Elite SP prospects

[onejayhawk]

It is still a little early for a lot of us, but the grind of the holidays will soon give way to the predraft panic. This thread is to discuss the top SP prospects going into the draft. This list is by rhd (take a bow): Rank, Name pos team, +/- move, Last rank.

5 Dylan Bundy SP Bal -1 4
7 Tyler Skaggs SP Ari 4 11
8 Trevor Bauer SP Ari 1 9
9 Taijuan Walker SP Sea 3 12
10 Gerrit Cole SP Pit 3 13
11 Jose Fernandez SP Mia 15 26
21 Zack Wheeler SP NYM -6 15
22 Shelby Miller SP StL 6 28
23 Jameson Taillon SP Pit -9 14
24 Danny Hultzen SP Sea -14 10
25 Matt Barnes SP Bos 2 27

Bundy - Age 21 RHP: Widely considered the best mound prospect in baseball. Fairly tall and already well developed, with 95+ stuff, you have to nitpick to find fault.

Skaggs - Age 22 LHP: Skaggs and Bauer are why the Desert Snakes are hopeful. Skaggs is tall and lanky. rhd has him higher than some, likely because his stuff is exceeding his results. He has three pitch toolbox: 90+ FB, superior curve and a change. Because of the quality of the CB, he is drawing comparisons to Wandy Rodriguez. This is both good and bad.

Bauer - Age 22 RHP: Six months older than Skaggs, just as thin, but more normal height. The knock on Bauer is that he is inconsistent. However, even in his rocky ML cup 'o joe, he managed 9+ K/9, so there is a lot here to work with.

Walker - Age 21 RHP: If your #1 prospect is not Bundy, chances are that its Walker. 6'4", but not skinny, Walker has the build for the job. A lot of the argument is floor (Bundy has a higher floor) vs ceiling. There are those that think Bundy has little physical development left. Not so with Walker. Suffice to say, I'll take either.

Cole - Age 23 RHP: Like Walker, tall but not over thin. The #1 pick in 2011, he is somewhat late arriving. His limited experience (less than 150 total IP) has been posiive, and he could bloom suddenly.

Miller - Age 23 RHP: Another SG type build. 2012 was a disappointment to many. Of the players listed here, he has the most experience, and finished well. He would be my pick for a redraft league.

Wheeler - Age 23 RHP: Tall and very thin. He quietly dominated til he got noticed. Then the expectations got unrealistic.

Taillon - Age 22 RHP: Among the basketball team we have here, Taillon is the C. Towering, but with some meat. He is further from the majors (everyone so far has at least played AAA), he is pure build and tools speculation.

Fernandez - Age 21 RHP: Merely tall. Do not confuse him with the Houston SS with the same name. Per rhd Jose Fernandez has been so spectacular this yr and the scouting info on him so good that I felt he belonged in the top tier of pitchers. I have to love him, since we share a birthday.

Hultzen - Age 24 RHP: Another 6'3" pitcher, though more solid than most. He is the first that does not have ace potential, and he has not made MLB as was expected a year ago. Not as shiny as last year, but potentially useful immediately.

Barnes - Age 23 RHP: Another 6'4" SG type. He has the same name as an NBA SF (no kown relation). His professional resume is thin, due to college time. More of a Bauer upside. Should be AA to AAA this year.

J

[Sour Masher]

I think this is a good crop of top tier prospects this year. I think most of them will perform as expected, and many of them will see the majors in 2013, although few are likely to take the league by storm right off the bat. I agree that Miller would be my first pick in a redraft though. In terms of order for a keeper league, I'd move Walker up to 2, Fernandez up to 3, and Skaggs all the way down right ahead of Barnes, and I'd add Arhie Bradley to the list, at the bottom for now.

[onejayhawk]

I think this is a good crop of top tier prospects this year. I think most of them will perform as expected, and many of them will see the majors in 2013, although few are likely to take the league by storm right off the bat. I agree that Miller would be my first pick in a redraft though. In terms of order for a keeper league, I'd move Walker up to 2, Fernandez up to 3, and Skaggs all the way down right ahead of Barnes, and I'd add Arhie Bradley to the list, at the bottom for now.

Bradley was the only SP in rhd'd 26-50 block.

There is a nice article in Fangraphs. We focus on fantasy impact, so the direction here is a bit different.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/newmans-own-best-rh-starters-of-2012/

J

[joncarlos]

I liked Hultzen more before they moved the fences in. I am starting to see speculation that Cole could be up in the 2nd half... the Pirates have babied him (and Taillon) to an almost ridiculous extent, so I'd be shocked if they suddenly changed courses, but they seem to be pretty clueless at this point so you never know. Bauer seems like he needs a change of scenery because he is butting heads with everyone in AZ. I like Fernandez a lot. Walker has a little bit of Cole to him - amazing reports, great stuff, so-so numbers. Of course the difference is that Walker is a lot younger.

[Moonlight J]

Talked to a couple of scouts here last night about Hultzen -- they see him as a #4 starter & see Paxton as a reliever. Walker is clearly the best of their bunch up there.

[onejayhawk]

Talked to a couple of scouts here last night about Hultzen -- they see him as a #4 starter & see Paxton as a reliever. Walker is clearly the best of their bunch up there.

If Hultzen was going to be even a #2, why was he never called up? I drafted him as speculation and dropped him by the AS game.

What is everyone's opinion of Kyle Crick? You have to love the organization and the ML ballpark. If he is the 200 IP guy they say he can be, he has real fantasy value. That being said, I worry about the upside when you talk elite SP.

J