2/9/2009

Sporting News Adds Top 50 for 2009

Old Hands Join in With New List

The good old-fashioned Sporting News has jumped into the Prospect Rankings pool this year, and while their idea of a 'prospect' is a bit mathematically odd, the top of their chart fits into what's looking like a pretty familiar pattern by now.   

David Price is back on top of another Prospect list, even if some of his companions snuck in a back door to join him.

The Sporting News Top 50 Prospects (compiled by writer Frank Neville) is introduced with an explanation that its main focus is on talent and opportunity, so rather than the best overall prospects in any time frame, the publication seeks to rank those most likely to make a big impact in 2009. With that in mind, it's no surprise that this list is topped by the same player on the top of most lists this spring, Tampa Bay's magic lefthander David Price.

The next Prospect on the list is Baltimore catcher Matt Wieters at number three, followed by our good friends Travis Snider and Matt LaPorta at four and five.

But yes, you read that right: the second ranked prospect on the list is #3. You see, unlike every other publication on the planet, The Sporting News has decided to break away from Major League Baseball's own rookie formula (no more than 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched) and substitute their own very slightly different version, which they list as less than 150 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the major leagues. Under this expanded formula, they manage to include some no-longer-prospects like second baseman Daniel Murphy, who they expect to be a major factor this year in MLB, and Arizona pitcher Max Scherzer, who's listed all the way up at number two overall.

And that's the other problem with this list. Even under Neville's rent-seeking definition of 'prospect', with which the published article begins, pitcher Max Scherzer and his 56 innings of work last year still should not fit, and yet there he is anyway, his name and numbers sitting all proud and pretty in the number two position for no logical reason.

But even with weirdly-arbitrary rules that are ignored anyway, the Sporting News list has a few bits of pieces of interest, including some very high rankings for many players, such as Cleveland's Wes Hodges at #49 and Yankees 'utility-outfielder' Brett Gardner at #16 overall. Neville's no fan of Royals hitter Mike Moustakas, Braves phenom Jason Heyward, or Giants lefty Madison Bumgarner, though, none of whom crack his top fifty. Even more surprisingly, Scherzer's staffmate in Arizona, the highly-anticipated Jarrod Parker, is somehow lacking in the necessary mix of talent and opportunity required to show up on the list at all.

The complete list is here, and those who like comparing will note that as of this morning we've added these Sporting News rankings to each of our player profile pages where appropriate. SN's ratings do not factor into our overall formula, so don't expect any more than the usual daily adjustments to our rankings based on this input.
   

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