Scouting Book: The Best Baseball Prospects for 2008 (Sleepers Too!)

Baseball Prospect Rankings for 2008

Scouting Book's Top Prospects list is different than other prospect lists: we're not in a bubble, and we never sit still. We show you not just our own rankings, but also rankings from some of the other major ranking lists for each player. You can now sort, for example, by Baseball America's rankings, or view the top prospects as chosen by the wizards at Baseball Prospectus, or compare our rankings to those from Sports Illustrated. Also, unlike most lists, we don't publish a book! Our lists are updated often during the offseason, and updated daily during the pre-season to show the latest situations and adjusted for spring results. This means we're always a work in progress. We also think this means our lists are much more useful for fantasy draft purposes. If you notice a mistake or have a suggestion feel free to let us know by mailing mistakes (at) our domain name. For more on our methods, see this blog entry.

Baseball's Top Prospects for Spring 2008

181. Drew Stubbs

OF, CIN

One of the best young names in baseball, Mr. Stubbs is a potential five-tool player and one of many Cincy future-stars. It'll be awhile, but he should be delivering 100rbi seasons in GAB before the decade is over.

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181

182. Henry Sosa

RHP, SF

The Giants farm is a bit thin these days, but young Sosa is one of its promising stars. The 6-foot-2 righthander is a power pitcher in the Matt Cain variety, though without the control and (so far) without the complementary breaking stuff.

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182

SB #182 | BA n/a | BP #84 | ML unranked | SN unranked | ES #74

183. Matt Harrison

LHP, TEX

A year or two away, this tall, left-handed control pitcher has drawn comparisons to Tom Glavine. Then again, so does every left-handed pitcher who ever puts on a Richmond Braves jersey. Still, he's worth keeping an eye on.

His acquisition by Texas as part of the Mark Teixeira deal reduces Harrison's value somewhat, but he's still a quality arm worth keeping an eye on

More Scouting Book Info on Matt Harrison >

183

184. Joe Savery

LHP, PHI

Drafted by the Phillies in the first round of the 2007 Draft and signed with a $1.4M gift basket, Savery made 7 starts for Williamsport in the New York Penn league last year, going 2-3 with an ERA of 2.37. His control was iffy, just as it was during his college career, but his composure and command were good. Assuming he avoids serious injury and refines his control a bit, he could join the pitching-thin Phillies rotation as early as 2009 or 2010.

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184

SB #184 | BA #90 | BP #96 | ML unranked | SN unranked | ES unranked

185. Matt Maloney

LHP, PHI

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186. Cole Rohrbough

LHP, ATL

The Braves very last draft-and-follow player, Rohrbough is a sturdy lefthander with a moving fastball and a deadly hammer curve that shuts down left-handed hitters. He did an awfully good number on right-handed batters last season, too, striking out 96 men in total while walking only 20 in 61 innings of work split between Rookie Danville and low-A Rome. He's still developing both his command and contro, and needs to add a third quality pitch to be viable as an MLB starter. If he stays healthy he could be a lights-out lefty reliever for the Braves in the near future, or a solid starter down the road.

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186

187. Scott Lewis

LHP, CLE

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188. Jayson Nix

2B, COL

By letting Kaz Matsui go, the Rockies showed the faith they have in rising prospect Jayson Nix to takeover regular duty in short order. Or maybe it's Ian Stewart they believe in, since they're training him to play second. Then again, Jeff Baker has also been seen practicing the keystone this winter, making for a total of three promising young bats looking for somewhere to play.

And if it's still not hard enough to figure out which infield prospect will rise above the others enough to crack the everyday lineup, remember that the Rockies also signed veteran second baseman Marcus Giles this winter.

Nix hit .292 with 11 homers while idling at AAA last year, an improvement of fifty BA points and a more than 500% increase in home runs. If that's a freak spike, he'll fade into the minor league system. But if it's valid improvement, he will be a solid prospect, even if he doesn't crack the roster this season. He's someone worth keeping a tag on for the future.

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189. Mat Gamel

3B, MLW

One of the last of the recent wave of slugging third basemen to arrive, Milwaukee's Mat Gamel deserves a little more attention than he receives. A polished pro hitter, Gamel has all-fields line drive swing with developing power. He's a bit of a liability at third base, but the Brewers seem determined to keep him there for now. He's a bit weak against offspeed pitches, but he should work his way through that with good coaching and increased patience.

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189

190. Cedric Hunter

OF, SD

The San Diego Padres third round pick of the 2006 MLB Draft, Hunter dominated the rookie league with a league-best .371 average immediately after signing. Moved up to the Midwest league the following year, he began to show off plus speed, both of the legs and wrists variety. He combines a preciously-good batting eye with gap-power and good outfield defense.

Though he's only 20 years old, Hunter should get a look-see from San Diego sometime in 2008, and he might be the Padres leadoff hitter as soon as 2009.