Inbox: Best double-play combos among prospects?
Spring Training stats don't mean a lot, especially in small sample sizes, but it did catch my eye that the Arizona Fall League's biggest standouts are swinging hot bats in big league camps. From our AFL Top 25 Prospects list, here's how the five best position players are faring in the Cactus League and the Grapefruit League:
Ronald Acuna, OF, Braves: .423/.500/.538, 1 HR, 2 SB
Victor Robles, OF, Nationals: .259/.310/.481, 1 HR, 1 SB
Francisco Mejia, C, Indians: .417/.462/.750, 1 HR
Luis Urias, 2B/SS, Padres: .444/.545/.722
Kyle Tucker, OF, Astros: .400/.400/.920, 4 HR
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In a word: no. Shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. is one of the best prospects in baseball and second baseman Luis Urias is one of the best pure hitters in the Minors, so the Padres duo can't be topped. Check out the video at the top of this story for my top seven double-play prospect combos in the game.
Since the start of the 2017 season, the Yankees have parted with several quality prospects to add Giancarlo Stanton, Sonny Gray, since-departed Todd Frazier, Brandon Drury, Player Page for David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle. If they had held on to all of those farmhands, they'd have baseball's best farm system (but not what may be the best big league club). It's a tribute to their depth that they still came in sixth in MLB Pipeline's system talent rankings.
With the exception of 18-year-old shortstop Jose Devers, who was part of the Stanton trade with the Marlins, all of the prospects Brian asked about would have made our Yankees' Top 30, with six of them cracking the upper half of what would have been an insanely loaded list. So would right-hander Zack Littell, who went 19-1 with a 2.12 ERA between high Class A and Double-A last year and went to the Twins in the Jaime Garcia trade in July.
Here's where all of the departed prospects would have fit on the Yankees Top 30:
1. Gleyber Torres, INF
2. Estevan Florial, OF
3. Justus Sheffield, LHP
4. Miguel Andujar, 3B
Jorge Mateo, SS/OF (to Athletics in Gray trade)
5. Albert Abreu, RHP
6. Chance Adams, RHP
Blake Rutherford, OF (to White Sox in Frazier/Robertson/Kahnle trade
Dustin Fowler, OF (to Athletics in Gray trade)
Jorge Guzman, RHP (to Marlins in Stanton trade)
James Kaprielian, RHP (to Athletics in Gray trade)
7. Luis Medina, RHP
8. Freicer Perez, RHP
9. Domingo Acevedo, RHP
Nick Solak, 2B (to Marlins in Drury trade)
10. Thairo Estrada, SS/2B
11. Dillon Tate, RHP
12. Matt Sauer, RHP
13. Clarke Schmidt, RHP
Taylor Widener, RHP (to Diamondbacks in Drury trade)
14. Jonathan Loaisiga, RHP
15. Trevor Stephan, RHP
16. Deivi Garcia, RHP
Zack Littell, RHP (to Twins in Garcia trade)
17. Cody Carroll, RHP
18. Domingo German, RHP
19. Billy McKinney, OF
Ian Clarkin, LHP (to White Sox in Frazier/Robertson/Kahnle trade)
20. Glenn Otto, RHP
21. Nolan Martinez, RHP
22. Giovanny Gallegos, RHP
23. Dermis Garcia, 3B/1B
24. Everson Pereira, OF
25. Juan Then, RHP
26. Christopher Austin, 1b/of
27. Jake Cave, OF
28. Canaan Smith, OF
29. Nick Nelson, RHP
30. Trevor Lane, LHP
Elite prospects tend to reach the big leagues faster than we think, and it's easier for a hitter than a pitcher to put up Rookie of the Year-worthy numbers. So with those factors in mind, here are my top three ROY candidates for each league for 2019:
American League
- Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 3B, Blue Jays
- Bo Bichette, SS/2B, Blue Jays
- Forrest Whitley, RHP, Astros
National League - Brendan Rodgers, SS/2B, Rockies
- Fernando Tatis Jr., SS, Padres
- Keston Hiura, 2B, Brewers
The complete list is below, and there's no correlation between prospect age and our organization rankings. Four of our top 10 farm systems rank among the 10 youngest Top 30s (Braves, White Sox, Athletics, Blue Jays), and three rank among the 10 oldest (Reds, Yankees, Phillies). The average age of the 900 players on the Top 30s is 22.23, while the average age of the players in the 10 best systems is 22.20.
1. Braves: 20.94
2. Rangers: 21.30
3. White Sox: 21.31
4. Brewers: 21.50
5. Angels: 21.61
6. Nationals: 21.69
7. Athletics: 21.69
8. Indians: 21.73
9. Blue Jays: 21.80
10. Marlins: 21.82
11. Twins: 22.08
12. Cardinals: 22.11
13. Dodgers: 22.18
14. Astros: 22.25
15. Cubs: 22.26
16. Red Sox: 22.27
17. Mets: 22.29
18. Rays: 22.32
19. Padres: 22.35
20. Tigers: 22.36
21. Pirates: 22.45
22. Diamondbacks: 22.45
23. Royals: 22.46
24. Rockies: 22.72
25. Reds: 22.77
26. Yankees: 22.79
27. Orioles: 22.80
28. Mariners: 23.16
29. Giants: 23.61
30. Phillies: 23.88