2022-2023 Offseason Top Prospects List

[TomtheBombadil]

Bah, 83 prospects better than Brennen Davis my butt

—

The top 10 catchers list is much loaded right now. Cartaya, Naylor, E. Rodriguez, Harry Ford, Parada, O’Hoppe, and Romo are all among the very best prospects in baseball regardless of position. They’re all two way players. Parada was by far the best amateur in large part because he went through the NCAA (as a league/lvl of comp) and had a better case to be a 1/1 pick than actual 1/1 Henry Davis. The others were IFAs and HS players including 3 first rounders and a #1 overall ranked IFA. Any of Cartaya, Ford, and Romo could be the best amateur here, each is a big time talent. Romo is the best defender. Naylor’s good all around and a LHH. Rodriguez and O’Hoppe have mashed throughout. O’Hoppe is maybe the most Contreras-y. Rodriguez’s approach, switch hitting, and versatility make him pretty damn different. All of them have the arm strength…No Cubs this year

[Bertz]

A little surprised BA didn't still have Brailyn Marquez on the list

[Hrubes20]

Lee was 45, Collier was 70.

Sigh. Thanks.

[Tim]

BA’s top 100 is out: https://www.baseballamerica.com/ranking ... prospects/

25. PCA
84. Brennen Davis
91. Kevin Alcántara

Where was Brooks Lee?

Cam Collier?

Gallardo?

[We Got The Whole 9]

Did Horton crack their 100 that just missed the cut

[TomtheBombadil]

Gallardo?

Not a chance if the next Bregman (tbf think that was FGs) and an ARod/Machado hybrid couldn’t make it

[CubinNY]

Lee was 45, Collier was 70.

Boy, I really wanted the Cubs to draft Collier.

[Hrubes20]

Lee was 45, Collier was 70.

Kevin Parada, the other well-regarded hitter available who the Cubs passed on, was ranked 50.

[Named After Maddux]

Lee was 45, Collier was 70.

Kevin Parada, the other well-regarded hitter available who the Cubs passed on, was ranked 50.

Neto, Collier, Cross, and maybe Parada will all be interesting to follow because I could have been good with them. I'm not sure Lee was worth the risk with medicals.

[PackLandVA]

Wasn’t part of the reason for taking a guy like Horton at 7 so they had $$$ to get Ferris in the second?

[Hrubes20]

Lee was 45, Collier was 70.

Kevin Parada, the other well-regarded hitter available who the Cubs passed on, was ranked 50.

Neto, Collier, Cross, and maybe Parada will all be interesting to follow because I could have been good with them. I'm not sure Lee was worth the risk with medicals.

Wanted no part of Neto. Would have loved Lee/Collier/Parada. Cross I could have lived with. I suppose that's a fair concern about Lee, if the doctors looked at his medicals and thought the knee/hamstring would be a problem again somewhere down the line. Pretty weird injury he had. Didn't affect him at Cal Poly, but you definitely want the doctors to sign off there. Assuming the medicals weren't horrific, I would sprinted to the podium to take Lee.

Of course, then the Cubs took Horton who just had TJS. Sigh.

Wasn’t part of the reason for taking a guy like Horton at 7 so they had $$$ to get Ferris in the second?

Yes, it was. Ended up giving Ferris over $3 million with the underslot savings from Horton. Both guys are certainly interesting arms.

[TomtheBombadil]

Good-ish news: Mervis is the 4th ranked 1B prospect by Pipeline. Not good news: 30 runner and this is not a deep position in MiLB. Casas is an elite prospect, but other that seems like a pool of players who lean more DH than 1B. Manzardo and Kavadas are posting .400+ OPBs with power and that's nice:

Scouting grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 60 | Run: 30 | Arm: 60 | Field: 45 | Overall: 50 

A two-way player at Duke, Mervis spent most of his first two college seasons as a pitcher before focusing on hitting in his final two years. A priority free agent after getting shut out in the shortened five-round 2020 Draft, he had offers from several clubs and signed with the Cubs for the maximum $20,000 permitted under pandemic rules. He quadrupled his home run output from nine in his 2021 pro debut to 36 last season while leading the Minors with 78 extra-base hits, 310 total bases and 119 RBIs and ranking second in doubles (40), third in homers, fifth in slugging and eighth in OPS (.984). 

Mervis features the best combination of power and contact in the Cubs system, and he took off when he improved his bat path and his swing decisions. His bat speed and the strength in his 6-foot-4, 225-pound frame are obvious, but he's more than just a masher. His relatively compact left-handed swing enables him to make consistent hard contact and he did a much better job of handling same-side pitchers in 2022 than he did in his debut. 

Though he's a well-below-average runner, Mervis moves well enough to play an adequate first base. He has a strong arm that produced low-90s fastballs with high spin rates and solid low-80s sliders when he pitched in college. He played some third base at Duke but lacks the range to play there or in left field as a pro. 

[PackLandVA]

Not good news: 30 runner……

So he’s a bit quicker than Rizzo.

[TomtheBombadil]

Not good news: 30 runner……

So he’s a bit quicker than Rizzo.

Rizzo stole 17 bases, and made his second AS team, during his age 25 season! Mervis will probably not be a rookie when he turns 25 in April!

[CubinNY]

Of course, then the Cubs took Horton who just had TJS. Sigh.

Last year's draft is going to be among the worst in Cubs history. It's really inexplicable.

[Tim]

Of course, then the Cubs took Horton who just had TJS. Sigh.

Last year's draft is going to be among the worst in Cubs history. It's really inexplicable.

lol

[JeffH]

Of course, then the Cubs took Horton who just had TJS. Sigh.

Last year's draft is going to be among the worst in Cubs history. It's really inexplicable.

lol

"Irresponsible hot take"

[CubinNY]

Of course, then the Cubs took Horton who just had TJS. Sigh.

Last year's draft is going to be among the worst in Cubs history. It's really inexplicable.

lol

We shall see. I said it then and I stand by it now.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Last year's draft is going to be among the worst in Cubs history. It's really inexplicable.

lol

We shall see. I said it then and I stand by it now.

If no one from the 2022 class makes it to the bigs, it will outperform the 2005 MLB Draft class that had a -0.1 bWAR.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

lol

We shall see. I said it then and I stand by it now.

If no one from the 2022 class makes it to the bigs, it will outperform the 2005 MLB Draft class that had a -0.1 bWAR.

The 2010 class had a -0.8 bWAR! (admittedly did have a whopping +0.5 fWAR).

[Bertz]

The reasonable criticism of last year's draft IMO is that they passed on Brooks Lee to add a bunch of future relievers. But even if that’s true, it keeps the floor pretty high. Like Horton's (presuming health) at minimum a setup caliber arm with his + fastball and ++ slider. Mule's got elite velo, Birdseye and Frisch each have a pair of carrying pitches, etc.

[CubinNY]

We shall see. I said it then and I stand by it now.

If no one from the 2022 class makes it to the bigs, it will outperform the 2005 MLB Draft class that had a -0.1 bWAR.

The 2010 class had a -0.8 bWAR! (admittedly did have a whopping +0.5 fWAR).

The difference is that year the Cubs were drafting 20th.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

If no one from the 2022 class makes it to the bigs, it will outperform the 2005 MLB Draft class that had a -0.1 bWAR.

The 2010 class had a -0.8 bWAR! (admittedly did have a whopping +0.5 fWAR).

The difference is that year the Cubs were drafting 20th.

16th.

The real difference is they took the biggest first round reach in the 21st Century that year, with no major bonus outlays elsewhere like in 2014 or 2022.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Of course, then the Cubs took Horton who just had TJS. Sigh.

Last year's draft is going to be among the worst in Cubs history. It's really inexplicable.

Seems a bit premature to declare final judgment on a draft that's a little over six months old. While the top of the draft doesn't look great, it takes over half a decade to truly see how the middle and back of the draft class performs.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

The only player from the 2022 draft to play pro games for more than a week was McGeary, the 15th rounder who didn't get bonus pool money. Only 1 of the 9 guys to get bonus pool money played pro games at all(Paciolla). Haven't we followed the draft and minor leagues long enough to know that sweeping declarative statements about draftees/draft classes is only good for looking foolish later