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.
If you think you have found a mistake, please read this blog entry before telling us. Then tell us.
Has it been that long already? Son of the Blake Street Basher himself, Dante Jr. is a pretty disciplined power hitter for such a young player, and seems capable of playing a more than reasonable third base in the bargain. Already shining as the easy pick as GCL MVP for 2011 (.342/.446/.505), he'll still require a lot more cooking, but he already looks more advanced than his daddy did at the same age.
More Scouting Book Info on Dante Bichette
SB 211BA SC BP SN ES ML
He doesn't have the upside of Manny Machado, but infielder Ryan Adams should succeed in MLB sooner, and there's no reason to believe he won't have a long and successful career, even if he isn't a perennial All Star.
More Scouting Book Info on Ryan Adams
SB 212BA SC BP SN ES ML
Acquired from the Cubs in the Ian Stewart trade during the winter of 2011, David John LeMahieu is a near-MLB-ready corner infielder with good contact skills and plus defense, now on the Colorado roster. Good defense and a solid contact stroke aren't exactly the first two things one looks for in a cormer position of course, but then again Coors Field still has a habit of making great hitters out of merely good ones.
More Scouting Book Info on DJ LeMahieu
SB 213BA SC BP SN ES ML
A righthanded pitcher from San Pedro de Macoris, DR (his parents must have missed the shortstop delivery truck), Alexander Colome is a right-handed pitcher in the Rays system. Utilizing the very definition of 'raw stuff' last year, Colome struck out 123 but walked 72 in 158 innings split between high and double-A.
More Scouting Book Info on Alex Colome
SB 214BA SC BP SN ES ML
The proud owner of the best slider in the Miami system, smallish lefty Rob Rasmussen was selected by Florida in the second round of the 2010 First Year player draft. As a four-year starter at Pasadena Polytechnic before his UCLA days, Rasmussen struck out two batters per inning (seriously).
More Scouting Book Info on Rob Rasmussen
SB 215BA SC BP SN ES ML
A well rounded pitcher from the Midwest, Zach McAllister could be an innings-eater in the Indians rotation any time now. McAllister throws three quality pitches, and though none of them really grade out as plus offerings, he commands them all effortlessly and with near-perfect reproduction. While he didn't look especially good in a brief tour in Cleveland, McAllister's AAA season should be viewed as a good sample of his ability. Zach went 12-3, 3.32, 1.20 and struck out 128 hitters in 153 innings of workhorsery. His strikeout to walk ratio is over four, and ability to handle bigger and bigger workloads each season suggests it's just about time to plunk him down in the middle of the Indians rotation to see what will happen.
More Scouting Book Info on Zach McAllister
SB 216BA SC BP SN ES ML
A big righthander drafted in 2009's fourth round, San Diego's Keyvius Sampson looked pretty darn fine in his first season of A-ball, going 12-3, 2.90, 1.10 across 24 starts. He struck out 143 batters, three times as many as he walked, with a K/9 rate near 11. His control still needs a little work, but there's not much else to complain about here: he has guile, mound presence, confidence and calm when dealing his 94mph fastball (with movement), hammerish curve and even his newest pitch: a fading change with plenty of sink. Issues with recurring elbow soreness seem to be in his past, but note: seem to be.
More Scouting Book Info on Keyvius Sampson
SB 217BA SC BP SN ES ML
Don't confuse him with that Dominican F-Mart from the other coast. The Venezuelan Francisco Martinez is a real five-tool player with boundless raw ability and one of the biggest upsides in the Mariner system today. After coming over from Detroit in midseason, he raked AA pitchers over the coals in Southern League Jackson, posting a great .310/.326/.481 line and knocking three homers in his 33 games.
More Scouting Book Info on Francisco Martinez
SB 218BA SC BP SN ES ML
A very small guy with a very big arm, Royal's righty Yordano Ventura invites easy comparisons to his countrymate Pedro Martinez, though he doesn't come with quite the colorful personality. Ventura complements a plus fastball with rapidly-improving curves and changeups so well that the Royals may need to accelerate his development. That 4-6, 4.27 ERA that he accrued in his first season of A-ball might look pretty uninteresting, but the eyeballs-in-seats part of our research department would like to emphasize that the second half of Ventura's season was markedly better than the first, and he finished strongly enough to gain a few notches on the Kansas City prospect ladder. (Our math nerds would also like to chime in by pointing out that all year long, in good times and bad, he maintained a solid 3:1 ratio of strikeouts to walks.)
More Scouting Book Info on Yordano Ventura
SB 219BA SC BP SN ES ML
It's amazing how much a player's prospect status can be impacted by a tiny little murder charge. Until he was arrested in the Dominican Republic at the tail end of 2009, Giants slugger Angel Villalona was the Giants unquestioned number one prospect: a serious, middle of the order power threat with 30-30 potential. Charges against Villalona were finally dropped last year, and the team recently added him back to their 40-man roster. Assuming he can actually obtain a new US work visa, he should be back on the radar in San Francisco, too, since the club hasn't exactly added a bevy of power prospects while he was away. Obviously, he'll have some catching up to do.
More Scouting Book Info on Angel Villalona
SB 220BA SC BP SN ES ML
A slight shortstop with plus instincts, Arizona prospect Chris Owings could see a move to second base in the near future. Signed out of high school in South Carolina after being selected 41st overall in the 2009 draft, Owings is a gap-to-gap hitter with a bit of pop. He's decent defensively, and shows above average speed on the bases.
More Scouting Book Info on Chris Owings
SB 221BA SC BP SN ES ML
The son of the Twins/Astros second baseman, switch-hitter Steve Lombardozzi Junior is also a keystone fielder, one of the brighter prospects pushing up at the ceiling of the Nationals' minor league system. In a late-season callup last year, he logged innings at second base, third base and also shorstop, so it's clear the Nationals are still getting a sense of how he can best contribute. improved as he moved up to more difficult levels of play: that's the classic sign of a long-term offensive asset, no matter where the suddenly-overstocked Nationals decide to deploy him.
More Scouting Book Info on Steve Lombardozzi
SB 222BA SC BP SN ES ML
A strong infielder with a nice line-drive stroke and an eye that's beyond his young years, second base prospect Taylor Lindsey showed better glovework than expected in rookie ball, and will try to take his sparkplug style of play up to A-level in 2012. He's a couple of years away from scratching a living from the Anaheim dirt, but he's exactly the sort of scrappy, line-drive hitting middle infielder that the Angels are so good at drafting and developing. He's probably no superstar, but he will stick in MLB and play well when his time comes.
More Scouting Book Info on Taylor Lindsey
SB 223BA SC BP SN ES ML
A sixth round selection by the O's in 2011, catcher and third baseman Nick Delmonico probably has the best pure power bat in the Baltimore system, but it'll be a year or two before we know that for sure. Most intriguing is the reflection that his success in high school came mainly on the strength of his patience and selectivity at the plate: if that kind of discipline can be nurtured in pro ball, he could be a very powerful offensive force indeed. He's a few years away.
More Scouting Book Info on Nick Delmonico
SB 224BA SC BP SN ES ML
The number one catching prospect in the system until Yasmani Grandal came to town, Austin Hedges is still a top prospect in the San Diego system. He's also probably further from the majors than Grandal, as he's barely out of high school compared to the college-bred Cuban. So pencil him into the Padre lineup all you like, but please date that doodle 2017 to be safe.
More Scouting Book Info on Austin Hedges
SB 225BA SC BP SN ES ML
Yet another spare part that came to the Astros via the Phillies farm system, Santana is tall, projectable hitter with a long but easy swing. An average runner and a strong-armed thrower, he's still learning to handle breaking pitches, but for such a young talent, he's already looking like one of the best athletes in the revitalized Houston system.
More Scouting Book Info on Domingo Santana
SB 226BA SC BP SN ES ML
Selected by Cincinnati in the first round of the 2011 Draft (27th overall), righthander Robert Stephenson was a rare high-school choice from the usually conservative Reds franchise. The tall Californian overpowered his peers in his senior high school season, posting a 1.19 ERA in 76 innings that included not one but two no-hitters. A power pitcher in the classic mould, he can already top 98mph with his fastball. As always, though, it's how well his secondary pitches develop that will determine his fate in pro baseball.
More Scouting Book Info on Robert Stephenson
SB 227BA SC BP SN ES ML
A second baseman converted to catching in mid-2008, Rockies proto-bat Jordan Pacheco is a plus plus contact hitter still searching for a full-time occupation. While he has the bat speed and contact rate to hit .300, he lacks the feet for the middle infield, the glove for a corner or the arm for third base. He may end up a platoon C-1B-OF in the major leagues, but another year or two of experience behind the plate could also turn him into a serviceable regular. His bat is certainly ready: after smashing .278/.343/.377 at AAA Colorado Springs in 2011, he took 78 more at-bats for the MLB Rockies that were even better: .286/.318/.369, including a broken-bat home run that gave the young man his first taste of ESPN (and YouTube) fame.
More Scouting Book Info on Jordan Pacheco
SB 228BA SC BP SN ES ML
A speedy outfielder in the Giants' system, Dominican Francisco Peguero is a solid defender with developing on-base skills. A line drive hitter whose build doesn't suggest future power (he's shaped more or less like Eugenio Velez, though he hits exclusively from the right side), Peguero will have to keep reaching base at a high clip in order to contribute. He's got some distance to close, too: despite the nice batting average, his walk rate is too low, and he is getting caught stealing a frightfully high percentage of the time.
More Scouting Book Info on Francisco Peguero
SB 229BA SC BP SN ES ML 98
A California boy drafted out of Crenshaw High Schools by the Dodgers in 2005, outfielder Trayvon Robinson came to Seattle as part of the Erik Bedard trade of 2011. Robinson is a pretty premium outfield prospect pushing at the gates of MLB. With a solid all-around game, the switch-hitting Robinson has a nice mix of plus speed and decent (if erratic) power that could play well with a rebuilding Mariners club, and he's got wheels and glove enough to cover Safeco's big greenspaces, too. Now in a system devoid of many offensive gems, Robinson should shand out: he probably won't make the spring roster, but you should expect to see him in the big leagues by September.
More Scouting Book Info on Trayvon Robinson
SB 230BA SC BP SN ES ML
Prospects
Top Prospects 2012
Combined Ranking
211 to 230 of 525 Prospects
