I’ve been watching top prospect lists all winter and am ready to reveal the Tailgate Crashers Top 10 Prospects by Team. I’ve looked at other rankings and have arranged guys by those score and my own feelings on them. I’m releasing these by division; each team will have a top 10 with a quick note about the system and a sleeper. After all the division lists have been released, I’ll rank the organizations and give my top 100 prospects.
Coming up next, the…
NL West
Diamondbacks
1. Jarrod Parker
2. Daniel Schlereth
3. Gerardo Parra
4. Mark Hallberg
5. Wade Miley
6. Cesar Valdez
7. Kevin Eichhorn
8. Trevor Harden
9. Reynaldo Navarro
10. Collin Cowgill
Outside of Jarrod Parker, I see a lot of question marks; most guys could go either way. It’s not surprising their system is at this point, as they’ve promoted a lot of players the last 3 years. I expect that this system will be towards the top of the rankings this time next year. My sleeper is Daniel Schlereth; the local product will be a quick riser and a force out of the bullpen.
Dodgers
1. James McDonald
2. Ivan DeJesus Jr
3. Andrew Lambo
4. Ethan Martin
5. Scott Elbert
6. Josh Lindbloom
7. Devaris Gordon
8. Ramon Troncoso
9. Austin Gallagher
10. Josh Bell
This system isn’t as deep as it used to be. The top 5 here will be good players; after that, I’m not sure. They always have strong drafts always promote the right player. They’re at a point of restocking, which they will do in the draft. My sleeper is Scott Elbert; he’ll be the first one called up if someone in the bullpen goes down.
Giants
1. Madison Bumgarner
2. Buster Posey
3. Tim Alderson
4. Angel Villalona
5. Pablo Sandoval
6. Conor Gillaspie
7. Henry Sosa
8. Nick Noonan
9. Travis Ishikawa
10. Rafael Rodriguez
This is the top system of their division. Bumgarner is going to fit right in with Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, and Jonathan Sanchez in the future. The others in the top 10 have potential to be MLB regulars. My sleeper is Travis Ishikawa; a strong spring and he could be the starting first baseman.
Padres
1. Kyle Blanks
2. Kellen Kulbacki
3. Mat Latos
4. Jaff Decker
5. Cedric Hunter
6. Allan Dykstra
7. Matt Antonelli
8. Adis Portillo
9. James Darnell
10. Will Inman
The Padres are in the process of rebuilding their system, much like there major league team. They’ve taken a few safe picks in recent draft and are building up depth in their system. They don’t have that future super star, but they have plenty of role players that could mature into more. My sleeper is Mat Latos; he got the potential to jump up to the majors by the end of the season and hold his own.
Rockies
1. Dexter Fowler
2. Jhoulys Chacin
3. Christian Friedrich
4. Wilin Rosario
5. Casey Weathers
6. Hector Gomez
7. Michael McKenry
8. Charles Blackmon
9. Aneury Rodriguez
10. Connor Graham
The Rockies’ system is top heavy with prospects, then falls off a little. Fowler is a top 10 prospect in baseball. Chacin is a fast riser. My sleeper is Casey Weathers; if he’s healthy and Manny Corpas and/or Huston Street fails as the closer, he could be ready to step in.
