An Overview of the Team Top Prospect Lists

Over the course of the offseason, I will be publishing each team's Top-15 Prospect List. I'm hopeful I will be able to roll each list out before the season starts, but time constraints may take these lists into the start of the 2009 season.

What you'll see are more extensive scouting reports on the five best prospects, followed by a more condensed scouting report on prospects 6 - 10 and then scouting reports that are in the form of a small passage on prospects in the 11 - 14 range. Scouting reports on the 15th rated prospect will be sent out only for Subscribers to Baseball-Intellect's Newsletter, which you can sign up for by clicking this link or by using the form below:

What Basis Are Prospects Graded On?

Prospects are graded on a combination of the player's overall upside, the likelyhood of reaching that upside, the player's floor, and the closeness of that player to the major league level.

To determine these factors, I use a combination of my eyes (when possible), external scouting reports by respected publications and baseball writers, beat writers that cover a prospect's respective organization, and the views of various scouts that I am privledged to have connected with. If I have seen enough of a player, I usually will put more weight into what I personally see. A player's overall numbers do influence my thinking as well.

Players drafted in 2008: unless they performed at an extremely high level or were drafted in the first couple rounds, they probably did not make these lists. If I don't have enough information on a player and/or a player has only a small sample size of results to work with, then I normally leave them off the list.

Will You Provide Video of Each Prospect?

Not on each prospect, but for some I will. Some organizations have prospects that are easier to find video on, so don't feel slighted if your team's prospect list only has 2 or 3 prospect clips while another team might have 5 or 6. For players that I have already profiled in the past, I will likely not add new video unless the prospect has made noticeable changes in their mechanics and in some cases I will just refer you to the past report because of a lack of new information in regard to that prospect.

Player Grade Box

You will notice a box of grades on the right side of each prospect's scouting report that look like this

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grades are based on the 20-80 scouting scale. I will outsource this explanation to Baseball Prospectus. However, to quote a key section of the Kevin Goldstein article:

Grades are given on a base-5 system (40, 45, 50, 55, 60, etc.)...A score of 50 is major-league average, 60 is above-average (also referred to as “plus”), and 70 is among the best (“plus-plus”). 80 is top of the charts, and not a score that gets thrown around liberally. 80s in any category are rare, and the scoring system is definitely a strong curve that regresses to around 50 at the major league level, but lower as you move down. Very few players have a 50 score or higher for every tool. Just being average across the board is quite an accomplishment.

To add to this...I like to occasionally use grades that look like this: 45/50. If I use that for a fastball, that just means I view the pitch as not quite average but very close to it. The letter grades should be self-explanatory.

This overview should be helpful to anybody looking into my methods in regards to grading and ranking each prospect. If there are any other questions you have or if you want to give me feedback and address me personally about my choices of players, feel free to contact me. I reserve the right to change my grades or outlook for a player's future if I am subject to new information or hear persuasive enough arguments. If I think of anything else that might be helpful regarding these lists, I will add it to this page.

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