I'm going to start rolling out the prospect rankings here at SSI so as to avoid a traffic jam once we get the new platform up and running.
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The Watch List is an extension of the Spec66 (which is the Top 40 and the "26 in the Mix"). If offers "34 More" so as to even things out to a nice round 100.
More comprehensive than you'd ever need, except ...
In 2013, Jesus Sucre and Yoervis Medina jumped all the way from the Watch List to the majors (so maybe they should have been higher, of course -- at least Medina) (Medina was just a year removed from an ugly 1-21, 6.00 ERA season as a starter, and his walk rate ... well, his walk rate was pretty much what it's been in the majors ... so we were still a bit skeptical).
James Jones was on the Watch List in '13 and majors in '14 (he dropped out of the Spec66 to the Watch List after getting passed by Leon Landry in '12, only to overtake Landry the next year).
And Tyler Olson was on the '14 Watch List, and watch where he is now ...
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We'll start with outfielders. Guys in red were at or younger than their "MLB Track" level (on track to reach AAA by age-23). Guys in black were older than "MLB Track" level (which does not rule them out, but makes their stats less interesting).
| Year | Age | Lvl | Age Arc | G | PA | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | HR% | BB% | XBH + BB% | ISO | K% | PSA+ | Conv+ | Comp |
| Slugger > 4% | Goal > 8.5% | Goal > 19% | Goal > .200 | Goal < 20% | Strong Prospect > 100 | ||||||||||||
| Chantz Mack* | 23 | A,A+,AAA | 2 | 92 | 383 | 0.273 | 0.339 | 0.425 | 0.764 | 2.61% | 8.88% | 16.19% | 0.152 | 14.62% | 97 | 88 | 85 |
| Mack is a University of Miami product who would be somewhat intriguing if he played CF regularly, or had some speed, but neither is the case. He's tough to strike out and has some pop. Here's a link to Mack delivering a triple for Clinton. | |||||||||||||||||
| Wilton Martinez | 20 | A-,A | 0 | 50 | 191 | 0.162 | 0.241 | 0.283 | 0.524 | 1.57% | 8.90% | 16.23% | 0.121 | 23.56% | 66 | 64 | 30 |
| Martinez got a bit of notice when he came to Pulaski at age 19 and hit 12 homers. But everything else about his line was suspect. But the club promoted him to Low-A Clinton at age 20 despite mediocre results at Everett, so they must see something. As with Mack, no CF, no speed, so he'll have to make it with the bat. Maybe it says something that the only highlight on milb.com is a ground out? | |||||||||||||||||
| Phillips Castillo | 20 | A- | 1 | 54 | 209 | 0.227 | 0.316 | 0.403 | 0.719 | 3.35% | 7.66% | 16.27% | 0.176 | 27.75% | 56 | 65 | 21 |
| Ah, Phillips Castillo. Poster child (along with Guillermo Pimentel, who doesn't even make the Watch List anymore) of a failed international prospect crop. I guess they had us all fooled since Castillo was considered top-10 in the organization (Pimentel, too, for that matter) by Baseball America, Fangraphs, John Sickles ... in other words, everyone. Future superstars don't get just 11 doubles in short-season ball. But in theory he's still young. Not in theory, he's limited to corner OF and has not flashed speed, as with the guys above. And he's also a guy who's only highlight isn't really a highlight. | |||||||||||||||||
| Isaiah Yates | 19 | A,A-,Rk | -1 | 43 | 178 | 0.211 | 0.281 | 0.354 | 0.635 | 2.25% | 8.99% | 17.42% | 0.143 | 31.46% | 49 | 54 | 2 |
| Yates is a perennial favorite of ours (if three years counts as "perennial"). After an interesting age-17 debut, we put him at No. 39, but he's dropped down to Watch List status since then. The club did push him up to Low-A Clinton at 19, but he appeared to be way over his head there, whiffing 31% of the time. Still, there's enough interesting to keep him listed. Corner OF, no real speed (sound familiar?). | |||||||||||||||||
| Corey Simpson | 20 | A-,A,AAA | 0 | 108 | 450 | 0.210 | 0.267 | 0.333 | 0.601 | 2.67% | 6.22% | 12.00% | 0.123 | 33.56% | 19 | 28 | -53 |
| Simpson was a 6th-round pick who put up a .245 ISO in his Rookie League debut, and that earned him the No. 28 slot on our list last year. He followed that up by struggling at Everett, getting promoted to Clinton anyway, and struggling even more at Clinton. The ISO, as you can see, plunged to .123. How can you hit 12 HR and SLG just .333? I'm not sure, but he did. They're hoping he'll turn into a Jay Buhner type. Not yet. Have we mentioned corner OF with no speed? | |||||||||||||||||
| Anthony Jimenez | 18 | FRk | 0 | 64 | 262 | 0.294 | 0.388 | 0.417 | 0.806 | 0.00% | 12.21% | 20.99% | 0.123 | 14.50% | 112 | 89 | 101 |
| I don't include foreign-league stats in my leaderboards for a number of reasons, but I usually try to include a couple of guys from those leagues on the Watch List. Jimenez gets that nod here. Guess what? He DOES play CF, and he DOES have speed (23 SB, 5 CS). And he draws walks, and is tough to strike out. And, despite 0 HR, his ISO matched Simpson's (19 doubles, 4 triples in 64 G). If he had done all that at 18 in a U.S. league, I'd be plastering it all over. But it's hard to draw too many conclusions from Venezuelan stats. Certainly one to watch, though. | |||||||||||||||||
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