Prospect Digest Angels Top 10 2014

[Llewyn Davis]

http://www.prospectd...op-10-prospect/

 

1. Taylor Lindsey

2. Zach Borenstein

3. Kaleb Cowart

4. C.J. Cron

5. R.J. Alvarez

6. Nick Maronde

7. Hunter Green

8. Kyle McGowin

9. Tyler DeLoach

10. Michael Morin

 

Interesting. I dig the Utley comp for Lindsey. He should have made BA's top 100. Not sure why he didn't. Haven't seen Borenstein ranked that high on any lists, but if he's anything like Calhoun I'm on board. He seems down on Cowart. No surprise there. I think it's time to seriously consider converting him back to a pitcher like he probably should have been in the first place in pro ball. Fair assessment of Cron, I think. Although you have to give him a bit of a pass with the shoulder surgery and Dickey Stephens suppressing his power. Alvarez has filthy stuff. Could be our future closer. DeLoach intrigues me. A tall college lefty who dominated, even if he was a bit old for Low-A. Hope they promote him aggressively. Glad to see Morin finally make one of these lists. Criminally underrated. Wondering where Yarbrough is, though. Skaggs might as well still be considered a prospect, although technically I guess he isn't. Wish we still had Grichuk.

Edited January 28, 2014 by Llewyn Davis

[Angelsjunky]

One of the kinder prospect write-ups I've read. The only problem I have with it is that I could have written it - his analysis is solely based upon stats, and not on scouting. I analyze players solely statistically, but I think more is needed when talking about prospects.

 

That said, I do agree with the author's assessment of Lindsey and Borenstein - both are underrated. Lindsey in particular has a chance of being a very good player, although I'm thinking more like .280-.290, 15-20 HR, ~.800 OPS. Take Howie, subtract a bit of average, add a bit of power and walks and voila.

 

As for Borenstein, all jokes about his brother aside, I'm actually a bit more optimistic about him than Cron right now. It will be interesting to see how those two do this year relative to each other.

[jsnpritchett]

I've never heard of Prospect Digest. Is it in any way considered a legit site?

[Scott34]

That might be the worst list I've seen yet.

[Llewyn Davis]

The writer for Prospect Digest, JM Werner, seems a bit like a rebel. I saw he had Bryant ranked #1 in the Cubs' system and Baez ranked #2. I think a lot of people would be reluctant to do that at this point.

 

I like the list. It seems like most lists just regurgitate information, along with the scouting reports you read. I agree with Angelsjunky that it's too statistically-driven, but how many of these guys have actually watched the players they are ranking? I would be willing to bet very few. Jason Parks over at Baseball Prospectus kind of let the genie out of the bottle with this piece he wrote:

 

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=15596

 

 

And at the end of the day, I'll take solid production over raw potential every time. Tools don't mean a thing if you don't know how to use them. And makeup is extremely important. Hello Bolden and Clarke!

Edited January 28, 2014 by Llewyn Davis

[Angel Oracle]

I'm interested to see how Hunter Green progresses, given the previously mentioned strength routine that he's been on this off-season.   

It is about time that Morin made it on a top 10 org list.   He was totally dominant in AA as a back-end of the pen reliever.

[wopphil]

I had never even beard of DeLoach, but he is a huge lefty and he had outstanding numbers in the Midwest League last year. He will definitely be a guy to follow closely this year.