AngelsWin.com's 2023 Los Angeles Angels Top-30 Prospects

[Dave Saltzer]

7 hours ago, T.G. said:

It would be interesting to see how each of the 8 voted.

I'd be okay with my rankings being posted if others are willing to do so.

[Dave Saltzer]

20 hours ago, Second Base said:

I feel like because of the uncertainty involved with high upside prospects in the low minors, the most sure indicator of farm wealth is immediate MLB impact. And the Angels system has quite a bit of that. 

O'Hoppe immediately upgrades the catching position in 2023. Neto the middle infield possibly at the end of the year. Same with Paris. Same with Stefanic. On the mound, you've got Silseth, Bush, Bachman, Erla and Davis as potential starters and Bachman, Davis and Soriano in the bullpen. 

And perhaps most notably, most of those guys aren't fringe where their long term impact is minimal. I mean yeah, probably Stefanic, Davis and Erla, but the others...particularly O'Hoppe and Neto have the potential to be very good major league starters. 

I would somewhat disagree. When thinking about organizational rankings, a lot of it has to do with the supporting cast around the talent that will make it to the majors. 

 

As was pointed out by @Jeff Fletcherin his part 3 of the Angels system, playing and developing in a winning organization makes those who make it to the Majors that much better. If a team is developing a few stars in a losing system, one that doesn't have a strong supporting cast, the stars will not be as bright when they hit the Majors. If they have to work harder to earn promotions and playing time, then they will be that much stronger, and the organization will be that much stronger. Having a few Major League impact prospects, and not much else, isn't as good of a system. 

[Dave Saltzer]

23 hours ago, stormngt said:

Considering his performance in September,  how is Soto ranked so low?

What he did in his limited Major League time was amazing, and unlikely to be repeated. The homerun he hit was a rarity, as he really hasn't shown that power before or that level of hitting. Defensively, he is very sound, and could be a strong utility player. But, based on years of looking at him, and coach/scout comments, he isn't likely to repeat what he did or anything close to it.

 

I would love to be wrong on this one.

[Dave Saltzer]

On 12/8/2022 at 11:33 AM, Hubs said:

Great job guys. I do wonder why Kyren Paris is thought of so highly and Jackson so low. 

They did significantly improve their pitching under Minassian. But they need to start hitting on some higher end hitting prospects.

The lineup at AAA for 2023 isn't looking that great...even with a fair amount of the great AA Rocket City team moving up.

 

Jackson really struggles to read pitches and make contact. If he could get his hit tool to a 40 or 45 range, he'd be great (although he'd still likely make a position change). I still believe that he can improve his hit tool, which would make his power all that much more useful. 

 

Paris has better defense and has shown that he makes more adjustments over time to the tougher competition. He has speed, but not the power, or Jackson, and will stick at SS. That makes him more useful., 

[Dave Saltzer]

On 12/8/2022 at 1:24 PM, Second Base said:

I'll give you guys two guesses as to who is responsible for Kevin Maitan receiving a vote, but you're only going to need one. 

Maitan has more than one vote.....

[tchula]

Thank you everyone for putting the time and effort in making/compiling this list.  This is incredibly well done (as are the prior list).   On the hole, I'd be interested in your takes on how this top 30 compares the prior years.  The Angels are still listed in the mid to low 20's, but I see some solid prospects here (much more than in the past).  And, although some of our top pitching prospects (Bachman cough cough, and Rodriguez) are let down in terms of starting, both could become elite relievers which is nothing to shake a stick at.   I am very curious to what a post-Art minor league system will look like.  

[TempeAngel]

On 12/8/2022 at 5:03 AM, AngelsWin.com said:

Matt Thaiss Gio Urshela may emerge as a key depth piece for the Angels. He could see considerable time playing 1B, backing up Jared Walsh who has some uncertainty of his own. Thaiss Urshela could also see time at 3B to spell Rendon

Fixed.

[TempeAngel]

This is really informative. There is plenty of reality based optimism and the interviews are great.

Thanks to all!

[Chuck]

On 12/9/2022 at 6:29 PM, Dave Saltzer said:

I am just going to say that this may be my favorite Top Prospect ranking that we've ever put out as an organization. 

 

Over the years, we've had better individual prospects, and better overall prospects. But, what makes this ranking so good is the format that we've gotten down and the caliber of the content that we've put out. I love how we have consensus rankings which gives readers a range of perspectives. I love the format with a picture for each player, and a link to all of the interviews that we have done. We have incorporated comments from everyone and we all have contacts with scouts and coaches, as well as having watched them, so there are a variety of viewpoints.

 

Basically, there is a ton of background work that goes into this ranking, and over the years, we've gotten this down into a very good form. Kudos to everyone who worked on it. This is really well done. 

[AngelsWin.com]

Our Future Angels page has been updated. You can check out some of our past top prospects lists and so much more as it relates to the Angels farm system from our website. 

https://www.angelswin.com/future-angels/

[Chuck]

Pinned to the top for quick reference. 

[Warfarin]

I appreciate all the great work that has been done here.  Thanks to everyone for all your hard work in compiling this list.

In particular, I also like the praise/attention Paris has received.  I think we saw a significant adjustment and offensive explosion from him last year.  His last month in hi-A was fantastic, and he continued to crush pitching in his one month in AA as well.

Notably he has mainly been a SS, but when he was in AA with Neto, he slid over to 2B.

I think our current player development group is very good, and I am cautiously optimistic that both Neto and Paris can be solid MLB regulars for us.  Could see a possible future where Neto is our SS, Paris is our 2B, and Soto is the utility infielder who can play SS/2B.  

While there are areas in our farm that need considerable help (OF, 3B/1B), it does appear that both the middle infield and catcher are both very strong.  SP is promising, too, after Minasian's fantastic 2021 "pitching only" draft.

[Chuck]

I'm still trying to wrap my mind around Baseball America not ranking Kyren Paris in the top-10, when they had no problem ranking Denzer Guzman ahead of him when he's logged just 350 at bats between the DSL and A-Ball and hasn't flashed anything spectacular. 

I'm glad our group of guys saw past his struggles early on in the season after Paris made adjustments to place the former second rounder where he was on our list. 

Paris has blazing speed, some pop, athleticism and good plate discipline to go along with solid defense at 2B/SS. To me he's where he belongs in an Angels top prospects list. 

[BTH]

41 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

I'm still trying to wrap my mind around Baseball America not ranking Kyren Paris in the top-10, when they had no problem ranking Denzer Guzman ahead of him when he's logged just 350 at bats between the DSL and A-Ball and hasn't flashed anything spectacular. 

Without having any insight into the making of either of the lists, it could come down to defense.

Paris projects more at 2B than SS now. Guzman seems to have a better chance at sticking at SS.

If you can play SS, your value increases tremendously. We see that in the majors now, where the supply of even average shortstops isn’t great.

[Chuck]

9 minutes ago, Trendon said:

Without having any insight into the making of either of the lists, it could come down to defense.

Paris projects more at 2B than SS now. Guzman seems to have a better chance at sticking at SS.

If you can play SS, your value increases tremendously. We see that in the majors now, where the supply of even average shortstops isn’t great.

I guess that's fair. I've seen just a handful of games that Paris has played at SS and he looked good, but it's a small sample size. 

 

[Docwaukee]

I think it's so much more about the eye test with these guys who are 17/18/19 years old.   That plus momentum/pedigree/bonus.  

Guzman didn't do anything to decrease his status by having a solid year at his expected level for a top international bonus guy.  His acclimation didn't cause problems on the field and he was able to do enough to get the bump to A before the end of the season.  

I don't think Paris is NOT a SS at this point.  He played the vast majority of his games at SS in A+.  I would bet he's the starting SS for AA if and when Neto gets moved to AAA.  

Part of the reason Guzman is ahead is just pure cache at this point.   Vera lost that because of his performance this year.  Guzman only needs to not suck to maintain his standing while Paris needs to perform above and beyond expected at a high level for an extended period to earn it. 

   

 

[Angel Oracle]

3B could be starting to look better with Jackson and Blakley?

 

[Docwaukee]

1 hour ago, Angel Oracle said:

3B could be starting to look better with Jackson and Blakley?

 

Jackson is a much better defender at least so far.  

Blakely has been a hot mess on defense to date.  Hopefully he'll improve but I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up in the OF or at 1b.  He has the tools to be up the middle or on the left but those sure haven't translated of yet.  

Although to be fair, I think he might have had an injury that relegated him to a lot of DH.  

[Chuck]

 

[Chuck]

New interviews are up of Nelson Rada, Denzer Guzman, Matt Coutney, Mason Albright and a new one of Caden Dana.

We now have our entire top-10 prospects with interviews. 

We'll get Madden and some others next time we go. Probably when @Dave Saltzer goes out there next. 

 

[Dave Saltzer]

18 hours ago, Chuckster70 said:

New interviews are up of Nelson Rada, Denzer Guzman, Matt Coutney, Mason Albright and a new one of Caden Dana.

We now have our entire top-10 prospects with interviews. 

We'll get Madden and some others next time we go. Probably when @Dave Saltzer goes out there next. 

 

I'm looking to get out there during their next homestand. If someone can translate Spanish well and can help, that would be great. 

[Chuck]

14 hours ago, Dave Saltzer said:

I'm looking to get out there during their next homestand. If someone can translate Spanish well and can help, that would be great. 

Jeremy Arocho will translate for your David.