Seems I've found as many top 30 lists as I'm going to at this point without subscribing to a dozen services. Time to summarize them before the season gets going.
Here at Batter's Box we have a top 30 list made every year, but so do many others. What is the consensus out there? Are there outliers who we should consider, are some lists more bizarre than others? Here are 10 lists, some longer than others. A full 30 from 6, Top 10 from Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus, but just a top 4 from Sickles and Keith Law as neither has a full top 10 available outside of pay walls. Ah well, nothing I can do about that.
Every single list has Vlad #1, Bo #2, Danny Jansen #3 on all but 2, Nate Pearson #3 on those 2 plus 4th on 5 and once ranked #6 and once #7 (Sickles abbreviated list doesn't have him, instead having Jordan Groshans).
In all 46 different players are listed. 3 at 1B, 3 at 2B, 1 at 3B, 9 at SS, 7 at CA, 7 OF, 2 LHP, 14 RHP. Obviously a lot of focus has been at SS/CA which is good as you can move from SS to anywhere but catcher easily while catchers are notoriously hard to develop (especially here).
The lists by source...
To help merge the data I did a simple score system - 30 for 1st place vote, 29 for 2nd, all the way to 1 point for a 30th place rank. Here is that ranking along with position ...
Now with all that data I'm sure a few will be wondering - who was the most bizarre choice? Jordan Romano ranked 19th was the highest rank for a player not named on more than 1 list (Batter's Box). Trent Thornton was the only guy with a top 10 rank who failed to make the top 14 of anyone else's list (10th by FanGraphs). Rowdy Tellez was the highest ranked to be missed entirely by a top 30 list (skipped by TSN). Wide ranges, not factoring in being ignored, were led by Anthony Alford (as high as 8th, low as 23rd) and Miguel Hiraldo (from 10th to 29th).
In the end we see a strong consensus on the top part, and a mish mash towards the bottom as always would be expected. Last years list had the same top 3 on all lists - Vlad, Bo, and Anthony Alford. All 3 were on top 100 lists for everyone I had. Alford clearly dropped drastically while Vlad and Bo held on. Vlad was no higher than 3rd on any ML prospect list worst was a 15th rank, Bo was 7-9 on most, but 19th on one.
Here is a summary of the top 100 lists for this year.
Nice to see 7 guys make someone's top 100 list this year, vs 5 last year (Vlad, Bo, Alford, Pearson, Jansen) and having Vlad move from roughly the 3rd best to the best prospect in the minors. Bo dropped a little, but not much. Jansen from an afterthought to most to being top 100 to all but Law. Should be interesting next year to see what happens with Bo who should still be a prospect while Vlad and Jansen both should be off these lists next year - hopefully after one of them wins rookie of the year in 2019.
Here at Batter's Box we have a top 30 list made every year, but so do many others. What is the consensus out there? Are there outliers who we should consider, are some lists more bizarre than others? Here are 10 lists, some longer than others. A full 30 from 6, Top 10 from Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus, but just a top 4 from Sickles and Keith Law as neither has a full top 10 available outside of pay walls. Ah well, nothing I can do about that.
Every single list has Vlad #1, Bo #2, Danny Jansen #3 on all but 2, Nate Pearson #3 on those 2 plus 4th on 5 and once ranked #6 and once #7 (Sickles abbreviated list doesn't have him, instead having Jordan Groshans).
In all 46 different players are listed. 3 at 1B, 3 at 2B, 1 at 3B, 9 at SS, 7 at CA, 7 OF, 2 LHP, 14 RHP. Obviously a lot of focus has been at SS/CA which is good as you can move from SS to anywhere but catcher easily while catchers are notoriously hard to develop (especially here).
The lists by source...
| Rank | Batters Box | MLB.com | Jays Journal | FanGraphs | BlueBird Banter | TSN | Baseball America | Sickles | Baseball Prospectus | Keith Law |
| 1 | Vladimir Guerrero | Vladimir Guerrero | Vladimir Guerrero | Vladimir Guerrero | Vladimir Guerrero | Vladimir Guerrero | Vladimir Guerrero | Vladimir Guerrero | Vladimir Guerrero | Vladimir Guerrero |
| 2 | Bo Bichette | Bo Bichette | Bo Bichette | Bo Bichette | Bo Bichette | Bo Bichette | Bo Bichette | Bo Bichette | Bo Bichette | Bo Bichette |
| 3 | Danny Jansen | Danny Jansen | Danny Jansen | Danny Jansen | Danny Jansen | Danny Jansen | Danny Jansen | Danny Jansen | Nate Pearson | Nate Pearson |
| 4 | Nate Pearson | Nate Pearson | Eric Pardinho | Nate Pearson | Nate Pearson | Nate Pearson | Eric Pardinho | Jordan Groshans | Danny Jansen | Danny Jansen |
| 5 | Kevin Smith | Eric Pardinho | Nate Pearson | Jordan Groshans | Eric Pardinho | Kevin Smith | Jordan Groshans | -- | Kevin Smith | -- |
| 6 | Jordan Groshans | Jordan Groshans | Kevin Smith | Sean Reid-Foley | Jordan Groshans | Eric Pardinho | Nate Pearson | -- | Eric Pardinho | -- |
| 7 | Sean Reid-Foley | kevin Smith | Jordan Groshans | Kevin Smith | Sean Reid-Foley | Jordan Groshans | Kevin Smith | -- | Sean Reid-Foley | -- |
| 8 | Eric Pardinho | Adam Kloffenstein | Cavan Biggio | Adam Kloffenstein | TJ Zeuch | Sean Reid-Foley | Sean Reid-Foley | -- | Anthony Alford | -- |
| 9 | Cavan Biggio | Sean Reid-Foley | Sean Reid-Foley | Eric Pardinho | Kevin Smith | Anthony Alford | Cavan Biggio | -- | Jordan Groshans | -- |
| 10 | Adam Kloffenstein | Cavan Biggio | Anthony Alford | Trent Thornton | Cavan Biggio | Cavan Biggio | Miguel Hiraldo | -- | TJ Zeuch | -- |
| 11 | Hector Perez | Anthony Alford | Adam Kloffenstein | Billy McKinney | Anthony Alford | Hector Perez | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 12 | Anthony Alford | Orelvis Martinez | Orelvis Martinez | Cavan Biggio | Adam Kloffenstein | TJ Zeuch | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 13 | Rowdy Tellez | Miguel Hiraldo | Miguel Hiraldo | TJ Zeuch | Patrick Murphy | Adam Kloffenstein | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 14 | Thomas Pannone | Billy McKinney | Hector Perez | Hector Perez | Hector Perez | Orelvis Martinez | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 15 | Orelvis Martinez | Trent Thornton | TJ Zeuch | Leonardo Jimenez | Chavez Young | Miguel Hiraldo | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 16 | Billy McKinney | TJ Zeuch | Billy McKinney | Orelvis Martinez | Thomas Pannone | Santiago Espinal | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 17 | TJ Zeuch | Hector Perez | David Paulino | Rowdy Tellez | Rowdy Tellez | Billy McKinney | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 18 | Chavez Young | Leonardo Jimenez | Griffin Conine | Gabriel Moreno | Yennsy Diaz | Griffin Conine | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 19 | Jordan Romano | Griffin Conine | Trent Thornton | Griffin Conine | Griffin Conine | Reese McGuire | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 20 | Patrick Murphy | Patrick Murphy | Rowdy Tellez | Miguel Hiraldo | Miguel Hiraldo | Trent Thornton | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 21 | Travis Bergen | Rowdy Tellez | Ryan Noda | Chavez Young | Hagen Danner | Thomas Pannone | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 22 | Reese McGuire | Gabriel Moreno | Forrest Wall | Reese McGuire | Orelvis Martinez | Elvis Luciano | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 23 | Riley Adams | Chavez Young | Elvis Luciano | Anthony Alford | Billy McKinney | Ryan Noda | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 24 | Samad Taylor | Reese McGuire | Reese McGuire | Yennsy Diaz | Ryan Noda | Patrick Murphy | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 25 | Griffin Conine | Samad Taylor | Thomas Pannone | Samad Taylor | Reese McGuire | Yennsy Diaz | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 26 | Hagen Danner | Ryan Noda | Santiago Espinal | Patrick Murphy | Elvis Luciano | David Paulino | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 27 | Ryan Noda | Yennsy Diaz | Chavez Young | Alejandro Kirk | Trent Thornton | Logan Warmoth | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 28 | Max Pentecost | Elvis Luciano | Jonathan Davis | Kevin Vicuna | Logan Warmoth | Leonardo Jimenez | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 29 | Miguel Hiraldo | Alejandro Kirk | Cal Stevenson | Elvis Luciano | Forrest Wall | Ronny Brito | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 30 | Logan Warmoth | Cal Stevenson | Chad Spanberger | Emanuel Vizcaino | Leonardo Jimenez | Andrew Sopko | -- | -- | -- | -- |
To help merge the data I did a simple score system - 30 for 1st place vote, 29 for 2nd, all the way to 1 point for a 30th place rank. Here is that ranking along with position ...
| Who | Pos | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | Score |
| Vladimir Guerrero | 3B | 10 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 300 |
| Bo Bichette | SS | -- | 10 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 290 |
| Danny Jansen | CA | -- | -- | 8 | 2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 278 |
| Nate Pearson | RHP | -- | -- | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 242 |
| Jordan Groshans | SS | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 224 |
| Eric Pardinho | RHP | -- | -- | -- | 2 | 2 | 2 | -- | 1 | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 201 |
| Kevin Smith | SS | -- | -- | -- | -- | 3 | 1 | 3 | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 197 |
| Sean Reid-Foley | RHP | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 187 |
| Cavan Biggio | 2B | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 2 | 3 | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 149 |
| Anthony Alford | OF | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 133 |
| TJ Zeuch | RHP | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | 1 | -- | 1 | 1 | -- | 1 | 1 | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 126 |
| Adam Kloffenstein | RHP | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2 | -- | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 124 |
| Hector Perez | RHP | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2 | -- | -- | 3 | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 105 |
| Miguel Hiraldo | SS | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | 2 | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | 97 |
| Orelvis Martinez | SS | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2 | -- | 1 | 1 | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 95 |
| Billy McKinney | OF | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | 1 | -- | 2 | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 89 |
| Griffin Conine | OF | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2 | 3 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 68 |
| Rowdy Tellez | 1B | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | 2 | -- | -- | 1 | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 67 |
| Trent Thornton | RHP | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | 64 |
| Patrick Murphy | RHP | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2 | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 52 |
| Chavez Young | OF | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | 1 | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | 51 |
| Reese McGuire | CA | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | 2 | -- | 2 | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 50 |
| Thomas Pannone | LHP | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 48 |
| Ryan Noda | 1B/OF | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | 1 | 1 | -- | 1 | 1 | -- | -- | -- | 34 |
| Leonardo Jimenez | 2B/SS | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | 1 | 33 |
| Yennsy Diaz | RHP | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 1 | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | 30 |
| Elvis Luciano | RHP | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 1 | -- | -- | 1 | -- | 1 | 1 | -- | 27 |
| Gabriel Moreno | CA | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 22 |
| Santiago Espinal | SS/2B/3B | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 20 |
| David Paulino | RHP | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 19 |
| Samad Taylor | 2B | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 19 |
| Hagen Danner | CA | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 15 |
| Jordan Romano | RHP | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 12 |
| Forrest Wall | OF | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | 11 |
| Travis Bergen | LHP | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 10 |
| Logan Warmoth | SS | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 1 | -- | 1 | 8 |
| Riley Adams | CA | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 8 |
| Alejandro Kirk | CA | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | 1 | -- | 6 |
| Cal Stevenson | OF | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Jonathan Davis | OF | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | 3 |
| Kevin Vicuna | SS | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | 3 |
| Max Pentecost | CA | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | 3 |
| Ronny Brito | SS | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | 2 |
| Andrew Sopko | RHP | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 1 |
| Chad Spanberger | 1B | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 1 |
| Emanuel Vizcaino | RHP | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 1 |
Now with all that data I'm sure a few will be wondering - who was the most bizarre choice? Jordan Romano ranked 19th was the highest rank for a player not named on more than 1 list (Batter's Box). Trent Thornton was the only guy with a top 10 rank who failed to make the top 14 of anyone else's list (10th by FanGraphs). Rowdy Tellez was the highest ranked to be missed entirely by a top 30 list (skipped by TSN). Wide ranges, not factoring in being ignored, were led by Anthony Alford (as high as 8th, low as 23rd) and Miguel Hiraldo (from 10th to 29th).
In the end we see a strong consensus on the top part, and a mish mash towards the bottom as always would be expected. Last years list had the same top 3 on all lists - Vlad, Bo, and Anthony Alford. All 3 were on top 100 lists for everyone I had. Alford clearly dropped drastically while Vlad and Bo held on. Vlad was no higher than 3rd on any ML prospect list worst was a 15th rank, Bo was 7-9 on most, but 19th on one.
Here is a summary of the top 100 lists for this year.
| Who | MLB.com | Baseball America | Sickles | Baseball Prospectus | Keith Law |
| Vladimir Guerrero | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Bo Bichette | 11 | 8 | 13 | 12 | 13 |
| Danny Jansen | 65 | 42 | 46 | 89 | 107 |
| Nate Pearson | 76 | 70 | -- | 54 | 77 |
| Kevin Smith | 98 | 91 | -- | -- | -- |
| Eric Pardinho | -- | 84 | -- | -- | -- |
| Jordan Groshans | -- | -- | 74 | -- | -- |
Nice to see 7 guys make someone's top 100 list this year, vs 5 last year (Vlad, Bo, Alford, Pearson, Jansen) and having Vlad move from roughly the 3rd best to the best prospect in the minors. Bo dropped a little, but not much. Jansen from an afterthought to most to being top 100 to all but Law. Should be interesting next year to see what happens with Bo who should still be a prospect while Vlad and Jansen both should be off these lists next year - hopefully after one of them wins rookie of the year in 2019.
