Top Baseball Prospects for 2012
Now updated for 2012's Top Prospects
Scouting Book's Top Prospects list is a Combined List, a calculated summary of the overall valuations of the entire prospect universe.
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Spending $8M to sign number one pick Gerrit Cole might have seemed extravagant for a 'small market' team like the Pittsburgh Pirates, but when you keep finishing in last place year after year, you need to get something out of it, right? The net result is that the Pirates look very wise indeed: the righthanded Cole joins Jameson Taillon in what might be the best 1-2 punch on any prospect roster in the majors, and giving Cole such a high bonus kept him from demanding a major league contract, which increases the Pirates' flexibility and future control over his career path. Mr. Boras will spin it otherwise, but the Pirates definitely won the first round of Cole's Career Management Battle.
Full Scouting Report for Gerrit Cole
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With a nickname that sounds like something out of a Radical Feminist Manifesto, Manny Banuelos is a young and tiny lefthander signed out of Mexico who's already being heralded as a shining success story for the Yankees international scouting team. Man-Ban's fastball is an easy 92mph, while his changeup already looks like a plus pitch, remarkable in such a young player. He's been working on adding a curve and/or slider to his mix, which would silence those calling him a bullpen-only piece, but even his existing two-pitch arsenal has been effective so far. He'll be brought along slowly, as the ever-conservative Yankees have no need to rush him, but if his next year is as good as his last, he'll have to be considered one of the top young arms in the minor leagues.
Full Scouting Report for Manny Banuelos
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Like a taller twin to Gerrit Cole, righty James Taillon is a geniune monster power arm from Texas (via Quebec), a very high-ceiling pitcher who has already cracked 100mph on many radar guns. If that's not enough to get your attention, note that while his slider and change are below average, his curveball has already been rated a plus pitch. If he can hold his arm together under increasing workloads and develop his command and control to pro levels, he could be a viable #2 or #3 starter by 2014 or so, with a shot at being a genuine ace somewhere down the road. If Pittsburgh can keep Taillon, Cole and Allie together and healthy, they could have a rotation that evokes 1990's Atlanta only a few years from now.
Full Scouting Report for Jameson Taillon
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Jarrod Parker, one of the most highly-touted prospects in the 2007 draft, fell to the Arizona Diamondbacks with the 9th overall pick. Shipped to Oakland as a part of Billy Beane's re-re-rebuilding plan, Parker shows exceptional character and makeup, which means he may be destined for the big leagues sooner than most.
Full Scouting Report for Jarrod Parker
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The main return for the departing Dan Haren, Arizona's Tyler Skaggs is almost ready to compete at the major league level, and should contend for a rotation spot in early 2012. Skaggs was 8-6 with an ERA of 2.99 across 25 starts last year, including a 2.51 ERA in eight starts at the higher-level stop in Mobile. If he doesn't break camp with the Diamondbacks, he'll join them before the year is up.
Full Scouting Report for Tyler Skaggs
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One of the top high school arms in the country, Jacob Turner was drafted in the first round (9th overall) by the Detroit Tigers in 2009. More a potential pitcher than a pitcher just yet, Turner's three starts in Detroit last season weren't exactly high art, but at least the organization has a firm handle on what they're working with now. Turner has a big, strong, projectable body and a low-90's fastball, but the rest of his arsenal is very much in-development. While he could contend for a starting job in the thin 2012 Tiger rotation, smarter money would put him back on the farm to refine his game a bit first.
Full Scouting Report for Jacob Turner
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The younger of Baltimore's Bouncing Baby Bundies, the growly-looking Dylan is a righthander with ace upside, but he remains untested against pro hitters, and under professional pressure. His ungodly 0.25 ERA and 158 strikeouts in 71 innings as a high school senior earned him honors as the Gatorade National Baseball Player of the Year, BA's High School Player of the Year Award and USA Today's National Player of the Year. That said, he's still what we in the business like to call a high school pitching prospect, which is a term of art meant to indicate that this category of gamble is among the riskiest bets in baseball. cautiously optimistic on this one.
Full Scouting Report for Dylan Bundy
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As expected by Scouting Book readers, rake-thin Colombian righthander Julio Teheran forced his way onto the Braves roster in 2011, and he should be considered one of the very best prospects in all of baseball entering 2012. Unless he falls off the rails, this will be the last time he qualifies as a prospect: he should be be toeing the rubber every fifth day for the Braves next year.
Full Scouting Report for Julio Teheran
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The number two overall pick in 2011, Seattle pitching prospect Danny Hultzen is a solid lefthander who draws more than his share of Cliff Lee comparisons. With a fastball that drops in around 94mph and a no-nonsense workmanlike approach to the game, the comparison isn't far off base, either. In three seasons of duty at the University of Virginia, Hultzen went 32-5 with a 2.08 ERA. The Cavs ace also struck out a nasty 148 batters in 103 innings last season. Unlike some of the sexier prospects in baseball, that majority of Hultzen's ability is probably already on display: in 19 1/3 fall league innings for Seattle he posted a tidy 1.60 ERA in six starts. In addition to the well-advertised pinpoint fastball, he showed advanced ability to find and locate a nifty cutter, a decent change, and an occasionally-wicked slider, though he may back-shelf that one for awhile. His contract guarantees him a Spring Training spot, but we shouldn't actually see him in Seattle before midseason: there's just no good reason to rush, here. In fact, if the team somehow manages to hold him back all year, it could save some money for a competitive window a few years down the road. Tough choice, Jack.
Full Scouting Report for Danny Hultzen
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Originally drafted by the Indians, the latest junior ace from Ole Miss was also the latest top pitching prospect to be traded between rebuilding teams last year, something of a leitmotif for MLB in 2011. In fact, ex-Indian and current Rockie Thomas (Andrew) Pomeranz was probably the best lefty of the 2010 draft class, so his arrival in Colorado wasn't insignificant in any way.
Full Scouting Report for Drew Pomeranz
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Prospects
Top Prospects 2012
Combined Ranking
10 to 20 of 500 Prospects
