BA Overall Minor League Positional Rankings

[edabbs44]

Put out today

C - Mesoraco 6th, Grandal 10th
1B - Yonder 5th
3B - Francisco 16th
SS - Hamilton 3rd, Cozart 15th
Corner OF - Yorman 14th, Frazier 15th
Reliever - Chapman 1st

Chapman would also be ranked 1st LH starter if he was in the rotation.

[Mario-Rijo]

Put out today

C - Mesoraco 6th, Grandal 10th
1B - Yonder 5th
3B - Francisco 16th
SS - Hamilton 3rd, Cozart 15th
Corner OF - Yorman 14th, Frazier 15th
Reliever - Chapman 1st

Chapman would also be ranked 1st LH starter if he was in the rotation.

Mes is no doubt one of the few at the top of that ranking who will actually stay a catcher and yet they rank the batsmen who are catchers in name only ahead of him. Knowing without a doubt several of them won't be a catcher much longer, don't get that. And Cozart is so underrated as usual. Perhaps though it's better for them not to be as noticed than to be overhyped.

[Benihana]

Mes is no doubt one of the few at the top of that ranking who will actually stay a catcher and yet they rank the batsmen who are catchers in name only ahead of him. Knowing without a doubt several of them won't be a catcher much longer, don't get that. And Cozart is so underrated as usual. Perhaps though it's better for them not to be as noticed than to be overhyped.

Agree with this.

Alonso as the 5th best 1B prospect sheds light on what his trade value would be if he has to stay at 1B (ie not a whole lot, given the plethora of franchise players at the position in the bigs and 4 guys ahead of him in the minors). Would love to send him to KC as a DH in exchange for Alex Gordon if the LF experiment doesn't work out.

[edabbs44]

Agree with this.

Alonso as the 5th best 1B prospect sheds light on what his trade value would be if he has to stay at 1B (ie not a whole lot, given the plethora of franchise players at the position in the bigs and 4 guys ahead of him in the minors). Would love to send him to KC as a DH in exchange for Alex Gordon if the LF experiment doesn't work out.

Butler/the Hawaiian dude/Alonso?

[Benihana]

Couple interesting items from BA's chat:

Kyle (Middletown): What is the ceiling for Ronald Torreyes, and how well do you think he would have performed in full season ball if given the chance?

J.J. Cooper: There's some kind of bad height joke floating out there when talking about Torreyes and ceilings, but I'll pass on trying to make it. His ceiling is obviously somewhat limited by his small stature, but there is a lot to like with his glove, advanced bat and feel for the game. I wouldn't be shocked if he makes it to Dayton before too long--he impressed the big league coaching staff with his work this spring. Expect great defense and solid hitting when he does arrive.

Lloyd (Lakewood): Thanks for another great chat. So does Yonder Alonso move off of 1B, or is he a trade chip?

J.J. Cooper: Trade chip to me. Alonso can be a very good hitter, and if you wanted to, you could put him in left field, but you would do so knowing that he's unlikely to ever be average out there. He makes much more sense as a first baseman for someone who doesn't have the NL MVP.

R.A. Wagman (Toronto): The Blue Jays have assigned Zach Stewart to AA New Hampshire for his third go-round at that level, in spite of his success there last year.

J.J. Cooper: The White Sox's best shortstop prospect Eduardo Escobar has legitimate questions with his bat--the No. 15 and final shortstop on the list, Zack Cozart, is a big league ready shortstop who is solid defensively and is coming off of a 17 HR, 30 SB season in Triple-A. There's a pretty big gap between him and Escobar.

And more info about Stewart: http://sports.nationalpost.com/2011/...-jays-gm-says/

[PuffyPig]

I find it improbable that htere are 5 better catching propsects than Mess.

[dougdirt]

I find it improbable that htere are 5 better catching propsects than Mess.

If you count both sides of the ball, you are absolutely right. If you count just offense, then maybe there are. Maybe.

[Scrap Irony]

It depends on what teams are willing to live with defensively. The Yankees already have, for example, Mark Teixiera at 1B and could plug in a Fielder or a Pujols at DH at the end of the season.

Personally, I'd gamble on a Piazza-level ceiling offensively with Piazza-like defense behind the plate. Same with the kid in Kansas City (though if he can play RF well, I'd probably change my mind).

Mesoraco, as he is now, looks to be a lesser gamble than either of those two defensively, but his offensive tools aren't up to theirs either.

[Scrap Irony]

BTW, I think BA is underselling Cozart a bit and Yorman Rodriguez a bunch. I'd argue that he's a lower level player and upper level guys have had more "proven" and that's why he's so low, but that ignores the choice of Hamilton as #3 SS.

My biggest complaint with BA is how inconsistent they are in evaluating players. It seems as if they really don't know which way to come down on the whole ceiling v. level debate, so they hedge their bets by picking some of one and some of the other.

None of it is ever explained and those that questions usually get a smart aleck or breezy answer purposefully obfuscating the question.

[edabbs44]

My biggest complaint with BA is how inconsistent they are in evaluating players. It seems as if they really don't know which way to come down on the whole ceiling v. level debate, so they hedge their bets by picking some of one and some of the other.

I think they also have to measure the liklihood of the player reaching their ceiling, or coming close. Hamilton is a lower level guy but they must feel fairly confident that he will get close to that ceiling and maybe they still need to see more Yorman before they think the odds improve of him reaching his potential.

[Scrap Irony]

Hamilton, at this point, = Rodriguez

He's much younger, at the same level, and has displayed positive power output.

He doesn't play SS, but, then again, no one he ranks against does either.

[TOBTTReds]

My biggest complaint with BA is how inconsistent they are in evaluating players. It seems as if they really don't know which way to come down on the whole ceiling v. level debate, so they hedge their bets by picking some of one and some of the other.

I think that is just scouting. If it were one guy, then I see what you are saying. But if three different BA guys have three very different opinions, then that just shows how difficult it is to evaluate. Some pro scouts had Votto as a platoon player

I think your ceiling vs. level debate is similar to every teams debate when it comes to drafting. Do you want that sure thing college pitcher who is a #3 starter, or the possible #1 high school kid? Everyone sees it different, even in the same org, or in this case, the same media source.

[The DARK]

I like the Alex Gordon idea, personally. Francisco, Frazier, and Alonso are expendable and potential pieces in this trade, and Rolen needs a real platoon partner and successor going forward. We don't have many great options at 3B in the minors as of right now, and Cairo shouldn't be our first line of defense against a Rolen injury.

[dougdirt]

I like the Alex Gordon idea, personally. Francisco, Frazier, and Alonso are expendable and potential pieces in this trade, and Rolen needs a real platoon partner and successor going forward. We don't have many great options at 3B in the minors as of right now, and Cairo shouldn't be our first line of defense against a Rolen injury.

According to one of the ESPN guys on Mike and Mike this morning, the Royals basically said they weren't going to trade him this spring, that they had so much invested in him that he was either going to "sink or swim with us".