BA's Midwest League Top 20 later today

[lollipopcurve]

This is the league I've been looking forward to most. Several players could be listed, or as few as 1, I'd say. We're looking at:

Soto
Waring
Mesoraco
Cozart
Horst

I don't think Lotzkar or Stewart pitched enough, and small relievers like Geronimo aren't BA's type. I thik they'll deal with Frazier in the FSL only.

My prediction, based on BA's predilection for sticking with guys who have prospect & draft pedigree:

Soto -- will be in the top 6
Mesoraco -- 11th to 16th
Cozart -- 15th to 20th

Waring and Horst move into 09 motivated to put themselves on the prospect map.

[OnBaseMachine]

I don't think Waring will crack the top 20. Lotzkar and Stewart probably didn't qualify or else they would be in the top 20.

I predict:

Neftali Soto
Zach Cozart
Devin Mesoraco
Jeremy Horst

[OnBaseMachine]

Soto is #10 and the only Reds prospect to make the Midwest League top 20.

[batsfan]

Neftali at 10., and thats it .

[OnBaseMachine]

Here's a little summary of their description of Soto:

Soto has considerable bat speed. He broke his bat on a sinker this year and still drove the ball to the wall. Polished hitter, quiet stance, and good balance. Aggressive. Consistently puts the barrel of the bat on the ball. Below average speed. Strong arm and adequate range at third base.

[dougdirt]

I have to say, I am absolutely shocked at how low Soto is. With that said, the MWL is stacked this year.

[dougdirt]

For reference to how stacked the MWL is this year, Drew Stubbs was the #10 prospect in the league last year. Anyone think Stubbs was a better prospect at the end of last year than Soto is at the end of this year? Yeah, neither do I.

[OnBaseMachine]

I wasn't surprised to see Mesoraco left off because he did have a bit of a disappointing season... the biggest surprise for me was Soto not being in the top six. I would definitely take Soto over Engel Beltre. Perhaps the biggest omission in the top 20 is Michael Pineda, a 19-year old prospect in the Mariners organization. He posted a 1.95 ERA and 35 BB/128 K ratio in 138.1 innings this season. I can't believe he was left out.

[dougdirt]

I would have put Soto 5th on that list. Moustakas, Parker, Feliz, Wallace then Soto.

I also don't get Corey Brown at 16. He profiles as a right fielder, was 22 and didn't put up crazy numbers while he struck out over 27% of the time he stepped to the plate.

[OnBaseMachine]

I know he didn't quality, but I would take Kyle Lotzkar over any of the guys listed from 14 through 20.

The FSL top 20 will be out next Monday. I'm guessing Todd Frazier, Zach Stewart (though he may not qualify), Juan Francisco, and Yonder Alonso (will they stick him in anyways?) will crack the top 20.

[dougdirt]

I know he didn't quality, but I would take Kyle Lotzkar over any of the guys listed from 14 through 20.

The FSL top 20 will be out next Monday. I'm guessing Todd Frazier, Zach Stewart (though he may not qualify), Juan Francisco, and Yonder Alonso (will they stick him in anyways?) will crack the top 20.

No Stubbs? Steward and Alonso won't make it.

[OnBaseMachine]

No Stubbs? And I really doubt Stewart makes it because of the innings.

Brain cramp. There's a chance we may see Stubbs in both the FSL and Southern League top 20's. Chris Valaika too. IIRC Johnny Cueto made both the FSL and Southern League top 20's last year.

[Kc61]

I have to say, I am absolutely shocked at how low Soto is. With that said, the MWL is stacked this year.

I'm shocked that Mesoraco is left off. The guy was very highly touted by BA before the draft, now one year later he's off the top 20? Are they that stats driven?

On the other hand, I'm not at all shocked that Soto is number 10, given the depth in the MWL. He's a very good prospect but seems a bit overhyped around here. I haven't heard that he is a plus defender at any position, he has a very low walk rate, and his home run power hasn't really surfaced yet.

If Soto's progression continues as planned, he should have a power explosion in the next couple of years as he matures. If he can show he can handle himself defensively, and if this power emerges, he will then be higher rated, I would think.

[dougdirt]

I'm shocked that Mesoraco is left off. The guy was very highly touted by BA before the draft, now one year later he's off the top 20? Are they that stats driven?

On the other hand, I'm not at all shocked that Soto is number 10. He's a good prospect but seems very overhyped around here. I haven't heard that he is a plus defender at any position, he has a very low walk rate, and his home run power hasn't really surfaced yet.

If Soto's progression continues as planned, he should have a power explosion in the next couple of years as he matures. If he can show he can handle himself defensively, and if this power emerges, he will then be higher rated, I would think.

I don't really think Soto is overhyped around here. He is coming off a season where he hit .340 (.326 in Dayton) with power. He doesn't strike out much and shows control of the zone at the plate. He just had a .218 isolated power at the age of 19 and it was still .174 in the midwest league.

The hitters ahead of him?
1. Mike Moustakas, .272/.334/.468 (.196 isoP)
4. Ben Revere, .379/.433/.497 (.118 isoP)
5. Brett Wallace, .327/.418/.490 (.173 isoP)
6. Engel Beltre, .283/.308/.403 (.120 isoP)
7. Andrew Lambo, .288/.346/.462 (.174 isoP)

So only Moustakas showed more power than Soto did and only Beltre was younger than he was.

[princeton]

apparently, a no. 1 pick doesn't make a top 20 list by just showing up. Who knew?