talent is on the major league roster but it's really only 2 players.  Sure Vaughn and Crochet would make the top of the list look better but the system would still be near or at the bottom. Picking towards the top of every round for as long as they and to have this little depth in the system shows what a terrible draft strategy they had.  

It's really an interesting strategy to take a bunch of college players and then process them quickly.  And I agree the results are not stellar.  They have gotten players to the majors, but the impact is debatable.  2018 is an interesting class.  They've traded Madrigal, Steele Walker, Pilkington, and Heuer.  Lency Delgado busted.  Arguably they could still get value out of Stiever, Bilous, Romy Gonzalez, Luke Schilling, Davis Martin, and I suppose Cabera Weaver?  Ultimately, that draft class will be middle of the pack in career WAR, so not a disaster, but the headliners are a contact-oriented 2b, and a bunch of reliever/backend starter types.  The guy who has upside athletically is Romy Gonzalez, but low probability he becomes a multi-year starter.

[GreenSox]

20 hours ago, BigHurt3515 said:

We are back to last just like that? 

Damn thought we had a little more talent than that

Well as soon as Robert and the bounty from a couple of trades hit the majors, we settled back to where we've been for much of the last 15 years.  Mediocre drafting, generation behind on analytics,  and not taking the international game seriously (even though they are good at it) takes its toll.
Lately, the drafting has been strange: we'll see soon if  the results stay mediocre, or perhaps improve.

Edited February 7, 2022 by GreenSox

[caulfield12]

2 hours ago, GreenSox said:

Well as soon as Robert and the bounty from a couple of trades hit the majors, we settled back to where we've been for much of the last 15 years.  Mediocre drafting, generation behind on analytics,  and not taking the international game seriously (even though they are good at it) takes its toll.
Lately, the drafting has been strange: we'll see soon if  the results stay mediocre, or perhaps improve.

Things would look quite a bit different had Rodon stayed…which I guess is not still completely out of the realm of possibility.

But Rodon and Madrigal are two Top 5 picks without much of anything to show for right now.  That would hurt any organization, but especially one as thin as we are depth-wise (except at 1B/DH, of course.)

[bmags]

23 hours ago, Timmy U said:

It's really an interesting strategy to take a bunch of college players and then process them quickly.  And I agree the results are not stellar.  They have gotten players to the majors, but the impact is debatable.  2018 is an interesting class.  They've traded Madrigal, Steele Walker, Pilkington, and Heuer.  Lency Delgado busted.  Arguably they could still get value out of Stiever, Bilous, Romy Gonzalez, Luke Schilling, Davis Martin, and I suppose Cabera Weaver?  Ultimately, that draft class will be middle of the pack in career WAR, so not a disaster, but the headliners are a contact-oriented 2b, and a bunch of reliever/backend starter types.  The guy who has upside athletically is Romy Gonzalez, but low probability he becomes a multi-year starter.

Yeah, I think reality is when you throw up the 2016+ draft classes up they'll likely be middle of the pack when controlling for the lack of comp picks.

I just don't think for a team that will be in the bottom third of draft budget every year they can use their international budget for small, higher certainty players. They can't survive with both smaller draft classes AND small international classes, even if it brings in a certain starter every 2 years.

Either they need to go for depth in the draft while shooting for their stars in INTL, or they go big in the draft while going for volume and depth, but this current strategy of targeting just a few guys in both is giving a tiny, tiny margin for error.

It's a numbers game for the sox, they have to figure out how they can compete organically with their fake big market constraints.

[GreenSox]

14 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

Things would look quite a bit different had Rodon stayed…which I guess is not still completely out of the realm of possibility.

But Rodon and Madrigal are two Top 5 picks without much of anything to show for right now.  That would hurt any organization, but especially one as thin as we are depth-wise (except at 1B/DH, of course.)

They seemed to draft for need in the Hahn era until recently when they completely shifted.  Needed a C, needed a 3B, relievers (X 3, although Crochet had some starter projection and hopefully still does).  Need just isn't  the way to do it.  The current approach really depends on being bullseye accurate with the scouting, as they are punting a lot of the draft for a couple of players they want.  We'll see.

[bmags]

32 minutes ago, GreenSox said:

They seemed to draft for need in the Hahn era until recently when they completely shifted.  Needed a C, needed a 3B, relievers (X 3, although Crochet had some starter projection and hopefully still does).  Need just isn't  the way to do it.  The current approach really depends on being bullseye accurate with the scouting, as they are punting a lot of the draft for a couple of players they want.  We'll see.

They didn't draft Burger because they needed a 3b gmafb.

[Boopa1219]

The Hostetler draft strategy wasn’t the best but I get the logic in it, especially in 2016 and 2017. He wanted to rebuild the floor of the organization by adding low ceiling/high floor college types but that’s how you end up 1B/DH types and a singles hitting second baseman.

I think the Sox are in better shape with Shirley. I’m a fan of drafting athletes, prep guys and dudes with the absolute highest ceilings because that’s how you find superstars. Shirley said himself that his philosophy echoes that.

The next draft for the Sox is crucial. I remember Kevin Goldenstein writing that it takes 3 years to really build up a farm system. The Sox are in year two of that process. They could greatly use more up the middle guys and athletes. 
 

About the actual list, I would rank Colas in the top 3. I would rank Hernandez in the top 15. I’m big on Luna, so I might rank him higher here but not by much. I think Colson will be in the top 100 by next year. 

[bmags]

On 2/5/2022 at 3:17 PM, Y2Jimmy0 said:

Baseball America has printed their handbooks. They listed a top 30 and then gave 31-40 as well. It's the 30th ranked system but there are lots of 45-50 grades here and lots of super young dudes so they could jump quite a bit next year. They didn't include Colas or Hernandez. 

1. Colson Montgomery SS

2. Yoelqui Cespedes OF 

3. Norge Vera RHP 

4. Wes Kath 3B 

5. Jose Rodriguez SS 

6. Andrew Dalquist RHP 

7. Jake BUrger 3B 

8. Jared Kelley RHP 

9. Sean Burke RHP 

10. Matthew Thompson RHP 

11. Bryan Ramos 

12. Jimmy Lambert RHP 

13. Jonathan Stiever RHP 

14. Jason Bilous RHP 

15. Romy Gonzalez SS 

16. Yolbert Sanchez SS 

17. Lenyn Sosa SS 

18. Micker Adolfo OF 

19. Tanner McDougal RHP 

20. Cristian Mena RHP 

21. Blake Rutherford OF 

22. Caleb Freeman RHP 

23. Luis Mieses OF 

24. Wilber Sanchez SS 

25. Yoelvin Silven RHP 

26. Bennett Sousa LHP 

27. Brooks Gosswein LHP 

28. Gil Luna Jr LHP 

29. Wilfred Veras 3B 

30. Adam Hackenberg C 

31. Kade McClure RHP 

32. Luke Shilling RHP 

33. Theo Denlinger RHP 

34. Johan Dominguez RHP 

35. McKinley Moore RHP 

36. Fraser Ellard LHP 

37. Misael Gonzalez OF 

38. Taylor Broadway RHP 

39. Johnny Ray RHP

40. Davis Martin RHP 

 

 

BA update today that added.

- Colas slotted at 10, which I don't know if it says more about those ahead of them or less on Colas.

- Ramos moved from 11 to 6

- Kelly dropped from 8 to 13

- Romy improved from 15 to 11

- Erick Hernandez moves into 18

- Luna drops out of top 30

Despite two entering I for whatever reason can't seem to find who else dropped out beside Luna.

[bmags]

oh sorry, it was Wilfred Veras dropped out of top 30, so a bit of reshuffling and our 28 and 29 guys dropped back, while Hackenburg stays at 30.

[Y2Jimmy0]

5 hours ago, bmags said:

BA update today that added.

- Colas slotted at 10, which I don't know if it says more about those ahead of them or less on Colas.

- Ramos moved from 11 to 6

- Kelly dropped from 8 to 13

- Romy improved from 15 to 11

- Erick Hernandez moves into 18

- Luna drops out of top 30

Despite two entering I for whatever reason can't seem to find who else dropped out beside Luna.

From what I've heard so far, Colas might be closer to #1. #10 is absurd. 

[bmags]

15 minutes ago, Y2Jimmy0 said:

From what I've heard so far, Colas might be closer to #1. #10 is absurd. 

I'm not so surprised, BA always seems conservative with players they haven't really seen. 2-3 years off, etc. I mean I'm a little surprised because that's very low in this system, but he has so few notes in his writeup that are updated, I expect mid-year to be more interesting.

[southsider2k5]

26 minutes ago, Y2Jimmy0 said:

From what I've heard so far, Colas might be closer to #1. #10 is absurd. 

This makes me really excited.

[Squirmin' for Yermin]

18 hours ago, Y2Jimmy0 said:

From what I've heard so far, Colas might be closer to #1. #10 is absurd. 

What have you heard?

[Y2Jimmy0]

2 minutes ago, Squirmin' for Yermin said:

What have you heard?

“Guy is legit” and “small sample but I’m a fan” are direct quotes from people outside the org. He’s playing CF which he won’t do but it tells me he can definitely play a corner. He also has plus power potential. Definite big leaguer and probably a regular in an outfield corner. Reminds me of Cliff Floyd personally. 

[Squirmin' for Yermin]

34 minutes ago, Y2Jimmy0 said:

“Guy is legit” and “small sample but I’m a fan” are direct quotes from people outside the org. He’s playing CF which he won’t do but it tells me he can definitely play a corner. He also has plus power potential. Definite big leaguer and probably a regular in an outfield corner. Reminds me of Cliff Floyd personally. 

wowza

[southsider2k5]

3 hours ago, Y2Jimmy0 said:

“Guy is legit” and “small sample but I’m a fan” are direct quotes from people outside the org. He’s playing CF which he won’t do but it tells me he can definitely play a corner. He also has plus power potential. Definite big leaguer and probably a regular in an outfield corner. Reminds me of Cliff Floyd personally. 

Things like this change the whole complexion of the system.

[chitownsportsfan]

3 hours ago, Y2Jimmy0 said:

“Guy is legit” and “small sample but I’m a fan” are direct quotes from people outside the org. He’s playing CF which he won’t do but it tells me he can definitely play a corner. He also has plus power potential. Definite big leaguer and probably a regular in an outfield corner. Reminds me of Cliff Floyd personally. 

Thanks for that info, sound promising after all the corner OF busts lately.

[Quin]

20 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

Things like this change the whole complexion of the system.

Left-handed centerfielders with plus power are great to have. Especially when they're complimenting Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez.

[wegner]

47 minutes ago, Quin said:

Left-handed centerfielders with plus power are great to have. Especially when they're complimenting Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez.

Is 2024 too soon to expect Colas to push for the MLB roster??