Time for new top 10 lists.

[Illinest]

1. Cole - ceiling may not be as high as Taillon but college pitcher has a leg up in this list
2. Taillon - Great stuff with ace potential.
3. Bell - Big time talent in the corner outfield. Hope he's as good as advertised and can play next to McC soon.
4. Heredia - Sky is the limit.
5. Dickerson - Solid bat, should be able to move relatively quick next year.
6. Allie - Wicked velocity but terrible results so far. Big time project.
7. Marte - Still hoping for power to develop. Promising so far but would like to see more yet.
8. Grossman - Very passive approach leads to lots of appearances at first base. Personal favorite of mine.
9. Sanchez - This season has not been good for him. Need a big bounceback in 2012
10. Can't choose between any number of high school arms, stalled starters like Lincoln, Morris, Locke, etc... and LA prospects. There are bunches of people who could fit here but none really stand out.

 

[thedddd]

Figured you would have this out right away, good list I think Cole and Taillon could be 1a/1b. The Bell signing is huge because it gives them the big bat at the top of their list. Just like you I hope he pans out.

Anyway Locke had a very impressive first AAA start 5 2/3, 4 hits, no runs, no walks and 6 k's.
Maybe the last two weeks are a sign of Marte's power coming around .455 avg, .478 opb, .795 slg, 20 hits with 8 being extra base hits and 3 HR's.

 

[Illinest]

Yeah Marte is a little bit different from Tabata imo because he actually does seem to be showing a little power.

 

[Illinest]

Nevermind. I tried something that didn't work.

 

[Illinest]

And this is how I'm feeling at present. You could certainly move one of the left-fielders over to right to cover that hole but there's lots of problems that aren't going to be filled easily.
At Catcher we seem to be entirely depending on Sanchez.
At first we have nothing noteworthy except maybe Dickerson.
SS is a world of suck.
Third is even worse if Alvarez continues to both hit and field like he's been doing.

 

[element1286]

The system is loaded with talent, next step is to turn that talent into major league players.

For next year.

I'm really interested to see some results from the "fastball control" guys in WV (ZvR, Cain). Will they break out after getting their breaking pitches back at a higher level, or will they continue to have good if unspectacular seasons?

I want to see Robbie Grossman's passive approach at AA.

I want to see the college hitters challenged; Grovatt, Maggi, Dickerson, etc. I'm honestly not a fan of starting college hitters in A ball the year after they were drafted, especially if they played the year before. Most A-ball competition is below what they faced in college.

I want to see Sanchez bounce back at AAA.

I want to see Jarek Cunningham take a walk.

 

[Illinest]

I'm excited about Bell. When McC was drafted however many years ago I remember feeling confident that we'd have a player on our hands and Bell reminds me of McC in many ways. I think that Bell definitely has more of his value tied up in the bat, but on the other hand if Bell fulfills his potential the way McC did then you've got a huge stick in the corner outfield.
Switch-hitter, hits for average and power. Really truly a middle of the order sort of bat.

 

[element1286]

I'm excited about Bell. When McC was drafted however many years ago I remember feeling confident that we'd have a player on our hands and Bell reminds me of McC in many ways. I think that Bell definitely has more of his value tied up in the bat, but on the other hand if Bell fulfills his potential the way McC did then you've got a huge stick in the corner outfield.
Switch-hitter, hits for average and power. Really truly a middle of the order sort of bat.

I think Bell is more along the lines of Heyward, Justin Upton, and Stanton than Cutch.

 

[magnumo]

I'll take a crack at this.....

.....with the qualification that I place more value on performance than potential.

1. Taillon
2. Cole
3. Marte
4. Heredia
5. Bell
6. Dickerson
7. Allie
8. Hague
9. Locke
10. Sanchez

 

[element1286]

I like the letter grades, makes it more descriptive.

1. Taillon (A)
2. Cole (A-)
3. Bell (B+)
4. Marte (B)
5. Heredia (B-)
6. Allie (B-)
7. von Rosenberg (B-)
8. Sanchez (B-)
9. Grossman (C+)
10. McPherson (C+)

There are probably 10-15 other guys in the system that could be rated a C+ as well, but I like Grossman and McPherson the best.

 

[Illinest]

Or what about the HF system?

10 - Superstar
9 - Perennial All Star
8 - Occasional All Star
7 - Solid Regular
6 - Major Leaguer
5 - Quad A player

and you add a letter grade after that for probability

A - guaranteed to reach potential
B - might fall one grade
C - Likely to fall one, might fall as many as two grades
D - Likely to fall one, good chance to fall two, might fall as many as three grades

1. Cole - 8.5C
2. Taillon - 9D
3. Bell - 9D
4. Heredia - 9D
-----------------------------
5. Dickerson - 8C
6. Allie - 8.5D
7. Marte - 8C
8. Grossman - 8C
-----------------------------
9. Sanchez - 7.5C

 

[element1286]

I like the letter grades, makes it more descriptive.

1. Taillon (A)
2. Cole (A-)
3. Bell (B+)
4. Marte (B)
5. Heredia (B-)
6. Allie (B-)
7. von Rosenberg (B-)
8. Sanchez (B-)
9. Grossman (C+)
10. McPherson (C+)

There are probably 10-15 other guys in the system that could be rated a C+ as well, but I like Grossman and McPherson the best.

Good call, the HF system is a really good.

1. Taillon - 9.0C
2. Cole - 9.0C
3. Bell - 9.5D
4. Marte - 9.0D
5. Heredia - 9.0D
6. Allie - 8.5D
7. von Rosenberg - 7.5C
8. Sanchez - 7.0B
9. Grossman - 8.0D
10. McPherson - 6.5B

 

[thecrow124]

I used to get into top 10 lists and grading out prospects, but I just can't figure out the best way to even define how I consider the ability of prospects. Suffice to say if I had a list I am sure it would differ greatly from anything I have seen here.

Here is an example of my thinking, most rate Marte as a very good prospect based on performance and proximity to the majors. I personally love him as a CF, but I do not see him playing CF in the major leagues, I see him as RF and as such he carries much less value. I see him being a major league baseball player, but nothing more than average at best, so he just doesn't do much for me in a Pirates uniform. Now were he to be traded to a team that could use him in CF, he rates as a much better prospect.

As for the recent draftees, if you haven't played a game, you don't make my basic qualifier for discussion. I will say this for Cole, he had 3 years to work on his mechanics and keeping his fastball down in the zone, and didn't so I am not so high on him either. That is not to say I don't think he will one day be a major league starting pitcher, but I do believe top of the rotation/ace starter is not in his future.

This is just my opinion, so take it for what it is. Maybe one of these days when I have the time I will sit down and write down my entire way of thinking and then try to squeeze out a list of our minor leaguers that I believe will one day make a major league impact, but not right now, I just don't have the time.