O's top 10 minor leaguers at the All Star break

[wickedwitch]

1) Arrieta

2) Britton

Machado

*big gap*

3) Bell

4) Berry

5) Hobgood

6) Joseph (who played LF yesterday)

7) Beal

8) Snyder

9) Avery

10) Erbe

11) Hoes

Until Angle shows even a modicum of power, he's not a top 10 prospect.

[wildcard]

After 10 voters

1. Britton 100

2. Bell 82

3. Hoes 71

4. Berry 55

5. Avery 53

6. Hobgood 37

7. Joseph 21

8. Beal 20

9. Snyder 18

10. Erbe 12

[Slappy]

Britton, Bell, and everyone else.

Berry could be #3. I wasn't real impressed when I saw him, but he's a sneaky type that gets a lot of ground balls and unspectacular outs. Before you know it he's retired 7, 10 in a row.

Hoes is not a very good fielder. He has on-base skills but that's about it.

I don't get what everyone sees in Avery.

Joseph is a good story but doesn't seem to have the talent to progress much from here.

Snyder... well the jury is still out but he seems to have plateaued, and in any case his hitting isn't good enough for 1B in the majors.

I would put Miclat over Hobgood b/c he plays a good SS and has OBP skills. Hobgood has to show me something before I consider him top 10 anything.

[QBsILLEST1]

I have the opposite reaction. I find the list underwhelming. It's true that a bunch of guys "could be" decent major leaguers but really isn't that true of every team's top 10? Aside from Britton and Machado (for whom we have no professional data) there's no one on this list that projects as an above average player for his position.

Yes, many are young players. Yes, some could bust out but this is true for every minor leaguer.

There's little to be excited about here for me. Sorry to be a downer.

No, this isn't the case for most teams. We have about 20 prospects who are true "breakout candidates". Guys with tools who are still only a yera or so into their professional careers who's tools are still being shaped and molded.

Hobgood could be a strong workhorse in the MLB with the ceiling to be better

Givens has the potential to be a good ML SS

Coffey has the ceiling to be a true TOR

Martin has #2 SP upside

Henry has as much upside as any pitcher in the system

Tolliver has a power arm that may wind up in the pen

Wirsch looks like a Brian Matusz starter kit, was a top 20 prospect for GCL

Webb has polish at the plate and is a 5 tooler

Hoppy a lot like Webb, but is more raw, but has massive ceiling

Townsend has a good chance of being atleast an average ML 1B

Beal ould be a #2 SP if he adds anymore velocity which he may do

Bundy has a power arm and could be a mid rotation arm in the ML

R. Berry is pretty safe bet to be a mid rotation arm

T. Berry is a breakout candidate and projects to have 2 plus pitches

Schoop is a toolsy high ceiling SS with a polished approach at the plate

Leonora is a toolsy 3B with a polished approach at the plate

Veloz has massive raw power and we got him for a steal

Machado(already broke out just not in pro ball)

Klein could be mid rotation arm or closer for our team

Anderson will probably be a backender in the pen, could be mid rotation arm

Bywater could be a mid to back ender in the rotation

Urban(if we sign him) high ceiling SP

Narron(if we sign him) polished high ceiling SS with great approach

Vader high ceiling arm with good foundation to build on

Hoes looks like our future 2B/3B, polished offensive game

Avery is toolsy and is hitting well as one of the youngest in his league

Welty is showing power and the ability to hit well. Pretty safe bet to be MLer

Ohlman powerful athletic kid who may not stick at catcher

All these guys in no particular order have high ceilings and tools of which we can/need to develop. Because they are so new to pro ball for the most part, they haven't broken out yet. ANY one of these kids has the tools and abilities to become a top 100 prospect by the time they finish up with AAA. And I am sure I have missed some. The thing is, is that we have more potential than 90% of other team's systems around, but we don't see that breaking down to top prospect lists yet because they haven't had enough of a chance to actually carve some production out of their potential....

We don't have a bunch of surefire elite prospects, but I must say I like our chances of developing one like we did with Britton.....

[wildcard]

Mahoney has to be a top 5 prospect at the moment IMO.

[Frobby]

Mahoney has to be a top 5 prospect at the moment IMO.

I will wait until the end of the year to assess that. The guy has been red-hot since June. I think it is a mistake to put too much stock in 61 at bats in the Eastern League, though. Let's see if he continues to hit well for the remaining 5-6 weeks of the season.

[Crazysilver03]

Mahoney has to be a top 5 prospect at the moment IMO.

I still wouldn't have him in the Top 5. He is in my Top 10, but his performance hasn't dictated moving up to high yet.

[QBsILLEST1]

I still wouldn't have him in the Top 5. He is in my Top 10, but his performance hasn't dictated moving up to high yet.

I agree....

Britton

Machado

Bell

Hoes

Avery

R Berry

Hobgood

Klein

Beal

Wirsch

Bundy

Mummey

Townsend

Angle

Mahoney

Now, if Mahoney continues to hit well, he will move up, but it is too soon to move him into top 5 territory, that'd mean you have him ahead of Hoes or Avery which I would never even consider it. Right now, Mahoney is a C prospect. Hoes and Avery are B- prospects for me......

[rhall]

No, this isn't the case for most teams. We have about 20 prospects who are true "breakout candidates". Guys with tools who are still only a yera or so into their professional careers who's tools are still being shaped and molded.

All these guys in no particular order have high ceilings and tools of which we can/need to develop. Because they are so new to pro ball for the most part, they haven't broken out yet. ANY one of these kids has the tools and abilities to become a top 100 prospect by the time they finish up with AAA. And I am sure I have missed some. The thing is, is that we have more potential than 90% of other team's systems around, but we don't see that breaking down to top prospect lists yet because they haven't had enough of a chance to actually carve some production out of their potential....

We don't have a bunch of surefire elite prospects, but I must say I like our chances of developing one like we did with Britton.....

This sounds like some pretty severe hometown bias. If you include anyone with the tools to give themselves MLB upside, I think you'll find many farm systems with a large quantity of players who would make the list and compete with the one you just made for the O's. Here's a list of guys (in no particular order) with upside and plenty of development left to do from the other AL East teams. Players in italics are unsigned players from the 2010 draft. All 2010 draftees listed were taken in the top 10 rounds.

Yankees:

1. Slade Heathcott, of
2. Manny Banuelos, lhp
3. Gary Sanchez, c
4. J.R. Murphy, c
5. Andrew Brackman, rhp
6. Kelvin DeLeon, of
7. Jose Ramirez, rhp
8. Graham Stoneburner, rhp
9. David Adams, 2b
10. Hector Noesi, rhp
11. David Phelps, rhp
12. Adam Warren, rhp
13. Dellin Betances, rhp
14. Cito Culver, ss
15. Angelo Gumbs, of
16. Rob Segedin, 3b

Red Sox:

1. Reymond Fuentes, of
2. Anthony Rizzo, 1b
3. Jose Iglesias, ss
4. Derrik Gibson, ss/2b
5. Stolmy Pimentel, rhp
6. David Renfroe, ss
7. Drake Britton, lhp
8. Madison Younginer, rhp
9. Will Middlebrooks, 3b
10. Che-Hsuan Lin, of
11. Alex Wilson, rhp
12. Roman Mendez, rhp
13. Kyle Weiland, rhp
14. Jose Vinicio, ss
15. Brandon Jacobs, of
16. Kendal Volz, rhp
17. Ryan Lavarnway, c
18. Kolbrin Vitek, 3b
19. Bryce Brentz, of
20. Anthony Ranaudo, rhp
21. Brandon Workman, rhp
22. Sean Coyle, ss
23. Garin Cecchini, 3b
24. Henry Ramos, of
25. Kendrick Perkins, of

Rays:

1. Tim Beckham, ss
2. Alexander Colome, rhp
3. Nick Barnese, rhp
4. Kyle Lobstein, lhp
5. Luke Bailey, c
6. Ty Morrison, of
7. Todd Glaesmann, of
8. Wilking Rodriguez, rhp
9. Jeff Malm, 1b
10. Yoel Araujo, of
11. Josh Sale, of
12. Justin O'Conner, c
13. Drew Vettleson, of
14. Jake Thompson, rhp
15. Derek Dietrich, 3b
16. Ryan Brett, 2b
17. Ian Kendall, rhp
18. Jesse Hahn, rhp
19. Michael Lorenzen, of

Blue Jays:

1. Henderson Alvarez, rhp
2. Jake Marisnick, of
3. Josh Roenicke, rhp
4. Justin Jackson, ss
5. Carlos Perez, c
6. Moises Sierra, of
7. Ryan Schimpf, 2b
8. Eric Thames, of
9. Daniel Webb, rhp
10. Ryan Goins, ss
11. Gustavo Pierre, ss
12. Adonis Cardona, rhp
13. Gabriel Ceñas, 3b
14. Deck McGuire, rhp
15. Aaron Sanchez, rhp
16. Noah Syndergaard, rhp
17. Asher Wojciechowski, rhp
18. Griffin Murphy, lhp
19. Kellen Sweeney, 3b
20. Christopher Hawkins, 3b
21. Sam Dyson, rhp
22. Dickie Joe Thon, ss
23. Tyler Shreve, rhp

That doesn't mean that you, or anyone, can't be excited about some of the young players we have. And I don't mean to knock the depth of talent we may or may not have (depending on your opinion), but I think it's pretty plain to say that the depth that we've accumulated is not unrivaled. This is also just comparing quantity. Quality is an entirely different discussion.

[BaysoxFan39]

Thing of it is, he already IS older and hasn't gained anymore power like he was expected to. He does have good footspeed if I remember correctly......But for me, he doesn't even make the top 25...

Bell

Britton

Snyder

Erbe

Hoes

Avery

Joseph

Hobgood

Beal

Mahoney

In no particular order.

[QBsILLEST1]

This sounds like some pretty severe hometown bias. If you include anyone with the tools to give themselves MLB upside, I think you'll find many farm systems with a large quantity of players who would make the list and compete with the one you just made for the O's. Here's a list of guys (in no particular order) with upside and plenty of development left to do from the other AL East teams. Players in italics are unsigned players from the 2010 draft. All 2010 draftees listed were taken in the top 10 rounds.

Yankees:

1. Slade Heathcott, of
2. Manny Banuelos, lhp
3. Gary Sanchez, c
4. J.R. Murphy, c
5. Andrew Brackman, rhp
6. Kelvin DeLeon, of
7. Jose Ramirez, rhp
8. Graham Stoneburner, rhp
9. David Adams, 2b
10. Hector Noesi, rhp
11. David Phelps, rhp
12. Adam Warren, rhp
13. Dellin Betances, rhp
14. Cito Culver, ss
15. Angelo Gumbs, of
16. Rob Segedin, 3b

Red Sox:

1. Reymond Fuentes, of
2. Anthony Rizzo, 1b
3. Jose Iglesias, ss
4. Derrik Gibson, ss/2b
5. Stolmy Pimentel, rhp
6. David Renfroe, ss
7. Drake Britton, lhp
8. Madison Younginer, rhp
9. Will Middlebrooks, 3b
10. Che-Hsuan Lin, of
11. Alex Wilson, rhp
12. Roman Mendez, rhp
13. Kyle Weiland, rhp
14. Jose Vinicio, ss
15. Brandon Jacobs, of
16. Kendal Volz, rhp
17. Ryan Lavarnway, c
18. Kolbrin Vitek, 3b
19. Bryce Brentz, of
20. Anthony Ranaudo, rhp
21. Brandon Workman, rhp
22. Sean Coyle, ss
23. Garin Cecchini, 3b
24. Henry Ramos, of
25. Kendrick Perkins, of

Rays:

1. Tim Beckham, ss
2. Alexander Colome, rhp
3. Nick Barnese, rhp
4. Kyle Lobstein, lhp
5. Luke Bailey, c
6. Ty Morrison, of
7. Todd Glaesmann, of
8. Wilking Rodriguez, rhp
9. Jeff Malm, 1b
10. Yoel Araujo, of
11. Josh Sale, of
12. Justin O'Conner, c
13. Drew Vettleson, of
14. Jake Thompson, rhp
15. Derek Dietrich, 3b
16. Ryan Brett, 2b
17. Ian Kendall, rhp
18. Jesse Hahn, rhp
19. Michael Lorenzen, of

Blue Jays:

1. Henderson Alvarez, rhp
2. Jake Marisnick, of
3. Josh Roenicke, rhp
4. Justin Jackson, ss
5. Carlos Perez, c
6. Moises Sierra, of
7. Ryan Schimpf, 2b
8. Eric Thames, of
9. Daniel Webb, rhp
10. Ryan Goins, ss
11. Gustavo Pierre, ss
12. Adonis Cardona, rhp
13. Gabriel Ceñas, 3b
14. Deck McGuire, rhp
15. Aaron Sanchez, rhp
16. Noah Syndergaard, rhp
17. Asher Wojciechowski, rhp
18. Griffin Murphy, lhp
19. Kellen Sweeney, 3b
20. Christopher Hawkins, 3b
21. Sam Dyson, rhp
22. Dickie Joe Thon, ss
23. Tyler Shreve, rhp

That doesn't mean that you, or anyone, can't be excited about some of the young players we have. And I don't mean to knock the depth of talent we may or may not have (depending on your opinion), but I think it's pretty plain to say that the depth that we've accumulated is not unrivaled. This is also just comparing quantity. Quality is an entirely different discussion.

I didn't compare our farm system to the AL East, I said 90% of other systems. Rather than potential, I guess I should have said upside. We have some tremendous upside among our farm with possible breakout candidates up and down our prospect lists, moreso than most teams......

[Frobby]

I didn't compare our farm system to the AL East, I said 90% of other systems. Rather than potential, I guess I should have said upside. We have some tremendous upside among our farm with possible breakout candidates up and down our prospect lists, moreso than most teams......

Better than 90 percent would mean we are better than 27 of 30 teams. I don't pretend to follow other teams' prospects, but I definitely think you are wearing orange colored glasses here. Or maybe orange colored blinders, unless you've really looked at the upside of all the other team's young players.

[Frobby]

Mahoney has to be a top 5 prospect at the moment IMO.

I will wait until the end of the year to assess that. The guy has been red-hot since June. I think it is a mistake to put too much stock in 61 at bats in the Eastern League, though. Let's see if he continues to hit well for the remaining 5-6 weeks of the season.

Bump...Mahoney has a .790 OPS in August, and a .438 OPS in the last 10 days. Eight games left to play, let's see how he finishes. I'll still take Snyder:

Snyder at Bowie (age 22): .343/.421/.597 in 228 PA

Mahoney at Bowie (age 23): .335/.400/.589 in 174 PA

[allstar1579]

Just to keep the sanity around here, one great season does not a top prospect make. Just because Joe has had a great year this year, that doesn't automatically mean he's now a major prospect and he'll keep it up. Look at Snyder. Give him next year and if he does as well in AAA then I'll give it to you, but plenty of guys will have a monster year in A/AA and then do nothing from there. Walter Jones comes to mind, guy had a hole in his swing the size of a truck, couldn't hit anything offspeed away, but hit 33 HR in AA in 2004. Let's just keep our expectations tempered for now and let him play and see how things look when he gets to the bigs.

[Jammer7]

I get the wait-and-see on Mahoney. We've been burned before, etc...

Forget that, Mahoney is the real deal. If you say I'm going out on a limb, so be it.

My tentative picks for end of season top 20:

1. Zach Britton LHP - absolutely the man, ask Durham Bulls

2. Manny Machado SS - rep and Bordy's comments get him here

3. Joe Mahoney 1B* - is going to get even better, coming goliath

4. Xavier Avery CF* - hard work paying off

5. Ryan Adams 2B - if only he could field like he hits, but he CAN hit

6. L.J. Hoes 2B - plate discipline, driving the ball some this year

7. Brandon Erbe RHP - injuries can't take away what he is yet

8. Brandon Snyder 1B - still going to hit, bumps in the road

9. Tyler Henson OF - tailed some, but is a hitter, solid tools for RF as well, K's bad...37 doubles good

10. Caleb Joseph C - not a great season with bat, but not bad

11. Ryan Berry RHP - solid first season, healthy

12. Cameron Coffey LHP - glimpses, rep and projections have him here

13. Bobby Bundy RHP - starting to put it together

14. Jesse Beal RHP - doesn't throw hard, BB/K not great, but has feel and projection

15. Greg Miclat SS# - tailed at Bowie, great at Fred, tough kid

16. Ronnie Welty RF - too many K's, but solid power numbers

17. Matt Hobgood RHP - benefit of doubt...this year, need to see what we have next year

18. Tyler Townsend 1B* - glimpses of huge power between injuries

19. Dan Klein RHP - I really like this kid, think he'll rise by mid 2011 into top 5-7

20. Mychal Givens SS/3B - rep alone for now get him here

Josh Bell has 94 pa's, so I excluded him as I figure he'll be ineligible for the season's end list.

To me, after maybe the top 6, you could make a case for a lot of these guys all over the next 25 or so. Guys like Chorye Spoone, Jake Cowan, Randy Henry, Aaron Wirsch, Brenden Webb, Mike Ohlman, Trent Mummey, Matt Bywater, Brandon Waring, Clayton Schrader, and Jon Schoop could all make a case for top 20 consideration. Injuries have hit hard, but this is a solid group if it ever gets on the field.