Heyman: Top 25 players in the upcoming draft

[Stotle]

But this is what bugs me about national boards from guys who aren't really doing much (if any) scouting. Is this a list of the top 25 players in the draft, or is it a list of the 25 most coveted players (according to sources) in the draft, or is it a mock draft? The lines get blurry and the criteria are inconsistent.

Just a pet peeve.

I think Heyman did a solid job of framing it -- it looks like he talked to 6-8 evaluators (including national guys -- SDs or XCheckers) and used their thoughts as a measure of where these players should fall on a talent list. I'd assume at some point he worked off a national list from someone that does this throughout the year like Baseball America to get the general names, or he follows the amateur stuff pretty closely.

Lindor at 2 is significant, I think, in that it indicates to me he spoke with someone with PIT who mentioned him as a serious possibility. I'm not sure other sources would be enough "juice" to land him that high in such a deep draft (this is all just my supposition). I wish he had limited it to just scouting directors and cross-checkers, as I think often times area guys can push their kids to these media outlets, but overall I thought it was a good effort and probably very useful for casual fans who don't follow this stuff.

I agree with you that the ordering seems a bit inconsistent in that it is a little hard for me to look at the list and pick out what characteristics Heyman values over others.

[eb45]

The Pirates taking Lindor at 2 would be excellent for the Orioles.