The Top Players by Position

[Greg Pappas]

As requested... additional info forthcoming. Rankings will change quite a bit by draft-time.

FIRST BASE

1 #JUSTIN SMOAK

2 *ERIC HOSMER

3 *YONDER ALONSO (DH)

4 *BRETT WALLACE

5 *ALAN DYKSTRA

6 *DAVID COOPER

7 *KYLE LONG

8 *D.J. HICKS

9 *CHASE DAVIDSON

10 *RICKY OROPESA

SECOND BASE

1 *JEMILE WEEKS

2 *REESE HAVENS

3 CUTTER DYKSTRA

4 ANDY BURNS

5 DAVID ADAMS

6 RICCIO TORREZ

7 CONNER MACH

8 *CORBAN JOSEPH

9 JERMAINE CURTIS

10 CHRIS AMEZQUITA

SHORTSTOP

1 TIM BECKHAM

2 GORDON BECKHAM

3 RYAN FLAHERTY

4 BRANDON CRAWFORD

5 CASEY KELLY

6 DERRICK GIBSON

7 NIKO VASQUEZ

8 GARRISON LASSITER

9 DANNY ESPINOSA

10 RYAN O'SULLIVAN

THIRD BASE

1 *PEDRO ALVAREZ

2 HAROLD MARTINEZ

3 *ZACH COX

4 JAMES DARNELL

5 CONNER GILLESPIE

6 ETHAN MARTIN

7 JASON ESPOSITO

8 JEREMY FARRELL

9 LOGAN FORSYTHE

10 MATT HAGUE

CATCHER

1 *KYLE SKIPWORTH

2 BUSTER POSEY

3 #ADRIAN NIETO

4 #PETEY PARAMORE

5 TYLER CHATWOOD

6 PRESTON CLARK

7 MATT RAMSEY

8 TAYLOR HIGHTOWER

9 RYAN BABINEAU

10 RYAN GORTON

OUTFIELD

1 #AARON HICKS

2 *XAVIER AVERY

3 ISAAC GALLOWAY

4 *DENNIS RABEN

5 *ROGER KIESCHNICK

6 *IKE DAVIS

7 DESTIN HOOD

8 *ANTHONY GOSE

9 *KYLE RUSSELL

10 *JORDAN DANKS

11 #ROBBIE GROSSMAN

12 *BRIAN HUMPHRIES

13 L.J. HOES

14 MIKE BIANUCCI

15 *JOSH ROMANSKI

PITCHER

1 AARON CROW

2 *BRIAN MATUSZ

3 TIM MELVILLE

4 TANNER SCHEPPERS

5 SHOOTER HUNT

6 GERRIT COLE

7 ETHAN MARTIN

8 ALEX MEYER

9 JAKE THOMPSON

10 *KYLE LOBSTEIN

11 *CHRISTIAN FRIEDRICH

12 CODY SATTERWHITE

13 RYAN PERRY

14 SCOTT GREEN

15 TYSON ROSS

16 SONNY GRAY

17 BRETT HUNTER (RP)

18 *BRETT DeVALL

19 LANCE LYNN

20 *JARRET MARTIN

21 LUKE BURNETT

22 DANIEL WEBB

23 *JOSH ROMANSKI

24 *SCOTT SILVERSTIEN

25 *BRETT MOONEYHAM

26 *NICK MARONDE

27 PRESTON GUILMET

28 MICHAEL PALLAZONE

29 *TIM MURPHY

30 *COLE ST. CLAIR

31 *ROBBIE ROSS

32 MATT LOLLIS

33 JOSH FIELDS

34 AUSTIN DICHARRY

35 CHRIS CARPENTER

36 AARON SHAFER

37 SCOTT GORGEN

38 STEVEN UPCHURCH

39 BOBBY BUNDY

40 *DAVID DUNCAN

[Frobby]

SHORTSTOP

1 TIM BECKHAM

2 GORDON BECKHAM

Any relation?

[Fan4Life]

Any relation?

How about the 2 Dykstra's? Lenny's boys?

[Frobby]

How about the 2 Dykstra's? Lenny's boys?

Did you know that Dykstra has made a killing as an investor after his baseball career ended? Talk about a guy you never would have suspected had any business acumen!

[Fairfax Bird]

Any relation?

Apparently not. Tim is black and Gordon is white. They are not of relation as private Gump would say.

[rhall]

Any relation?

No... they're even different races.

[rhall]

How about the 2 Dykstra's? Lenny's boys?

Cutter is good ol' Lenny's son... supposedly just as gritty a player, too.

I don't know if there is any relation, like cousins or something (I doubt it, though), but Alan Dykstra is the son of Randy & Cathy Dykstra, according to his Wake Forest bio.

[Crazysilver03]

How about the 2 Dykstra's? Lenny's boys?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/27/sports/baseball/27dykstra.html

Cutter is Lenny's son.

http://goldpanners.com/blog/?p=183

Alan has no relation to Lenny.

[rhall]

Did you know that Dykstra has made a killing as an investor after his baseball career ended? Talk about a guy you never would have suspected had any business acumen!

Yeah, now he's trying to launch a magazine that's just for professional athletes. That's an interesting idea, I guess. Tied to that magazine, inside that same business venture, he wants to offer insurance/retirement plans for retired athletes, too. They'll give him one large premium up front, and he'll basically set them up for life. I'm sure some athletes won't need that, but there is a shocking number or pro-athletes who are close to broke shortly after they retire, and most sports don't take care of their retired athletes very well. The NFL has been getting a lot of pub the last few years for that.

[rhall]

Ok, now for some talk about the actual rankings...

IMO, there are 3 players that jump out to me as being out of place; Ethan Martin, Christian Friedrich and Kyle Russell.

Ethan Martin is ranked too high as a pitcher. He's got lots of potential, but he's only been a legitimate pitching prospect for about a month. Before that he was purely seen as a third baseman. He shouldn't be ranked ahead of guys like Alex Meyer and Kyle Lobstein, other HS arms with just as much potential who've been getting attention from scouts for much longer, aka more of a track record. I'm not really sure where I'd put him though. Maybe around Sonny Gray and Brett DeVall.

Christian Friedrich is ranked too low. I've read in many publications where there is a possibility of him going in the top 10 picks. I'd be surprised if he lasts past the top 15. He's the top college lefty after Matusz and is following up a dominant sophomore year with a dominant junior year. Last year he had a 2.09 ERA, 101 Ks in 81.2 innings and a .155 BAA! So far this year he's got a 2.15 ERA, struck out 54 in 37.2 innings and has a .142 BAA. Very solid numbers and his stuff backs it up: solid low 90's fastball and one of the best curveballs in the draft. He falls in love with that curve sometimes, but he projects as a very good pitching prospect who could move quickly. He has good size, too, at 6'3" 208. I'd probably slide him up between Scheppers and Hunt.

Kyle Russell is also ranked too highly. If this was at the end of last season, that would be fine - he led the nation with 28 HRs. But even then there were doubts about how he would translate to wooden bats. This year, Russell is heaping more reasons for criticism onto himself as he has struggled badly. As of 3/29 he was batting .206/.440/.302 with 1 HR and 7 RBI. He should be plummeting down draft boards, and IMO that isn't being reflected here. If I'm putting him in the top 15, he's near the bottom.

Well, those are my thoughts and observations. What would an amateur player discussion be without some different opinions, right?

[Greg Pappas]

Ok, now for some talk about the actual rankings...

IMO, there are 3 players that jump out to me as being out of place; Ethan Martin, Christian Friedrich and Kyle Russell.

Ethan Martin is ranked too high as a pitcher. He's got lots of potential, but he's only been a legitimate pitching prospect for about a month. Before that he was purely seen as a third baseman. He shouldn't be ranked ahead of guys like Alex Meyer and Kyle Lobstein, other HS arms with just as much potential who've been getting attention from scouts for much longer, aka more of a track record. I'm not really sure where I'd put him though. Maybe around Sonny Gray and Brett DeVall.

Christian Friedrich is ranked too low. I've read in many publications where there is a possibility of him going in the top 10 picks. I'd be surprised if he lasts past the top 15. He's the top college lefty after Matusz and is following up a dominant sophomore year with a dominant junior year. Last year he had a 2.09 ERA, 101 Ks in 81.2 innings and a .155 BAA! So far this year he's got a 2.15 ERA, struck out 54 in 37.2 innings and has a .142 BAA. Very solid numbers and his stuff backs it up: solid low 90's fastball and one of the best curveballs in the draft. He falls in love with that curve sometimes, but he projects as a very good pitching prospect who could move quickly. He has good size, too, at 6'3" 208. I'd probably slide him up between Scheppers and Hunt.

Kyle Russell is also ranked too highly. If this was at the end of last season, that would be fine - he led the nation with 28 HRs. But even then there were doubts about how he would translate to wooden bats. This year, Russell is heaping more reasons for criticism onto himself as he has struggled badly. As of 3/29 he was batting .206/.440/.302 with 1 HR and 7 RBI. He should be plummeting down draft boards, and IMO that isn't being reflected here. If I'm putting him in the top 15, he's near the bottom.

Well, those are my thoughts and observations. What would an amateur player discussion be without some different opinions, right?

I realize that not everyone would be in the exact right place at this point, and generally agree with your assessments. This list was put together mostly from preseason reports, and with a few exceptions that were based upon current year updates.

Thanks as always.