AL/NL Central Top 10 Prospects
Whew. Over the past month we’ve been taking a look at the top prospects for every MLB organization in the AL and NL Central Leagues, as well as 2006-09 draft reviews for each team. If you missed your club’s Top 10 prospects lists, the link to each article is provided for you below. We have also included an updated Detroit Top 10 list, as the previous list was written prior to the three-way deal with the Diamondbacks and the Yankees.
American League Central
Kansas City Royals | Top Prospect: Mike Montgomery, Starting Pitcher (A+)
Detroit Tigers | Top Prospect: Casey Crosby, Starting Pitcher (A-)
Chicago White Sox | Top Prospect: Tyler Flowers, Catcher (AAA)
Cleveland Indians | Top Prospect: Carlos Santana, Catcher (AA)
Minnesota Twins | Top Prospect: Aaron Hicks, Outfielder (A-)
National League Central
St. Louis Cardinals | Top Prospect: Lance Lynn, Starting Pitcher (AA)
Pittsburgh Pirates | Top Prospect: Pedro Alvarez, Third baseman (AA)
Cincinnati Reds | Top Prospect: Yonder Alonso, First baseman (AA)
Chicago Cubs | Top Prospect: Andrew Cashner, Starting Pitcher (AA)
Milwaukee Brewers | Top Prospect: Alcides Escobar, Shortstop (MLB)
Houston Astros | Top Prospect: Jason Castro, Catcher (AA)
Tigers Top 10 (Updated)
1. Casey Crosby, LHP, Low-A
2. Austin Jackson, OF, Triple-A
3. Daniel Schlereth, LHP, MLB
4. Ryan Strieby, 1B, Double-A
5. Alex Avila, C, MLB
6. Scott Sizemore, 2B, Triple-A
7. Wilken Ramirez, OF, MLB
8. Robbie Weinhardt, RHP, Double-A
9. Cody Satterwhite, RHP, Double-A
10. Brennan Boesch, OF, Double-A
The Fallen:
11. Alfredo Figaro, RHP, Majors
12. Luis Marte, RHP, Triple-A
Up Next: The AL and NL East Top 10 lists
Marc Hulet has been writing at FanGraphs since 2008. His work focuses on prospects and fantasy. Follow him on Twitter @marchulet.
Since the strength of each farm system varies I wonder how many prospects each team would have in a top 50 of each division.
I have high hopes for Figaro as a #4/#5 starter going forward.
Where’s Jacob Turner?
2009 draft picks/international signings are not considered for the Top 10s because there is not enough pro info/numbers to analyze them.
That Granderson trade is going to look really good in 2-3 years.
Or it could look bad
Well you two have all the bases covered there…
One of the young Cubs hitting prospects(Vitters, Colvin, Castro) would be ranked first above Cashner if any of them could walk. Unfortunately, there arnt many all-starts with sub 5% walk rates. Thank you Jim Hendry
I’ve been saying that to readers at Razzball. Vitters can hit, but if he can’t walk his slash line, especially average, is going to vary often and regularly. Vitters is still young enough, and so is Colvin and Castro realistically, where this could be tweaked and their approach augmented. Something needs to happen otherwise “bust” is going to be written all over Vitters.
The best prospects for the Twins and Tigers are both in low-A? Ouch.
Not really for the Twins. They have plenty of young talent at the mlb level, and are becoming stacked in the low minors. They won’t need much help for the next couple of years, and will be in a position were they need to shed payroll when their best prospects are knocking on the door.
Dombrowski has done a good job at restocking the Tigs system. Throw in Jacob Turner, Andy Oliver, Daniel Fields, Cale Iorg, Brent Dlugach, Jay Sborz, Casper Wells…solid.
As a Tigers fan, don’t hold your breath on Iorg and as much as I love Dlugach, he won’t get much of a chance in Detroit.
let’s not give dumbroski credit for restocking the system inn detroit… it is easy when an owner gives you a blank check for the draft and allows you to go over slot.. thank Mr. Illitch… 5 of the last 6 years det has secured a top 4 talent inn the draft (verlander, maybin, miller, Porcello, Turner)… none of those guys should have been available when they where picked.. given the resources provided to dumbroski.. he should have the AL central on lockdown