Project Prospect's Top 25 Rankings

July 2, 2007
Check back every Monday for the only regularly updated in-season prospect rankings on the internet
No. Player   Pos Notes Age Org Level   Pre.
1   Phil Hughes   RHP   Was able to remove his ankle boot last week; starting a throwing program   21   NYY   MLB   1 ↔
2   Yovani Gallardo   RHP   Pitching like a veteran in bigs despite only being 21; 2.71 K/BB and .200 BAA   21   MIL   MLB   2 ↔
3   Billy Butler   1B   He's 8-for-27 (.296) w/ 2 2B and a HR since returning to bigs; 1 BB vs. 13 K   21   KC   MLB   3 ↔
4   Jay Bruce   CF   Batting .273/.319/.545 w/ 3 2B and 3 HR in 10 AA games; .317/.371/.580 total   20   CIN   AA   4 ↔
5   Clay Buchholz   RHP   Gave up four hits in 11.1 IP while striking out 15 and walking 3 last week   22   BOS   AA   6 ↑
6   Colby Rasmus   CF   Went 7-for-17 with 4 XBH and 3 BB vs. 5 K last week; 194/.308/.388 in June   20   STL   AA   8 ↑
7   Brandon Wood   3B   Like last year, started slow then had a mammoth June: .303/.358/.615 w/ 8 HR 22   LAA   MLB   9 ↑
8   Evan Longoria   3B   Despite going 8-for-27 last week, he had just 1 XBH (a 2B) and 8 K vs. 2 BB   21   TB   AA   7 ↓
9   Jarrod Saltalamacchia   C   Eked out just 52 at-bats in June, but he hit .327/.352/.558 depite irregular PT   22   ATL   MLB   10 ↑
10   Justin Upton   CF   How can you call a guy who hit 1 HR in June the No. 1 prospect in baseball?   19   ARI   AA   11 ↑
11   Adam Jones   CF   Moved because Braun/Kershaw; a lackluster week: 8-for-26 w/ 0 BB vs. 9 K   21   SEA   MLB   13 ↑
12   Clayton Kershaw   LHP   Hit as hard as he has in more than a month on Fri.; 4.1 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 7 K   19   LAD   A   12 ↔
13   Andrew Miller   LHP   Moved because Braun/Bailey; 5.0 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 4 K vs. Twins last Sat.   22   DET   MLB   15 ↑
14   Cameron Maybin   CF   Seven of his 25 June hits went for extra bases (28.0%); .303/.396/.466 total   20   DET   A+   16 ↑
15   Homer Bailey   RHP   Has 10 K vs. 19 BB in 23.1 IP, .314 BAA; positive sign is only 2 HR allowed   21   CIN   MLB   14 ↓
16   Fernando Martinez   CF   Hand injury sidelined him all last week; moved up due to Braun's graduation   18   NYM   AA   17 ↑
17   Andy LaRoche   3B   Back after missing 4 days with sore shoulder; 6-for-9 w/ 3 XBH since return   23   LAD   MLB   18 ↑
18   Daric Barton   1B   Continued hot hitting by going 10-for-27 last week; 2 XBH, 2 BB, 2 K as well   21   OAK   AAA   20 ↑
19   Jacoby Ellsbury   CF   Odds of his 1st MLB hit being a 1B were quite overwhelming; called up on Sat. 23   BOS   MLB   21 ↑
20   Adam Miller   RHP   Returned after missing 43 days with a finger injury; unhittable in first 3.0 IP   22   CLE   AAA   25 ↑
21   Wade Davis   RHP   21 K vs. 3 BB in AA is a great sign (18.2 IP), but .250 BAA shows he's mortal   21   TB   AA   28 ↑
22   Will Inman   RHP   Responded from Mon.'s mashing w/ 6.0 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, and 6 K on Sat.   20   MIL   AA   22 ↔
23   Neil Walker   3B   Finished June .363/.449/.615 even after 4-for-23 showing last week (3 XBH)   21   PIT   AA   23 ↔
24   Jacob McGee   LHP   When you K 3.5x as many batters as you walk, a bad outing can be excused   20   TB   A+   27 ↑
25   Carlos Gomez   CF   Graduations + Slowey's struggles + doubling BB total = first Top 25 showing   21   NYM   MLB   30 ↑
Honorable Mentions: Reid Brignac, Jeff Clement, Joba Chamberlain, Andrew McCutchen, Kevin Slowey, Asdrubal Cabrera, and Joey Votto.
Graduated (final ranking): Ryan Braun (5) and Felix Pie (19).                
Dropped Out of Top 50 (previous ranking): Kevin Slowey (24).                
* Our rankings combine a player's ceiling with the odds that he'll reach it and favor recent production                
** Only players with less than 130 pro at-bats or less than 50 pro innings are considered for our rankings                
*** Ages are as of July 7th, 2007                    
**** Level is the highest level the player has reached                
***** Pre. is the player's rankings from last week's Top 50.                
                             
<<< Click here to see our June 25th Top 50 Rankings                

 

Disclaimer
Our in-season Top 25 rankings are a tool that we’ve chosen to implement for the first time this season. We realize that this weekly exercise cannot be as thorough as creating a Top 100 prospect list – which involves months of thought and research. So why even bother publishing these rankings? For fun.

Just like any coaches poll or other in-season rankings, our rankings won’t be as concrete as the ones that can be made when you’re looking at something somewhat after-the-fact. (We’re still adjusting to the volatile nature of in-season rankings as well.) Lists will stray far from then maybe come back to looking like our previous prospect lists. A few odd names will work their way into the rankings--emphasis is on recent performance.

Think of these rankings like a giant coliseum battle. Everyone will be going after everyone; the air will be cluttered with dust. Then our Top 100 prospect list will be our take once the dust settles. Until then, just remember that's we're trying to judge a battle while it's still in progress.

We hope to provide an entertaining glimpse of our thought process, and a snapshot of how the prospect scene changes throughout the season.

A few other important notes: 1) More than ever, we’re going to begin relying on numbers for our rankings. Perhaps we could make better lists by regularly talking to people in the industry, but that’s not our style. 2) We’ll be balancing 2006 and 2007 numbers in order to draw upon the best sample that we see fit – the same methods will be applied to each prospect.


I am prepared to answer questions in more detail upon email request,

Adam Foster
Project Prospect Founder
adamf@projectprospect.com