So how does day one impact the Angels top prospect rankings.

[UndertheHalo]

Presumably Adell jumps to number 1 automatically.  Theres pretty good chance that Griffin jumps ahead of Jones and Theiss as well.  Marsh isn't even playing.

Also, I didn't realize Jones was having such a rough go in A ball thus far this season.  Only 19 I guess, but geez.  Not a great look. .250 with a .693 OPS.  Ugly.

[tdawg87]

Griffin is top 5 definitely, but I don't think he's ahead of Jones and Thaiss.

Jones struggled a ton at the beginning of the year but has really turned it on the last few weeks.

[Angelsjunky]

Adell is #1. I agree with tdawg that Canning is top five, maybe even top three. I'm not as worried about Jones as I am Thaiss, who has been terribly disappointing this year, joining Ward in the overdraft club. In fact, I might even rate Ward higher, due to defensive upside. Barria has risen substantially and is probably the Angels' second best pitching prospect, at least until we see Chris Rodriguez and Cole Duensing pitch professionally. Marsh and Nonie are raw and we haven't seem them play yet, but could jump into the top five.

In terms of keepers, I'd probably rate them as follows:

1. Jordon Adell

2. Jahmai Jones

3. Griffin Canning

4. Brandon Marsh

5. Matt Thaiss

6. Taylor Ward

7. Jaime Barria

8. Nonie Williams

9. Chris Rodriguez

10. Cole Duensing

Honorable Mentions: Michael Hermosillo, Jesus Castillo, Grayson Long, Eduardo Paredes, Brennon Lund, Jose Rodriguez, David Fletcher, etc

(I'm not considering Alex Meyer or Keynan Middleton to be prospects any more)

[tdawg87]

35 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

Adell is #1. I agree with tdawg that Canning is top five, maybe even top three. I'm not as worried about Jones as I am Thaiss, who has been terribly disappointing this year, joining Ward in the overdraft club. In fact, I might even rate Ward higher, due to defensive upside. Barria has risen substantially and is probably the Angels' second best pitching prospect, at least until we see Chris Rodriguez and Cole Duensing pitch professionally. Marsh and Nonie are raw and we haven't seem them play yet, but could jump into the top five.

In terms of keepers, I'd probably rate them as follows:

1. Jordon Adell

2. Jahmai Jones

3. Griffin Canning

4. Brandon Marsh

5. Matt Thaiss

6. Taylor Ward

7. Jaime Barria

8. Nonie Williams

9. Chris Rodriguez

10. Cole Duensing

Honorable Mentions: Michael Hermosillo, Jesus Castillo, Grayson Long, Eduardo Paredes, Brennon Lund, Jose Rodriguez, David Fletcher, etc

(I'm not considering Alex Meyer or Keynan Middleton to be prospects any more)

It's nice to have some actual potential in our top 10 again. Still some decent picks available in the 3rd round, too.

[Rico]

The thing about Thaiss is there is still the question of what will be his long term position.  He may end up in the outfield.  That means 4 our of out top 5 prospects are outfielders.  

[arch stanton]

Talent is talent, especially when they're all at A+ ball or lower. At this point it's all just currency

[Second Base]

Maybe it's just me, but I've fallen off the Ward bandwagon.

[DMVol]

35 minutes ago, Scotty@AW said:

Maybe it's just me, but I've fallen off the Ward bandwagon.

Probably never going to be an All Star but still could be a solid big league catcher...

[Second Base]

6 minutes ago, DMVol said:

Probably never going to be an All Star but still could be a solid big league catcher...

I thought that too, and its still a likely outcome. But for all the defensive ability he has (strong arm, athletic, quick reactions), he really struggles with keeping balls in the dirt in front of him, pitch framing, handling the emotional state of his pitchers, even pitch calling. And for all that BP power he shows, it hardly shows up in the game.

If Ward were a high school kid, he'd be a top 5 prospect in our system still, because all these tools would develop over time, especially the power which tends to come around 24-25. But he's already 24, and is repeating the Cal League.

The adjustments he's made at the plate are tangible. He's picking the ball up better and is showing better strike zone discipline. But he's still struggling putting a charge into the ball. 

He's top 30 (in my book at least), but I no longer consider him a top 10 prospect.

[Angelsjunky]

@Scotty@AW, a couple things. One, catchers often take longer to develop. Consider how much more they have to learn compared to, say, outfielders and first basemen, or pretty much any position. For that reason, Ward deserves a bit of patience.

Secondly, after the first dozen or so prospects, the talent level drops off substantially and we get to a bunch of decent grade C types that are essentially organizational filler - the types of players that every farm has by the dozens. Ward still belongs ahead of the "rabble," in my opinion, so still is in the top dozen or so.

Now where he rates among the top dozen is debatable depending upon how you value ceiling vs floor. It is really hard to rank him vs, say, Marsh or Nonie or Duensing, because those guys haven't played professional ball yet.

Unless he and Thaiss start hitting better this year, there's a chance they could both fall to the 10-15 range by the end of the season, depending upon how some of those young players look at Orem. Those two could join the ranks of Hermosillo, Fletcher and Lund as grade C types that project to future bench/platoon types, in danger of going the Kaleb Cowart path of former top prospect, now AAA journeyman/fringe prospect.

[Second Base]

13 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

@Scotty@AW, a couple things. One, catchers often take longer to develop. Consider how much more they have to learn compared to, say, outfielders and first basemen, or pretty much any position. For that reason, Ward deserves a bit of patience.

Secondly, after the first dozen or so prospects, the talent level drops off substantially and we get to a bunch of decent grade C types that are essentially organizational filler - the types of players that every farm has by the dozens. Ward still belongs ahead of the "rabble," in my opinion, so still is in the top dozen or so.

Now where he rates among the top dozen is debatable depending upon how you value ceiling vs floor. It is really hard to rank him vs, say, Marsh or Nonie or Duensing, because those guys haven't played professional ball yet.

Unless he and Thaiss start hitting better this year, there's a chance they could both fall to the 10-15 range by the end of the season, depending upon how some of those young players look at Orem. Those two could join the ranks of Hermosillo, Fletcher and Lund as grade C types that project to future bench/platoon types, in danger of going the Kaleb Cowart path of former top prospect, now AAA journeyman/fringe prospect.

I wouldn't lump Thaiss with him, mostly because Thaiss if nothing else, is still getting on base at a very solid clip.

[Chuck]

Power develops later too. I'm hoping that happens for Thaiss because if it does, we got ourselves a future stud for 1B.

[Angelsjunky]

I'm guessing you haven't checked the stats lately, Scotty:

Thaiss: .260/.354/.379

Ward: .261/.352/.378

They're hitting exactly the same in every respect. Hitting like that, I'm less worried about the catcher than I am the 1B/OF guy.

[Angelsjunky]

I'm thinking if the Angels can sign Pearson, he's a candidate for the top 10 as well. He sounds a bit more polished than Adell.