Baseball America Ranks Indians Top Prospects

Jun 18, 2013; San Jose, CA, USA; Carolina Mudcats short stop Francisco Lindor (12) during the fourth inning of the California League vs Carolina League All Star Game at San Jose Municipal Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Indians Top Prospects Revealed

This past week, Baseball America released their top ten prospects for the Cleveland Indians. For the most part, their list was spot on with what many of us have come to expect with ranking the Indians top prospects. That being, Francisco Lindor is the club’s top prospect, hands down. It is in the spots after Lindor where opinions often differ when it comes to the Indians top prospects.

So here is the ultimate question – Did Baseball America get it right? They are one of the foremost authorities when it comes to Major League Baseball and ranking big league prospects, always have been. Surely, they have to know what they are doing. After all, it’s their job to get this stuff right. In order to determine just how accurate Baseball America’s list was, I tapped into Wahoo’s on First’s very own prospect expert, Geordy Boveroux, and some work he recently did for one of our sister sites on the Fansided network.

Recently, Geordy provided his list of the Indians top 15 prospects to Fansided’s MLB prospect site, Grading on the Curve. Geordy has dedicated countless hours to researching the Indians farm system and has regularly provided updates and scouting reports, He knows these players about as well as anyone. So, just how well does Geordy’s list match up with Baseball America’s top ten? Well, let’s take a look.

Baseball America:

1.       Francisco Lindor

2.       Clint Frazier

3.       Trevor Bauer

4.       Tyler Naquin

5.       Cody Anderson

6.       Dorssys Paulino

7.       Ronny Rodriguez

8.       C.C. Lee

9.       Jose Ramirez

10.     Austin Adams

There aren’t many surprises on that list, especially within the top three. Most lists have Lindor, Frazier and Bauer as the Indians top three in that order. It’s spots four through ten where opinions begin to differ. As you will see with Geordy’s list below, after Trevor Bauer there seems to be a bit of uncertainty over just who exactly are the Indians next best prospects.

Geordy Boveroux, @BoverouxMedia:

1.       Francisco Lindor

2.       Clint Frazier

3.       Trevor Bauer

4.       Dorssys Paulino

5.       Tyler Naquin

6.       Jose Ramirez

7.       Cody Anderson

8.       Luigi Rodriguez

9.       Ronny Rodriguez

10.     Mitch Brown

11.     Dace Kime

12.     Tony Wolters

13.     Jesus Aguilar

14.     Sean Brady

15.     Levon Washington

As you can see, it’s a bit of a cluster after Trevor Bauer. Baseball America clearly thinks more highly of players like Tyler Naquin, Cody Anderson, and Ronny Rodriguez than does Geordy. Baseball America even rated two players in their top ten, C.C. Lee and Austin Adams, who didn’t even crack Geordy’s top 15. Meanwhile, Geordy clearly values the Indians minor league depth with his rankings of both Dorssys Paulino, “has the pedigree, but his performance this year will be telling,” and Jose Ramirez, “Scrappy 2B with a knack of making contact,” in his top six. He also believes heavily that Mitch Brown and Luigi Rodriguez are worth mention as possible solid future options on a big league roster someday.

So while Baseball America is widely considered to be among the leaders in rating minor league prospects, we here at Wahoo’s on First value the opinion of our prospect guru, Geordy Boveroux, first and foremost. Where do you come out on these lists? Do you agree with Baseball America or do you side with a free spirit who is willing to think outside the box when it comes to minor league prospects. Let us know. You can reach out to us via email wahoosonfirst@gmail.com or hit us up on Twitter @wahoosonfirst.