Currently viewing the tag: "Top Prospects"

It’s here! The Diamondbacks top-10 prospect list is ready. After a ton of debate, checking my own thinking, re-reviewing the stats, checking my notes on guys I’ve seen, and talking to scouts and evaluators, the final ten are set. And let me say for the record: this top-10 was harder than any other. There’s legitimate argument for who should be …

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As the Hot Stove seasons truly gets underway, the Diamondbacks are firmly at a crossroads. Over at The Athletic, I’ve written about a few of these topics, such as A.J. Pollock’s QO decision and the team’s long term payroll outlook. Both are ripe for concern. But the minor league side of the ledger remains a concern, too. The D-backs’ …

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The first installment of this series began with a conversation about how hard it is to rank prospects. This process was further complicated with the Diamondbacks’ recent signing of Japanese right-handed pitcher Shumpei Yoshikawa. My list of the D-backs’ top 30 prospects has now been adjusted to 31. Bonus for you, dear reader, but a minor complication for me, your …

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Prospect season has arrived and in case you missed it, we rolled out the rankings for prospects #11-20 and #21-31 last week. Those lists are full of intriguing players, some that are homegrown and others that have come to the organization recently by way of trade. That trend will continue as we move to the very top of the list, …

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Earlier this week, I released the first installment in this series, with prospects #21-31. There was plenty of intrigue there and that trend is going to continue today. While this is a tough group to rate with so little separating a ton of players, we’ll start seeing more upside in this installment, with a bit more impact potential on …

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Some seasons are forgettable, but the 2016 Diamondbacks season was simply disappointing beyond measure. There’s no use dwelling on it any further and if you’re anything like me, you’ve already shifted your attention to the future. Renewed optimism is in order after the hiring of GM Mike Hazen, and we even took the liberty to offer up some ideas

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Let me just start off by saying a couple of things. First, prospect season is one of my favorites and I look forward to it each and every year. Rankings are fun and, when taken with a grain of salt, can make for some very excellent baseball conversation over baseball’s dead period. This is also one of the few times …

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Yesterday, the third and final installment of the Diamondbacks Top 30 Prospects was released. Dansby Swanson grabbed the top spot ahead of familiar names Aaron Blair and Braden Shipley. Fellow 2015 draftee Alex Young came in fourth and Brandon Drury rounded out the top five. Ranking Young ahead of Drury wasn’t easy, but it came down to the value …

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We’ve looked at the bottom of the 2016 Top 30 Prospect List. We’ve seen the middle of it, too. I’ve talked about how I do this and why I do this, so there’s that, too. A ton of names have been dropped, tools talked about and projections detailed. And while none of the aforementioned prospects cracked the forthcoming top 10, …

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Last week we kicked off the Diamondbacks Top 30 with two posts, first a Primer, then Prospects 21-30. The back end of the list is difficult to compose as there isn’t much that distinguishes most players in that category. But this list, well, it’s entirely different as projected outcomes shift significantly from #20 through #11. There are guys …

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The time has come to rank the top 30 Diamondbacks prospects as we head into 2016. A season that started in March for over a hundred minor league players has wrapped up (except for the handful of guys in the AFL) and there have surely been some big seasons. There have been a few disappointments, too, but that’s the nature …

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It’s important to do a good job. The internet is littered with opinions of every shape and size. At Inside the ‘Zona, we do our best to steer away from that by focusing on the facts – that is, largely the data around baseball. We look for insights, we look for clues and we look for information that can help …

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The upper minors are a mixed bag. On one hand you have some of the most talented, close-to-the-majors guys in system playing their tails off in AA, trying to get the call. On the other, you have a big crop of major league vets who are toiling at AAA hoping to get one last crack at the big leagues. The …

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Whenever evaluating prospects, an organization, a trade or something else where value is assigned, it’s always valuable to pull in different perspectives. Early in the week, I broke down The 2015 Diamondbacks Midseason Top 10 Prospects. As always, the order and ranking of prospects, plus those omitted, created plenty of discussion, both in the comments and on twitter. After …

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It’s that time of year again, the time when everyone starts to recalibrate their prospect rankings. Several midseason lists have appeared at Baseball Prospectus, Baseball America and other sites. Last week I profiled our Top 30 Prospect List from last winter and provided some updates, noting that some things have changed. There have been some graduations and some disappointing campaigns. …

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The top 10 is finally here, and make no mistake, there’s plenty to like in the upper echelon of the Diamondbacks’ minor league system. While you’re likely familiar with the top couple of names here, take notice of the young prospects, from Single-A or below, who likely represent something of a new wave of potentially future D-backs. Arizona has done …

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