Baseball America has released the Arizona Diamondbacks Top 10 Prospects today.
If you want to read what they have to say about the farm system,
click here.
If you want the Silver Hawks side of the story,
click here.
Or if you just want the list and my opinion, keep reading:
1) Jarrod Parker
2) Bobby Borchering
3) A.J. Pollock
4) Brandon Allen
5) Daniel Schlereth
6) Chris Owings
7) Mike Belfiore
8) Marc Krauss
9) Ryan Wheeler
10) Collin Cowgill
My unsolicited opinions:
-I'm not surprised Jarrod Parker is number one, nor should any of you. He's clearly the best pitcher in the system, even with recent surgery.
-Borchering is young, and likely a Silver Hawk in 2010. Baseball America always gives preferences to younger players over older ones, because their ceilings are always higher.
-I was surprised to see A.J. Pollock at #3. He had a fine year, just not an overwhelming one. However, I think you'll see Pollock dominate the Cal League in 2010, and then it's just a matter of making the proper adjustments to continue to see success on the way up.
-Allen was acquired via a trade, so we don't have a lot to go on with him.
-Schlereth comes in fifth, but that's irrelevant now since he just was traded (see previous post). I would imagine Baseball America would update this list before publishing their top 30 Prospect Handbook.
-Owings and Belfiore are the real deal from what I hear. And they should both be in South Bend on Opening Day 2010.
-Krauss is a guy I struggle with at #8. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve it, or that he's not good. He has enormous power and showed some ability to hit for average. However, he was limited due to ankle injuries, and I don't think we saw everything he could do. I'd like to see him play a full season at 100% before I judge his prospect rating.
-Ryan Wheeler should be higher than #9. In my book, he's top 5 in the system (and that's coming from only seeing him play about two weeks). His swing is so smooth that it's hard for me to imagine his average ever being below .300, and the power numbers will be there as well. He's the real deal.
-Collin Cowgill at #10 is fine. Like Krauss, he had an injury last season that limited him. Again, a full season should help us determine whether the top 10 ranking is justified.
Notable players that dropped out of last year's top 10:
#2 Gerardo Parra (no longer a prospect since he made it to the Majors)
#4 Mark Hallberg (hit .257 for Mobile -- should still be in top 30 I would imagine)
#5 Wade Miley (will still be in top 30, but not a surprise he dropped out of top 10)
#6 Kevin Eichhorn (pitched just 10 games for Missoula)
#7 Cesar Valdez (went 7-6 with a 4.78 ERA in Reno)
#8 Billy Buckner (majors)
#10 Reynaldo Navarro (I actually thought he improved this year. Would like to see his average higher, but he should still be ranked between 11-15 at worst, I would think)
