Keith Law’s 2013 midseason top 50 prospects

In Commentary And Analysis, Minor Leagues, News And Rumors by dmick8980 Comments

Keith Law has just published his top 50 prospects at the midway point of the 2013 season. The Cubs have a number of players in that list. 

15. Kris Bryant
20. Jorge Soler
25. Albert Almora
27. Javier Baez
One of the honorable mentions is Arismendy Alcantara

That's a lot of talent in the minor leagues. Too bad Mark Appel wasn't available as he's the number 9 prospect in baseball. Not a whole lot of difference between 9 and 15, but Appel's path the big leagues is much clearer. 

The Cubs MLB team has sucked for awhile now, but the farm system has definitely improved. Unfortunately, there remains a lack of starting pitching talent in the system that the Cubs will need to address one way or another. 

For what it's worth, it sounds like Baseball America agrees that Kris Bryant is now the Cubs top prospect so Law isn't alone. 

UPDATE: Law's Top 50 is below

1. Byron Buxton, Twins
2. Oscar Taveras, Cardinals
3. Xander Bogaerts, Red Sox
4. Miguel Sano, Twins
5. Francisco Lindor, Indians
6. Addison Russsell, A's
7. Carlos Correa, Astros
8. Archie Bradley, Dbacks
9. Mark Appel, Astros
10. Taijuan Walker, M's
11. Dylan Bundy, O's
12. Christian Yelich, Marlins
13. Jameson Taillon, Pirates
14. Kyle Zimmer, Royals
15. Kris Bryant, Cubs
16. Corey Seager, Dodgers
17. Gregory Polanco, Pirates
18. Aaron Sanchez, Blue Jays
19. Kevin Gausman, O's
20. Jorge Soler, Cubs
20. Garin Cecchini, Red Sox
22. Nick Castellanos, Tigers
23, Jonathon Gray, Rockies
24. Jackie Bradley, Jr., Red Sox
25. Albert Almora, Cubs
26. Robert Stephenson, Reds
27. Javier Baez, Cubs
28. Eddie Butler, Rockies
29. George Springer, Astros
30. Kohl Stewart, Twins
31. Henry Owens, Red Sox
32. Michael Wacha, Cards
33. Jonathan Singleton, Astros
34. Noah Syndergaard, Mets
35. Taylor Guerrieri, Rays
36. Alen Hanson, Pirates
37. Kyle Crick, Giants
38. Alex Meyer, Twins
39. Jake Marisnick, Marlins
40. Raul Mondesi, Jr. Royals
41. Eddie Rosario, Twins
42. Jessie Biddle, Phillies
43. Luc Giolito, Nats
44. Eduardo Rodriguez, O's
45. Austin Hedges, Padres
46. Mike Foltynecwicz, Astros
47. Andrew Heaney, Marlins
48. Max Fried, Padres
49. Gary Sanchez, Yankees
50. Lucas Sims, Braves

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Comments

  1. Author
    dmick89

    The Astros have 2 in Law’s top 10: Carlos Correa at 7th, Appel at 9th.

    NL Central:
    Cardinals have 2: Oscar Tavares (2), MIchael Wacha (32)
    Reds: Robert Stephenson (26)
    Pirates: Jameson Taillon (13), Gregory Polanco (17), Alex Hanson (36)
    Brewers: none

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  2. sitrick2

    I know I’m a Javy apologist, but I hate him as the lowest ranked of the Cubs’ Big 4. Furthest along in the system, highest ceiling, and has shown legitimate adjustments since coming out of his slow start this season.

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  3. GBTS

    http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/9488348/michael-weiner-mlbpa-head-says-union-protect-ped-users

    Interesting quote towards the bottom:

    Weiner also said the commissioner’s office isn’t bound by the terms of the joint drug prevention and treatment program — which calls for 50- and 100-game suspensions followed by a lifetime ban for three failed drug tests — because the players involved in the Biogenesis case did not fail tests and are being investigated for “non-analytical” reasons.

    “In theory, [the players] could be suspended for five games or 500 games, and we could then choose to challenge that,” Weiner said Tuesday before the All-Star Game. “The commissioner’s office is not bound by the scale we have in the basic agreement.”

    So basically the union is viewing MLB’s attempt to unilaterally suspend PED users as a generic suspension of bad behavior, akin to a DUI or a racist tweet. Well, not a DUI, we know those aren’t frowned upon, but you get the idea.

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  4. Author
    dmick89

    @ sitrick2:
    Here’s what he said about Baez:

    The player with the best bat speed in the minors should be higher on this list, in theory, but Baez operates under the strong belief — not entirely unfounded — that he can hit anything within a foot of the strike zone, which results in low walk rates and a tendency to give away at-bats when he doesn’t get a pitch he can crush right away.

    He continues to play solid defense at shortstop, and the power is insane, but it would be nice if someone in this farm system would walk more than twice a month.

    He obviously thinks the talent is there, but he also sees a big hole in his game, which I think I’ve pointed out 500 times too many. Great potential, probably the highest in the system all things considered, but super super risky. Learns to walk and he’s got a legit chance to be a superstar. Doesn’t walk more than he has and a legit chance he’s a backup.

    If I was to do a ratings thingy again, pretty sure Baez comes out on top because he is at AA already. However, I can easily see him being 4th considering how high a lot of people are on Almora.

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  5. sitrick2

    @ dmick89:

    Absolutely agree with all of those things, and expected Javy’s stock to drop. But Bryant hasn’t played a professional game yet, Soler’s been out for a month and had been slumping for another month or so before then, and Almora’s still at Kane County. Just seems weird to rank Baez at the bottom of the pile, especially when his approach has absolutely gotten a lot better since coming out of early slump this season.

    But like I said, I’m a Baez apologist. I like the at-bats he’s putting together, even since getting to Tennessee, and I think his play will clear all this up by the end of the season.

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  6. Author
    dmick89

    @ sitrick2:
    Law had Baez at 31 prior to the season so he has moved him up. He had Almora at 33 and Soler at 42. Considering that, I am surprised he’s below the other two now. I guess I’d guess Bryant-Baez, but not sure how he’s going from Baez at the top before the season to below the other two now.

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  7. Author
    dmick89

    Besides, we could argue all day about the order of the prospects. Some analysts (and scouts) will like certain players over other ones. It doesn’t really matter. There’s not a whole hell of a lot of difference between being ranked 15th and 27th. Truthfully, there’s not a lot of difference once you get outside the top 5 to 10 most years. Anyone in the 11 to 30ish range could really be in any order depending on your mood. And really, there’s not a whole hell of a lot of difference between the top 5 or so either. I’d say they’ve separated themselves a bit from the next group, but the differences between them are probably small most years. Here’s what you need to to know.

    Baez: great bat speed, huge power, better glove than expected, poor plate discipline
    Soler: fantastic arm, above average power, good athlete, plate discipline is OK.
    Almora: good power for his age and level, great athlete, good hitter, poor plate discipline
    Bryant: tons and tons of power, mixed reviews on his defense and ability to hit, above average discipline in college

    Here’s another quote from Law that makes you wonder how much has really changed.

    The irony of one of the game’s most prominent sabermetrically-inclined front offices overseeing a farm system of guys who walk once a month deserves more attention than it’s gotten so far; I wonder if Kris Bryant, who walked a ton in college this spring, will become an unrepentant hacker the moment he gets to Daytona.

    Anyway, Almora doesn’t walk much, but he’s got great feel for the bat, making a lot of hard contact, and plays plus defense in center.

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  8. sitrick2

    @ dmick89:
    Totally forgot he had him ranked that low at pre-season. Makes things make a little more sense for me. The order is still strange to me, but meh.

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  9. Author
    dmick89

    @ sitrick2:
    I agree it’s a little strange considering his pre-season rankings. Like I said though, there’s really no point in arguing about who is ranked higher than who. The Cubs have 4 prospects who are really fucking good and another one in Alcantara who is a top 75 prospect. Maybe they even have another guy in the top 100. Pretty good. Also, it’s fairly clear the top 4 have separated themselves from the rest.

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  10. sitrick2

    @ dmick89:

    He’s being awful disingenuous with that quote, I think. There’s still a lot of Hendry left in this farm system, and for the most part I think the guys they’ve acquired have been more patient. We knew Almora wouldn’t walk much when he was drafted, if I recall it was just that his makeup and instincts were so good they didn’t feel like they could pass on him.

    Would be shocked if Bryant all of the sudden becomes a giant hacker, but I guess these things happen.

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  11. Author
    dmick89

    I wouldn’t mind seeing Alcantara bumped to AAA. He’s hit very well in AA and I don’t expect him to continue the kind of power he’s show this year, I’m not sure he really has much else to prove in AA.

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  12. Author
    dmick89

    @ sitrick2:
    I agree in a way. Baez was drafted by the previous front office, but their first pick (Almora) is just as bad at taking pitches.

    As for Bryant’s patience, I don’t think we have the foggiest clue what it’s like based on this past season. We know for sure that teams were just pitching around him non-stop and that they finally moved him to the leadoff spot so he could get pitches once per game.

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  13. GW

    sitrick2 wrote:

    We knew Almora wouldn’t walk much when he was drafted

    We did? High school prospects are notoriously hard to judge on plate discipline. IIRC, Keith Law doesn’t even try anymore, it’s just too difficult.

    As to the rest, yeah, it’s definitely holdovers for the most part. Soler has been fine in that regard.

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  14. sitrick2

    @ GW:
    Mostly I just remember on the draft night coverage before the pick was made hearing a lot of people discuss his lack of plate discipline and that it was going to be something he would have to work on in pro ball. Callis at least definitely mentioned this, maybe more, my memory’s a bit foggy.
    (I remember all this mostly because I remember asking myself the same questions about why a sabermetric oriented front office was going after a guy with patience issues.)

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  15. Author
    dmick89

    Here was BA’s scouting report on Almora prior to the draft.

    Almora is a latter-day A.J. Hinch in that he has become a go-to player for USA Baseball national teams from a young age. Almora was USA Baseball’s 2011 athlete of the year after being MVP of the 18-and-under Pan American Championships in Colombia in November 2011. He tied Hinch’s USA Baseball record by playing on his sixth national team, and scouts love his grinder approach and in-game savvy. What’s more, Almora has outstanding tools. The Miami signee, in one scout’s words, “has no issues. He’s got above-average tools everywhere, and they all play. He has tools and he uses them.” He doesn’t turn in blazing times when he runs in showcases (generally he’s a 6.8-second runner in the 60), but his game instincts help him steal bases and cover plenty of ground in center field. Scouts consider his defense major league-ready right now, with plus grades for his accurate throwing arm. With natural hitting rhythm and plenty of bat speed, Almora is a line-drive machine with a loose swing who stays inside the ball, relishes velocity and handles spin. He should have 20-homer power down the line, sufficient if he slows down and can’t play center, and a definite bonus if (as expected) he stays in the middle garden. He plays the game with both ease and energy and may have some projection left in his athletic 6-foot-1, 175-pound frame. The Miami signee is considered one of the draft’s safer picks and could sneak into the first 10 selections.For video of Almora click here.

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  16. Myles

    Man, if I was a Brewers fan, I’d be pretty suicidal right about now. Clearly the worst team in the NL Central with clearly the worst farm system in the NL Central and close to the smallest payroll in the NL Central. Woof.

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  17. Author
    dmick89

    I actually don’t remember much about Almora’s patience at the time of the draft. I’d be curious to know if BA actually talks about that for high school players.

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  18. Author
    dmick89

    Baez at draft time:

    Baez matched up with fellow Puerto Rican native and Florida prep shortstop Francisco Lindor in February in the season’s most heavily scouted high school game, with as many as 100 scouts on hand. Baez and Lindor have more contrasts than similarities, though. Where Lindor is smooth and lauded for his makeup, Baez is explosive and scouts generally pan his makeup. He lives with his high school coach (who is also his legal guardian), though his mother remains in the picture. His bat is too good to ignore, though, and offensively he has few peers in this year’s draft. He has the fastest bat in the draft, and while he has a dead-pull approach at times, he has the bat speed to let balls get deep in the zone. Baez has plus raw power as well, which may serve him well if he has to move to third base. He has the defensive tools to stay at short until he outgrows it, as at 6-foot-1, 205 pounds, he doesn’t have much range to spare. He has plenty of arm for either position. His tools fit the catcher profile, but his makeup does not. He plays with energy, but it’s not always positive, and he turns off some scouts with emotional outbursts and an off-field demeanor some describe as aloof. He’s committed to Jacksonville.

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  19. Author
    dmick89

    I searched for the word “patience” on BA’s 2011 draft 1st round and it was only mentioned once (juco 2nd baseman). “Discipline” had 2 players, both of which were 4-year college players.

    That skill can be mentioned in other ways, but those are probably the most common.

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  20. Author
    dmick89

    BA did mention patience for Carlos Correa this year, but no other players in 2012 in the 1st round (or discipline).

    Interesting. I would assume this is because of what @ GW said.

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  21. uncle dave

    @ dmick89:
    There’s no way for an outsider to know any of this stuff, but I’d be interested to know what changes the current front office has made in terms of player development policy. I think that MLB teams in general have gotten better about thinking through how to best develop players, but I think that could be an area where you could get an edge if you wanted to. (I suspect that the Cardinals are doing something differently than other teams and that’s one of the main reasons why they’ve been able to produce their conga line of young hitters coming up from Memphis over the last few years.)

    Every once in a while, you hear about the way minor league players are handled and it just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. You’re talking about signing a guy with a $6 million bonus, and then stashing him in Boise with $10 a day for meal money and a virtually nonexistent training staff? That seems like a poorly considered decision. I’d think that a forward-thinking club would want to treat its young players like assets and give them top-flight facilities and access to advanced training and nutrition facilities from the day they are signed.

    As usual, I have no data to back this up, but it does seem like the Cubs are being more restrained with respect to player movement in the minors this year. I wonder if that’s an intentional thing, where they’re weighing the developmental cost of keeping a guy at the wrong level against that of the adjustment that comes from moving across the country, getting a new set of teammates and coaches, and so on. These are basically kids, after all, and many of them are still adjusting to living away from home, or even in the United States. I think that off-field issues have more of an effect on performance than most have previously considered. (Especially Baseball Men, many of whom are proud knuckle-draggers when it comes to this type of thing.)

    All of this is conjecture and it may just be the case that the club can’t be fucked to move Alcantara to Iowa. I’m hoping that the Cubs are using their resources to figure stuff like this out, though.

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  22. JonKneeV

    Honestly though, how much time does Keith Law spend watching a prospect? Also, what’s the point of picking out walks in Almora’s game when he gets on base already at a .371 clip?

    A player who hits .331 and his OBP is .371 is a better offensive player than one that hits .270 with a .371 OBP (all other things being equal).

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  23. Ryno

    uncle dave wrote:

    @ dmick89:
    There’s no way for an outsider to know…this stuff, but I’d be interested…in…the…conga line of young hitters.

    I have…restrained…kids…living away from home.

    I…have…proud knuckle-draggers…fucked…using their…stuff.

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  24. EnricoPallazzo

    uncle dave wrote:

    I’d think that a forward-thinking club would want to treat its young players like assets and give them top-flight facilities and access to advanced training and nutrition facilities from the day they are signed.

    that reminds me of the article where it was revealed that logan watkins had never tried, among other things, milk, guacamole, oatmeal, yogurt, apple pie, blueberry pie, or oranges. he said that he just at PB&J sandwiches every day at the clubhouse. my first reaction was surprise because i had just kind of assumed that the team had a professional chef/caterer who would be providing all sorts of super healthy options for the team. seems really odd to let a kid eat nothing but PB&J when you just shelled out a $3.2m signing bonus (i think that’s what watkins got).

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  25. Author
    dmick89

    @ JonKneeV:
    To be fair to Law, here’s what he said about Almora: Anyway, Almora doesn’t walk much, but he’s got great feel for the bat, making a lot of hard contact, and plays plus defense in center.

    The rest of what he said seemed to be about the Cubs system, or at least the upper echelon of the team’s prospects. He does say he doesn’t walk much, but it’s true. Almora has not walked much at all. Is it a big concern? No, not yet, which is why Law thinks so highly of him.

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  26. Myles

    Edwin wrote:

    So, I guess Tim Lincecum is a free agent after this season. Should the Cubs pursue?

    As with anything, depends on price. There are worse dice-rolls at 10 million in a single year, but if he wants anything over a pair of years to rebuild his value there’s almost no way you can say yes to that.

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  27. GW

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  28. uncle dave

    @ EnricoPallazzo:
    Seriously, how the fuck do you get through life without ever drinking milk?

    There seems to be at least some sort of modest effort being made to help international players get acclimated, but I’d have to think that the difference between kids drafted straight out of high school and ones who went to college would be pretty stark as well. If you go to a major university on a baseball scholarship, you have access to nutritional support and all sorts of other resources to get you used to adult life and the rigors of high-level athletics. Most high school kids don’t get any of that, and most guys who wind up playing in the minors don’t have a ton of cash to find help dealing with stuff like nutrition.

    Not that it isn’t possible for any 18-22 year old to completely fuck up the basics of everyday life, but I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that one of the reasons why college draftees pan out a little more often than high school kids is stuff like that. It also makes me think that makeup is pretty important, too.

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  29. uncle dave

    Myles wrote:

    GW, just wanted to say, your coverage of the draft/IFA has been pretty excellent. Really, really great stuff.

    + 3.1415926

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  30. Ryno

    uncle dave wrote:

    @ EnricoPallazzo:
    fuck…you…milk

    There seems to be at least some sort of modest effort being made to…get…straight…high school kids…a ton of…nutrition.

    It isn’t possible for any 18-22 year old to completely fuck…high school kids. makeup is pretty important.

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  31. GBTS

    josh wrote:

    According to Twitter, Junior Lake just got called up… .things could be happening finally.

    youtube.com/watch?v=8-9JV9mNYAw#t=30s

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  32. Author
    dmick89

    @ josh:
    I don’t know if he makes them worse (depending on who they trade). I just don’t think he’s going to be very good. A couple years ago I thought he would be, but he’s fallen quite a bit IMO.

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  33. josh

    David Kaplan @thekapman
    Cubs recalling Junior Lake. Brian Bogusevic heading to the DL. I expect Lake to see time against left handers. Lake is hitting .295 in AAA.

    BOOOOOO!

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  34. Author
    dmick89

    @ dmick89:
    He doesn’t have the power to play 3rd base and probably doesn’t have the offense overall either. Maybe he could stick in CF, but that’s probably about it.

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  35. Mish

    dmick89 wrote:

    ust checked out twitter. Kind of funny how excited Cubs fans are that Junior Lake may be called up.

    Basically my thoughts as well. I mean cool, I guess.

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  36. 26.2cubfan

    @ uncle dave:

    I read a book a couple years ago by an economist about this same thing in European soccer. A couple teams started getting relocation specialists for their international signees to help them adjust to life in Europe. This is particularly true for 17yo kids who go form being dirt poor in Brazil or Africa to being millionaires in some European capital. Even though they had a ton of money, they needed help form the team finding apartments, helping their families deal with visas, language, and food. This is bound to be true for baseball players from Latin America – particularly tough given their move to podunk towns like Daytona, Boise, Des Moines, etc.. Not exactly the types of towns you’d expect to have executive relocation services, consulates, or anything easily available for athletes. And then you’ve got the issue of kids who are all-world athletes but have been living at home suddenly being on their own and traveling a lot. The occasional life fuck-up is bound to be just as frequent of a setback for these guys as the inability to take a walk.

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  37. Author
    dmick89

    @ 26.2cubfan:
    One thing to keep in mind with Latin American baseball players is that they’re signed when they’re 15 or 16 years old. The organizations work with them until they’re 18 and can come to the US. I don’t know what they do as far as preparing them for the move and I know nothing about soccer, but they do have quite a bit of time to do this prior to even moving them here. Of course there’s still the acclimation of the new home, but preparation can go a long way. They could already be taking care of VISAs for family members and such.

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  38. GW

    Assuming that the Cubs are still pursuing IFA space, I wonder if the Rangers would try to trade away theirs, given that they are going into the penalty regardless.

    As far as I can tell, the rules say that you can’t acquire more space once you’ve reached your limit, but I don’t recall anything about trading away space afterwards. I’m sure it would piss Selig off, but it might not be against the rules, given that there are no real connections between slots and players signed.

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  39. Zach

    This list is pure comedy. Mark Appel at number 9 and the 2nd best pitching prospect in the game? Keith must have been huffing duster before he sat down to bang this list out. Noah Syndergaard at number 34?? That’s the lowest ranking I’ve seen for him in a minute. Dude only started the futures game on Sunday and flat out dominated. He’s dominating AA since his promotion and is honestly good enough to be in the Show RIGHT NOW. But then again Keith is the same dude who in 2011 said Brett Wallace was the 9th best prospect in the game. http://www.faketeams.com/2011/7/15/2277118/keith-laws-updated-top-50-prospect-list

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