Baseball Prospect Rankings 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.
Remember: this page is the result of an automatic process that re-sorts and re-ranks players often.
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A big, durable looking righty, Mets pitcher Jeurys Familia signed as an IFA from Dominica in 2007, and since then has been to visit every development guru on the East Coast, as scouts and coaches all tinker with his awkward delivery in the hope of adding some consistent location to his 96mph heater and stumbling slider. Everyone who's worked with Familia agrees that his control needs a great deal of work, but that's typical in a young player with such electric stuff. As with many such players, whether he ends up a starter or reliever will depend almost completely on whether he can learn to throw his raw change with consistency and deception. We won't really know for another year or two, here.
Full Scouting Report for Jeurys Familia
SB 181BA SC BP SN ES ML 90
A two-way player who was originally drafted by the Indians as a pitcher, Tennessee's Bryce Brentz should now be considered a full-time outfielder despite his early success on the mound.
Full Scouting Report for Bryce Brentz
SB 182BA SC BP SN ES ML 64
The 31st overall pick in the 2011 Draft, new Tampa Bay Ray prospect Michael Anthony Mahtook is a big, strong, fast centerfielder who starred at LSU. Mahtook hit .383 with 14 homers in his final year, and led the Southeast Conference with 39 steals. A scout's darling with good makeup and a great work ethic, Mahtook got all the tools needed to contribute to a major league offense, so it's possible he could rise to action in Tampa very, very soon.
Full Scouting Report for Mikie Mahtook
SB 183BA SC BP SN ES ML 96
A switch-hitting catcher of the type the Red Sox have kept on trying to develop for the last decade, Cleveland-native Blake Swihart has the tools necessary to succeed in the big leagues, assuming his game-calling head can develop as expected. Already blessed with solid contact ability from either side of the plate, (.448/.492/.845 for Team USA last year) he's also showing a strong and accurate throwing arm already.
Full Scouting Report for Blake Swihart
SB 184BA SC 67BP SN ES ML
An unsexy pickup by the Rangers at the bottom of the second round of the 2010 Draft, California righthander Cody Buckel was overlooked by many scouts due to his small stature, but he certainly shows pitching ability. It came through in A-level Hickory last year, to the tune of a 120:27 strikeout to ball ratio in 97 innings. Not bad for a 19-year old.
Full Scouting Report for Cody Buckel
SB 185BA SC BP SN ES ML
A workhorse lefty with a quality curveball, Holmberg was the 71st pick overall in the 2008 draft. He's not an overpowering pitcher, but he's pretty well-developed, setting up his almost MLB-ready hammer with a 90mph fastball that features tricksy late movement: it cuts in on righthanded hitters in an especially nasty way. He's a year or two away from everyday usefulness at an MLB level, but he should move quickly. He'll break more than his share of bats along the way.
Full Scouting Report for David Holmberg
SB 186BA SC BP SN ES ML
If the Pirates have collected one thing in the last few years, it's pitchers with high ceilings. The latest from a long line of lefthanders grown on the Atlanta farm, willowy Jeff Locke's 94mph fastball is a definite plus pitch, with late movement that he can command at will. His curve ball is also well under control and projects as a second plus pitch. Acquired by the pitching-poor Pirates in June 2009, 'The Redstone Rocket' has a terrific opportunity to step up as a rotation candidate in the very near future.
Full Scouting Report for Jeff Locke
SB 187BA SC BP SN ES ML
A smallish lefty drafted in 2009's third round and traded to San Diego in mid-2011, Erlin has risen very quickly through the farm system and could even get to the majors as early as 2012. Working through three levels of play in 2011, Erlin did the bulk of his work at AA Frisco after outclassing A hitters in the Carolina League. His AA numbers (5-2, 4.32, 1.20 and 61K in 67 innings) are nice but not great, but it was the 20 year old's first trip to AA, so give him some slack here.
Full Scouting Report for Robbie Erlin
SB 188BA SC 83BP SN ES ML
A high contact, line-drive hitter with decent speed and solid baseball fundamentals, Pollack is a quality outfield prospect currently developing in the Diamondback system. He has a little power, but it'll be his plus average that will have to carry him to the Bigs. Of course, he's still learning the outfield craft: Arizona converted him from shortstop to center.
Full Scouting Report for A.J. Pollock
SB 189BA SC BP SN ES ML
A lefty who can touch 96mph with a sizzling fastball, Toronto's Daniel Norris is a bit of a sleeper who should be gaining a lot more attention in the months and years to come. Norris already complements his heat with a hammer curve that can be devastating, and if he manages to get a third pitch up to even major-league average, he'll be an ace on a team known for discovering gems.
Full Scouting Report for Dan Norris
SB 190BA SC 90BP SN ES ML
A combination OF-1B bat who might end up at DH, Parmelee has been one of the best pure power hitters in the minor leagues for more than a couple of seasons now. He has a smooth, lofty swing that puts breaking pitches into the bleachers as fast as pitchers can curse. He's got a plus arm, but lacks the speed or range to hold down right field. A definite work-in-progress, Parmelee today is a sort of poor man's Lars Anderson: a big barrel of booming potential, with underdeveloped collateral skills. The bat is so monstrous, though, that the Twins are unlikely to move him or abandon his training: the Twins refuse to lose another David Ortiz.
Full Scouting Report for Chris Parmelee
SB 191BA SC BP SN ES ML
The rising wave of Canadian pitchers continued when Seattle chose Quebec native Philipe Aumont with their first-round pick in 2007. He was traded to the Phillies in the winter 2009 blockbuster that moved Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee.
Full Scouting Report for Phillippe Aumont
SB 192BA SC BP SN ES ML
A record-breaking $2.8M international signing for the Blue Jays, Adonis Cardona is a power righthander from Venezuela with excellent projectability, a pitcher uniformly considered the best of the 2010 class. His overhead arm action looks smooth and easy, and as a teenager he's already clocking in at 92-93mph, which means it's frightening to think what he'll do with a little more growth. Cardona also seems to have a wicked breaking ball (a hammer curve) that's advanced for his age, though he hasn't quite learned to throw it for strikes yet. He's got some growing to do, but if the Blue Jays can keep him focused and help him polish his off-speed stuff, he could break into pro ball quickly and rise to the majors a la Felix Hernandez, who made the Seattle rotation as a teenager.
Full Scouting Report for Adonys Cardona
SB 193BA SC 84BP SN ES ML
The Dodgers first-round pick (16th overall) in 2011, Chris Reed is a big, strong lefty with a solid 94mph fastball and a polished breaking ball. His stuff is electric, especially his strikeout slider: he could be a powerful piece of an MLB bullpen at any time. The Dodgers are thus-far more inclined to let him develop as a starter, though, and given the dodgy state of their rotation, they're probably wise to do so. Reed's physique and mentality do look ideal for a rotation-anchor. Give him a year or two.
Full Scouting Report for Chris Reed
SB 194BA SC BP SN ES ML
Cuban lefthander Gerardo Concepcion is a young phenom who's been quiet all winter, while arranging his citizenship in Mexico, working out in the Dominican Republic and generally getting ready for his new life in America. That life will have a North Side address, now, as the new Cubs brain trust scooped him up when nobody else was looking. almost fair. Concepcion can't come close to Chapman's heat, and he's even less polished, but he does bring similarly wicked stuff from a similarly tall, wiry frame. Using a deceptive sweeping delivery that makes him look a little like a slinger, Concepcion's arm action restricts his fastball to a maximum of about 92-94mph right now and probably impairs his command somewhat, but he's still got room to grow, and it's quite possible the Cubs will break his mechanics down and rebuild them in a different way, too.
Full Scouting Report for Gerardo Concepcion
SB 195BA SC BP SN ES ML
The Indians' Bob Feller Award winner in 2011, smallish righthander Chen-Chang Lee projects as a potent bullpen weapon for the Indians in the near future. Lee was signed as an international free agent after gaining attention at the 2008 Olympics.
Full Scouting Report for Chen-Chang Lee
SB 196BA SC BP SN ES ML
A stocky lefthander, ex-Brave prospect Brett Oberholtzer is a raw, high-ceiling arm in a system known for maximizing pitching talent. A smart pitcher who lacks great stuff but makes up for it with significant pitchability, his developing curve has the potential to be a devastating pitch. If he masters it, he should be ready for some AL-style ball in the reinvented Astros organization come 2013 or 2014.
Full Scouting Report for Brett Oberholtzer
SB 197BA SC BP SN ES ML
An offensive-minded shortstop with great patience and power, Clemson grad Brad Miller is a potent force brewing in the Mariner system. After a three year college life in which he bashed .339/.452/.485, he signed with the Mariners after being drafted in mid-2011 and promptly did the same thing to A-level pitchers in the Midwest League. In 53 pro at-bats, his career numbers are a familiar looking .415/.458/.528.
Full Scouting Report for Brad Miller
SB 198BA SC BP SN ES ML
A Venezuelan shortstop who won the organization'sminor league award as best everyday player in 2011, Freddy Galvis has a good shot at the big club, and soon. His season, split between the AA Reading Phillies and the AAA Lehigh Valley IronPigs, gave him a combined line of .278/.324/.392 with 8 HR and 23 SB in 137 games played. Always known as a polished defender (he has one of the best gloves in the Philly system today), the new surge in offensive ability has vaulted him to the front of the Phillies prospect board.
Full Scouting Report for Freddy Galvis
SB 199BA SC BP SN ES ML
A big, strong and hungry monster with plus contact skills and off-the-charts power, Phoenix native CJ 'Crusher' Cron slashed a nasty-looking .308/.371/.629 right through the rookie Pioneer League in 2011, capped by eight homers in his final ten games. In 2012, he should start chewing up up A-ball just as soon as they open the cage to let him out.
Full Scouting Report for CJ Cron
SB 200BA SC BP SN ES ML
Prospects
Top Prospects 2012
Combined Ranking
181 to 200 of 525 Prospects
