Top 10?

[TheWall]

We're obviously really top heavy. Bundy / Machado is the best 1-2 in baseball and I'm a big fan of Schoop. It will be interesting to see how Gausman rates out, but I'm hoping to see more of what he gave us his first time out.

Hopefully the 4 of them are all contributing members by 2014, if not before.

[hoosiers]

You always want the list to be better, but our top 10 is looking pretty good even if our second rounder, Kline, is in that list. I am usually fairly optimistic about our prospects and the top 10 is shaping up to be better than I expected.

If DelMonico is healthy and without injury issues going forward, I think he should be fifth ahead of Hoes/Avery.

A lot of solid years from our prospects. It would be nice to see another international prospect emerge as a higher end prospect.

Fairly disappointing years from Esposito, Townsend and Bridwell, IMO, among others.

[eb45]

I'll give it a try...

1. DBundy

2. Machado

3. Gausman

4. Schoop

Easy so far. They basically have to be in this order, and I think this top four stacks up with any other one in the game.

5. Hoes (production so far is inarguable, and I think there's more power there than he's shown)

6. Delmonico (based on scouting reports more than stat lines)

7. Wright (peripherals are great, and I think he's a starter long-term)

8. Rodriguez (age, mostly. needs to get more Ks)

9. Kline (could be higher, docked due to not playing yet mostly)

10. Avery (still not sold on the bat, though he's shown improvement this year)

11. Urrutia (in Ferreira I trust)

12. Davies (age, results are a bit below ERod's)

13. Marin (big fan of this pick. could have an ML future with his speed and defense alone)

14. Walker (has raw power, hit tool, if he puts it all together he's a ML 1B)

15. TBerry (age and peripherals)

next five (alphabetical): Belfiore, Bernadina, Boss, SJohnson, Klein

[Oldorioles]

1. D. Bundy

2. M. Machado

3. K. Gausman

4. E. Rodriguez

5. J. Schoop

6. N. Delmonico

7. L. Hoes

8. S. Johnson

9. X. Avery

10.Z. Davies

[Oldorioles]

Interesting results. I've looked back and it looks like eleven OH members have given out their 1-10 rankings. If you award 10 points to 1st place, 9 to second and so on, this is what the results look like (only counting guys ranked in the top 10):

1) D. Bundy - 110 (every 1st place vote)

2) Machado - 99

3) Gausman - 87

4) Schoop - 77

5) Hoes - 57

6) Delmonico - 51

7) E. Rodriguez - 44

8) Avery - 37

9) Kline - 14

10) Wright - 12

11) S. Johson - 7

12) Urrutia - 3

13) Walker - 2

Davies - 2

15) Pomeranz - 1

Marin - 1

Boss - 1

B. Bundy - 1

[Enjoy Terror]

1 RHP Dylan Bundy

2 SS Manuel Machado

3 RHP Kevin Gausman

4 2B Jonathan Schoop

5 1B Nick Delmonico

6 LHP Eduardo Rodriguez*

7 OF LJ Hoes

8 OF Xavier Avery*

9 3B Jason Esposito

10 RHP Brandon Kline

I'm not quite ready to put Urrutia down in the top ten until he starts playing, but I could see him being in there. Giving some thought to swapping out Kline for Walker. Not really sure how the new guys fit in really.

PS: Steve Johnson ain't a prospect. He's Brad Bergesen Lite.

[clapdiddy]

1 RHP Dylan Bundy

2 SS Manuel Machado

3 RHP Kevin Gausman

4 2B Jonathan Schoop

5 1B Nick Delmonico

6 LHP Eduardo Rodriguez*

7 OF LJ Hoes

8 OF Xavier Avery*

9 3B Jason Esposito

10 RHP Brandon Kline

I'm not quite ready to put Urrutia down in the top ten until he starts playing, but I could see him being in there. Giving some thought to swapping out Kline for Walker. Not really sure how the new guys fit in really.

PS: Steve Johnson ain't a prospect. He's Brad Bergesen Lite.

Why do you have Esposito in your top 10? I'm just curious because he seems to be performing pretty poorly at a league where, age-wise, he should be excelling if he is indeed a decent prospect.

[survivedc]

Am I the only person who thinks that Delmonico's stats aren't as bad as everyone is making them out to be? I mean he has 11 homers and a .760 OPS in his first year of pro ball, and he takes a good amount of walks.

[ChuckS]

1 RHP Dylan Bundy

2 SS Manuel Machado

3 RHP Kevin Gausman

4 2B Jonathan Schoop

5 1B Nick Delmonico

6 LHP Eduardo Rodriguez*

7 OF LJ Hoes

8 OF Xavier Avery*

9 3B Jason Esposito

10 RHP Brandon Kline

I'm not quite ready to put Urrutia down in the top ten until he starts playing, but I could see him being in there. Giving some thought to swapping out Kline for Walker. Not really sure how the new guys fit in really.

PS: Steve Johnson ain't a prospect. He's Brad Bergesen Lite.

So a 21 year old putting up a .580 OPS at Low A is a prospect but a 23 year old dominating AAA with good peripherals isn't? That's some backwards logic my friend.

[Enjoy Terror]

Prospect status is more about ceiling than stats in your rookie year. Esposito has the tools to be a good player one day. Steve Johnson has a technique and body of work that says he's more likely to be thrashed around in the Majors.

Despite his terrible numbers, Parker Bridwell was a consensus top ten prospect for us for two years until it came time to put up or shut up this year. He still hasn't "put up". This is Esposito's first year; he gets a mulligan.

[eb45]

So a 21 year old putting up a .580 OPS at Low A is a prospect but a 23 year old dominating AAA with good peripherals isn't? That's some backwards logic my friend.

I don't have Esposito in my top 20, but I don't think Steve Johnson is really a prospect either. Stuff wise, he's Brad Bergesen without the sinker and with a better curve. Bergesen dominated the minors too, remember. That's not to say Steve Johnson isn't good, but there's plenty of prospects even in the Orioles system better than him.

Also, count me as someone who thinks anyone complaining about Delmonico's stats is being silly. He didn't blow up Machado-style this year, but he more than held his own as a teenager in full-season ball in his first pro season. That's all you can really ask for from him. At the same age, LJ Hoes had a .680 OPS at Delmarva with 23 BB and 80 SO.

[Enjoy Terror]

It always comes down to who you'd rather have in your system. The choice between Esposito and Johnson is Esposito every time.

[skanar]

Brad Bergesen has put up 2.3 WAR in the majors. Even without making injury-based excuses, that's solid. You've gotta remember that the vast majority of prospects never contribute to a major league team. If our #10-13 prospects all have Bergesen-esque careers, that's an incredibly good outcome for the Orioles.

Esposito undeniably has a higher ceiling than Steve Johnson. But this season was a disaster at the plate for him. And since he's an advanced college prospect, even blowing away the Sally League would only have been good, not great.

Upside is very, very important when it comes to prospects, but it's not the whole story. Roderick Bernadina has a higher ML potential than LJ Hoes, for example. Bridwell has a higher upside than Mike Wright.

Also, put me in the "Delmonico's stats are just fine" camp. He's 19 in the Sally (two years younger than Esposito!) hitting .760 with solid across the board skills. The biggest question right now is whether he can ultimately play 2B or 3B, or whether he'll be restricted to first.

[ChuckS]

It always comes down to who you'd rather have in your system. The choice between Esposito and Johnson is Esposito every time.

Do you really think that Esposito has a better chance than Johnson at contributing at some point at the major league level? That is what it comes down to when evaluating a prospect. I'd even say Johnson has a better chance at contributing at the major league level than Esposito every does of ever seeing AA.

In my opinion we overvalue prospects that are far, far away from the big leagues that have shown nothing in the minors while undervaluing players closer to the big leagues that don't have the "stuff/tools" tag. Upper minors success has to be taken into account. I'd much rather have a player in our system that has a good chance to contribute to the big league club as a fifth starter or middle reliever than a player that is a long shot to ever see the light of day on a big league roster.

[Enjoy Terror]

Do you really think that Esposito has a better chance than Johnson at contributing at some point at the major league level? That is what it comes down to when evaluating a prospect. I'd even say Johnson has a better chance at contributing at the major league level than Esposito every does of ever seeing AA.

In my opinion we overvalue prospects that are far, far away from the big leagues that have shown nothing in the minors while undervaluing players closer to the big leagues that don't have the "stuff/tools" tag. Upper minors success has to be taken into account. I'd much rather have a player in our system that has a good chance to contribute to the big league club as a fifth starter or middle reliever than a player that is a long shot to ever see the light of day on a big league roster.

Dollars to donuts: Esposito is going to be on a lot more nationally recognized top 10 lists for the Orioles than Johnson, if Johnson makes one at all (not likely). It's not just my list. You can think what you want about that.