The Bauxites have spoken. I received eight top 30 prospect lists and I have compiled them into a combined top 30. The resulting top 30 is similar in many ways to the Top 30 posted last week but there are a few key differences. The top nine on both lists have the same names with small changes in the order. Further down, the differences are bigger.
For the purposes of explaining the two top 30 lists, I will refer to last weeks list as the “official” list and this one as the “Bauxite” list.
Submissions were received from bpoz; Michael Green; Nigel; Tamra; whiterasta80; Jonny German; Ay Jackson and Dan Gordon. Thanks to all.
Here is the Bauxite top 30 with the official ranking shown after the name.
The first thing to note is that are four players who are on this list that did not make the official list. They are David Paulino; Yennsy Diaz; Otto Lopez; and Maximo Castillo. The four heading out are Travis Bergen; Jordan Romano; Max Pentecost and Griffin Conine.
Opinions on Paulino’s ranking is related to your opinion of his ability to be a major league starting pitcher. Over eight professional seasons Paulino has thrown a total of 280 innings. His high for a season is the 90 innings he threw in 2016. Over the last three seasons he has thrown a total of 76 innings. So even though Paulino has pitched as a starter, can he hold up as a starter? When I left Paulino out of my own top 30, it was because I thought he would be a reliever.
Yennsy Diaz has some of those same questions. His case was helped when the Jays added him to their 40 man roster so the Jays believe in him. If that was known before the official list was put together, Diaz would likely have made it.
As mentioned in the "almost" post, Otto Lopez is a tough guy to pin down. He can hit and is very versatile in the field. But he is slight and there are those who want to see him hit in full season leagues before believing in him.
The final player added was Maximo Castillo who had success in Lansing this year but who doesn’t throw hard. Your belief in the value of velocity could determine whether you had him in your top 30 or not.
On the outs are Jordan Romano, who was #32 in the Bauxite list, Max Pentecost who was #33, Griffin Conine who was #34 and Travis Bergen who was #36. Trent Thornton was #31, he was not a member of the Jays when the official list was prepared and Justin Maese was #35. Maese had shoulder surgery this year. Romano and Bergen were presumably dropped because they profile as relievers and because the Jays did not protect them on the 40 man roster. Pentecost was cold and then hot in 2018, if you believe the hot he was on your list, if you believed the cold he wasn’t. And Conine had strikeout issues this year that put questions in voters minds.
Two of the biggest movers within the lists were for two recent international free agents. Orelvis Martinez, who has yet to play a professional game, was rated 15 in the official list and tenth by the Bauxites. Similarly, Miguel Hiraldo was 29 in the official list and 17 in the Bauxite list. So, the Bauxite voters love their top international free agents.
Elsewhere TJ Zeuch was loved by the Bauxites, rated at 12, compared to 17 in the official list. On the other hand, the Bauxites did not appreciate Thomas Pannone, who was 21, while he was at 14 on the official list. Neither of them are hard throwing, strikeout pitchers, and both have divided opinions.
All other differences were within three places.
Thanks to all who participated.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20181129152153332