Thursday, January 26, 2012

Prospect Talk: A Look at the Giants Prospects Rankings Around the Blogosphere

I have almost finished compiling my Top-30 list (not writing the posts, but actually coming up with the list). I have gone back and forth quite a bit on it, but I think by the time I finish the "2007 Draft Class" series, the list will be done, and I will start writing some posts on each one.

In the meantime, many other Giants blogs have already gotten a head start on me in terms of making their own Giants prospect lists. A lot of these are from blogs I like and respect, and I would have to be lying if they didn't have some influence on the "eventual" list here. So, if you haven't already, check out these other prospects lists if you want to get a full sense of what Giants nation thinks of prospects in the Giants farm system.


Dr. B's Top-50 Prospects at "When the Giants Come to Town."

I can wholeheartedly admit that Dr. B's blog is the best Giants minor league blog out there. This one pales in comparison. His annual prospects lists are in-depth, but still concise and he always generates good discussion in the comments sections of his posts (if you want to see the individual profiles of this year's list, check it out here). Additionally, you can tell he has a passion for minor league ball if he can make a prospect list that goes all the way to 50. And who came in No. 50? None other than Jean Delgado, a shortstop, of course! (Again...just goes to show you how knowledgeable of the Giants system he really is.)


Marc Hulet of Fangraphs' Top 15 San Francisco Giants Prospects

I'm a big fan of Hulet's Minor League work and how well he analyzes prospects and the draft. He's pretty straight forward in his approach, but he does make some interesting picks (Heath Hembree, who's going in the Top 5 in a lot of prospect lists is at No. 10 while shortstop Ehire Adrianza, who has dropped out of the Top 10 in some lists is at No. 5). Giants fans probably could get a little more comprehensive reading from other sources, and in reality, his lists are pretty streamlined because he has to do so many. That being said, for a good analysis of the Top 15, Hulet's work has been pretty good (and he always reviews his lists on a consistent basis too, which is always nice.)


Bay City Ball's 2012 Top 15 Prospect List Roundtable

This is probably my favorite of the bunch, though not really for the rankings but more for the "roundtable" way they discussed and agreed upon their rankings. It's amazing how BCB has grown from a one-man operation to a nice little staff of writers who all offer a variety of perspectives on the Giants. Definitely check this one out, just to read about how they share or differ on thoughts about certain prospects and how their rankings differ (some rankings were pretty crazy, both in a good and bad way).


Prospect "Nirvana" at Giants Nirvana

Formerly "Splashing Pumpkins," Julian at Giants Nirvana probably runs one of the better independent Giants blogs out there. His analysis is always spot on, and he's always been a big supporter here at OTF. During this time of the year, GN spares no cost when it comes to prospects, as Julian not only has his own Top 20 (20-11 here and 10-1 here), but another writer, Josh (he wasn't around during the Splashing Pumpkins days from what I can remember) has compiled a Top 30 of his own as well (30-21 and 20-11 are both up). Both have very interesting takes as they have a lot of differences in opinion on some of the prospects (Clayton Blackburn and Charlie Culberson were the ones with big differences in their rankings).


John Sickels' 2012 Top 20 Prospects for the Giants

I'm a big fan of Sickels. I like his approach in terms of how he grades his prospects (mixing scouting reports and analysis), I like the A-F grading system, and he is usually concise and straightforward in his analysis of players in the minors in general. He tends to favor high risk, high upside guys (especially pitchers), but for the most part, I usually am in agreement with his rankings, especially in the Giants system. Only disagreement I have with him? Not sure if I would put Andrew Susac at No. 4. Kinda high for a guy with no professional experience (he signed late and didn't play any ball last Summer).


Crazy Crabbers' Top 20 Prospects for 2012

Scott and his crew at CC do a good job. They always do a good job mixing sabermetric analysis with just general Giants fandom in their posts. Amazing that I still have a bio there considering I haven't posted there in like a year. But, that just goes to show you how good sports they are with this stuff. Anyways, I really like the format of their posts (looking at each prospects' best tool and their ceiling) as well as how they have integrated their minor league numbers into graph form. A solid series of posts that I know is only going to get better as they go down the list (they started from No. 1 and went down).

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