Minor League Radar Top 100 Prospects List for 2013

In the prospecting world, I feel like often times we read the same scouting reports and look at the same major publications, so alot of times their is little variation in the lists that we compile. But the purpose of prospecting should be to gather as many different opinions as possible, right? I am guilty of this too, in my first two drafts I had Profar at number one like so many others. That is not to say that is wrong to have Profar as the best prospect in the game. I am a huge fan of his and I think he will develop into a top tier shortstop for a very long time, possibly even a perennial all star. But the more I watch Oscar Taveras, the more and more I think he could not only be the best at his position, I think he could be one of the best hitters in the game five years from now. Comps are so often useless, but I truly see the Vlad comp with Taveras. As for Bundy, he is simply a pitching machine. He is right up their with David Price and Stephen Strasburg as one of the best pitching prospects I have ever seen.
Other guys I am high on who appear later on the list include Mondesi, Quinn, Vogelbach, and Gallo. While I aknowledge that Vogelbach is a defensive liabiliy at the very least, his bat and power are both easily plus, if not plus-plus tools. Coaches rave about his makeup and about his approach at the plate. You just don't find that everyday, so I felt like he had to be an inclusion on this list. As for Gallo, he might have a lot of swing and miss in his game, but how is that different than Bubba Starling. If he can't hit in the upper levels, he might have even made this list on the mound had he chosen that route. Mondesi and Quinn could also rank much, much higher on this list. Mondesi has a similar skillset to Profar and could rank among the top prospects in the game two years from now. Quinn will be the fastest prospect in the minors once Hamilton graduates, and I like Quinn's bat a little more than Hamilton's. To me he looks like he is a more comfortable switch hitter, and I could see him in the top half of this list twelve months from now.

1.       Oscar Taveras OF St. Louis Cardinals

2.       Dylan Bundy SP Baltimore Orioles

3.       Jurickson Profar SS Texas Rangers 

4.       Wil Myers OF Tampa Bay Rays

5.       Jose Fernandez SP Miami Marlins

6.       Xander Bogaerts SS Boston Red Sox

7.       Gerrit Cole SP Pittsburgh Pirates

8.       Taijuan Walker SP Seattle Mariners

9.       Trevor Bauer SP Cleveland Indians

10.    Shelby Miller SP St. Louis Cardinals

11.    Miguel Sano 3B Minnesota Twins

12.    Mike Zunino C Seattle Mariners

13.    Zack Wheeler SP New York Mets

14.    Christian Yelich OF Miami Marlins

15.    Jameson Taillon SP Pittsburgh Pirates

16.   Javier Baez SS Chicago Cubs

17.   Byron Buxton OF Minnesota Twins

18.   Tyler Skaggs SP Arizona D’Backs

19.   Carlos Correa SS Houston Astros

20.   Addison Russell SS Oakland Athletics

21.   Danny Hultzen SP Miami Marlins

22.  Francisco Lindor SS Cleveland Indians

23.  Billy Hamilton OF Cincinnati Reds

24.  Nick Castellanos 3B Detroit Tigers

25.  Kevin Gausman SP Baltimore Orioles

26.  Archie Bradley SP Arizona D’Backs

27.  Aaron Sanchez SP Toronto Blue Jays

28.  Travis d’Arnaud C New York Mets

29.   Kyle Zimmer SP Kansas City Royals

30.  Anthony Rendon 3B Washington Nationals

31.  Gary Sanchez C New York Yankees

32.  Noah Syndergaard SP New York Mets

33.  Jackie Bradley Jr. Boston Red Sox

34.  Jorge Soler OF Chicago Cubs

35.  Carlos Martinez SP St. Louis Cardinals

36.  Jonathan Singleton 1B Houston Astros

37.  Mason Williams OF New York Yankees

38. David Dahl OF Colorado Rockies

39.  Mike Olt 3B Texas Rangers

40.  Trevor Rosenthal SP/RP St. Louis Cardinals

41.  Albert Almora OF Chicago Cubs

42.  Matt Barnes SP Boston Red Sox

43.  Max Fried P San Diego Padres

44.  Nolan Arenado 3B Colorado Rockies

45.  Gregor Polanco OF Pittsburgh Pirates

46.  Robert Stephenson SP Cincinnati Reds

47.  Oswaldo Arcia OF Minnesota Twins

48.   Alen Hanson 2B Pittsburgh Pirates

49.   Yasiel Puig OF Los Angeles Dodgers

50.   Austin Hedges C San Diego Padres

51.   Trevor Story Colorado Rockies
52.   Julio Teheran SP Atlanta Braves

53.   Kaleb Cowart 3B Los Angeles Angels
54.   Bubba Starling OF Kansas City Royals

55.   Brian Goodwin OF Washington Nationals

56.   George Springer OF Houston Astros

57.   Jake Odorizzi SP Tampa Bay Rays

58.   Justin Nicolino SP Toronto Blue Jays

59.   Taylor Guerreri SP Tampa Bay Rays

60.   Kolten Wong 2B St. Louis Cardinals

61   Slade Heathcott OF New York Yankees

62.   Kyle Gibson SP Minnesota Twins

63.   Chris Archer SP Tampa Bay Rays

64.   Wily Peralta SP Milwaukee Brewers

65.   Asvail Garcia OF Detroit Tigers

66.   Aaron Hicks OF Minnesota Twins

67.   Yordano Ventura SP Kansas City Royals

68.   Hyun Jun Ryu Los Angeles Dodgers

69.  Allen Webster SP Boston Red Sox

70.   Courtney Hawkins OF Chicago White Sox

71.   Kyle Crick SP San Francisco Giants
72. Tyler Austin 3B New York Yankees
73. Dan Straily SP Oakland Athletics
74. Jesse Biddle SP Philadelphia Phillies
75. Cody Buckel SP Texas Rangers
76. Roberto Osuna SP Toronto Blue Jays
77. Nick Franklin 2B Seattle Mariners
78. Jedd Gyorko 2B San Diego Padres
79. Casewy Kelly SP San Diego P
80. Hak Ju Lee SS Tampa Bay Rays
81. Marcus Stroman SP Toronto Blue Jays
82. Leonys Martin OF Texas Rangers
83. Dorrsys Pauino SS Cleveland Indians
84. Lucas Giolito SP Washington Nationals
85. Henry Owens SP Boston Red Sox
86. AJ Cole SP Washington Nationals
87. Adam Eaton OF Arizona D'Backs
88. Michael Wacha SP St. Louis Cardinals
89. Delino DeShileds 2B Houston Astros
90. Brad Miller 2B Seattle Mariners
91. Joey Gallo OF Texas Rangers
92. Arodys Vizcaino RP Chicago Cubs
93. Luis Heredia SP Pittsburgh Pirates
94. Dan Vogelbach 1B Chicago Cubs
95. Lance McCullers SP Houston Astros
96. Andrew Heaney SP Miami Marlins
97. Adalberto Mondesi SS Kansas City Royals
98. Roman Quinn SS Philadelphia Phillies

99. Garin Cecchini 3B Boston Red Sox
100. James Paxton SP Seattle Mariners

Predictions for Top 10 in 2014

1.) Addison Russell
2.) Xander Bogaerts
3.) Jose Fernandez
4.) Jorge Soler
5.) Taijuan Walker
6.) Javier Baez
7.) Adalberto Mondesi
8.) Archie Bradley
9.) Mark Appel
10 Max Fried

2013 MLB Mock Draft 3.0

2013 College Report Week 3

1.) Mark Appel
Appel has always had the stuff to be an ace but there have always been three major question marks surrounding his game; his ability to throw all three of his pitches for strikes at the same time, his passive demeanor on the mound, and the unusual success that hitters have had making contact off him given his stuff. None of those were issues for the 6" 5' righty during his Friday start against Texas. He tossed a complete game shutout, struck out 14, and walked just one. His fastball sat in the mid to upper 90's and he located it well throughout most of the game. His curve was a real weapon for him and had a lot of hard tilting break. His change up was also impressive which he threw with very good arm speed and had some fade. Appel is probably the best pitcher in the country right now, and he sure pitched like it against a very good opponent on Friday.
2.) Kris Bryant
Kris Bryant looked like he was starting to hit his stride for San Diego during the UNC Wilmington tournament last weekend. Bryant collected six hits in twelve at bats for the Toreros and flashed his plus power by connecting for a pair of doubles and two home runs. Bryant is one of the premium college bats in this years class, so look for him to be taken in the top 10 picks.
3.) Kevin Ziomek
No stat-line was more impressive than Ziomek's this past weekend; he pitched all nine innings, allowed only one hit, fanned 15 batters, and did not yield a run. The only reason Appel ranks ahead of him here is because Appel dominated over the Longhorns, while Ziomek faced a lesser opponent in Illinois Chicago. Ziomeks "Bugs Bunny" curve ball was really working for him on Friday. The pitch had tremendous two-plane  break and the Flame hitters looked frozen every time he threw it. No pun intended.
4.) Phil Ervin
Ervin had a tremendous summer on the Cape, and is carrying his success into this season so far. He is really raking right now, hitting .340 on the year and has hit six home runs already, two of which came against Purdue this weekend. Ervin is also a threat on the base pads and a potential 20/20 player down the road. If he continues to hit he should see his name called early on the first day of the draft this June.
5.) Dylan Covey
Bryant wasn't the only Torero to have a big weekend. On the mound the former first round pick turned in one of his most dominant starts to date. Covey pitched six innings of shutout baseball and notched 12 strikeouts while yielding just two free passes. If Covey continues to pitch like this he could easily reestablish himself as one of the top college arms and shoot up draft boards.