Baseball America's Top 20 Appy League Prospects

[Seth Stohs]

Baseball America is beginning to post its annual Top 20 prospects by league. Today, they posted their Top 20 Prospects in the Appalachian League. 

 

The list includes:

 

SS Jermaine Palacios (#3)

3B Travis Blankenhorn (#15)

OF LaMonte Wade (#17)

 

 

Kyle Tucker, the #5 pick in the 2015 draft, was the #1 prospect. Highly-touted Daz Cameron came in at #5. 

[nytwinsfan]

Wow, Palacios getting some serious love, ahead of Cameron and Ashe Russell.  That's amazing. Do you expect him to be a top-20 Twins prospect this offseason? I would have to think so. Maybe even top 12.

[Seth Stohs]

 

Wow, Palacios getting some serious love, ahead of Cameron and Ashe Russell.  That's amazing. Do you expect him to be a top-20 Twins prospect this offseason? I would have to think so. Maybe even top 12.

 

My initial thought was no, but I'll be talking to a bunch of people and maybe he'll get into the Twins top 20.

[nytwinsfan]

 

My initial thought was no, but I'll be talking to a bunch of people and maybe he'll get into the Twins top 20.

I realize that not being in full season ball is often a good reason to be conservative, but he is still pretty young, plays a premium position (although I know he still has some issues on D), and had great production for league and age. What I still haven't seen is anyone analyze his tools in great depth. I would have to imagine he'll start at Ceder Rapids next year though, right?

[Dman]

Not too surprised about Palacios as he swings the bat well.  Lots of multiple hit games and he doesn't seem to K that much either so he gets good contact.  Hoping his Defense is better than Polanco's.  Very excited about the bat and hope he rises to the challenges he will face in Cedar Rapids.

 

Wade seems a bit old for the league to be considered IMO. He was very good when he was there but struggled in A ball.  Not sure why he fell so far in the draft?  Does he not have power? Is he short?  Bad arm?  Seems like a promising player although I said the same thing about Mad Max and he had a very tough year this year.

[Seth Stohs]

 

I realize that not being in full season ball is often a good reason to be conservative, but he is still pretty young, plays a premium position (although I know he still has some issues on D), and had great production for league and age. What I still haven't seen is anyone analyze his tools in great depth. I would have to imagine he'll start at Ceder Rapids next year though, right?

 

I'd guess he'll start in CR.

[Seth Stohs]

 

Not too surprised about Palacios as he swings the bat well.  Lots of multiple hit games and he doesn't seem to K that much either so he gets good contact.  Hoping his Defense is better than Polanco's.  Very excited about the bat and hope he rises to the challenges he will face in Cedar Rapids.

 

Wade seems a bit old for the league to be considered IMO. He was very good when he was there but struggled in A ball.  Not sure why he fell so far in the draft?  Does he not have power? Is he short?  Bad arm?  Seems like a promising player although I said the same thing about Mad Max and he had a very tough year this year.

 

He was hurt most of the year. That's why he fell.

 

Wade and Murphy both 9th round picks... making too much of college guys and their ETown numbers isn't good for prospect rankings, but as I always say, they can only play where they're sent. So, we'll learn a lot more about him next year. BA is good about looking at the tools and potential in these lists, so that he's on it is worth noting.

[clutterheart]

I am a bit surprised by Blankenhorn getting on this list.  He started hot at the GCL but struggled at the end of the year.  

[Seth Stohs]

 

I am a bit surprised by Blankenhorn getting on this list.  He started hot at the GCL but struggled at the end of the year.  

 

These lists have nothing (or at least very little) to do with statistical performance.

[markos]

 

Wade seems a bit old for the league to be considered IMO. He was very good when he was there but struggled in A ball.  Not sure why he fell so far in the draft?  Does he not have power? Is he short?  Bad arm?  Seems like a promising player although I said the same thing about Mad Max and he had a very tough year this year.

I think Wade is promising as well, even though he was kind of old for the level. As a differentiation between him and Max Murphy, note that Wade ended up with a super-low strikeout rate (12%) and more walks than strikeouts. I think that bodes well for him going forward. If he plays a legit centerfield and keeps his command of the strikezone, he is well on his way to being a least a 4th or 5th outfielder. That's pretty good for a 9th round pick. 

[Thrylos]

Had Palacios at 36 in my off-season top 40 list.  7 ahead of him graduated, 2 were traded and few more had pretty bad seasons, so I think that he will be knocking on the top 20.  His biggest issue before he came up North was his glove, but that is looking pretty ok these days...

[nytwinsfan]

Here is more on Palacios and Wade in the BA chat about the Appy League top 20 list: 

 

ethan (maine): Can you give us an idea of where Palacios ranks among the tiers of SS prospects?
Hudson Belinsky: I had one scout say that he’s right there with Nick Gordon in the Twins’ system. Palacios is a guy. Will be fun to monitor his progress up the ladder.

 

 

Roy (Indiana): Wade was very important in Cedar Rapids' playoff run after his promotion. Does his performance there improve his chances of a promotion to High A to open 2016?
Hudson Belinsky: I can’t speak to the Twins specific plans for him for next year, but Wade proved himself to be a legitimate prospect this summer, and the organization loves his makeup. Is Hi-A possible to start 2016? Yes, but it is a matter of circumstance.

 

 

Placios was also ranked 17 in the top-20 for the Gulf Coast League: http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/gulf-coast-league-top-20-prospects/

 

Strangely, while he was ahead of Daz Cameron in the Appalachian League, he is behind him here in the GCL. This might conceivably make sense if Palacios' performance was relatively better in the Appalachian League than in the GCL while Cameron's performance was better in the GCL than in the Appalachian League. But actually if you look at Cameron's and Palacios' stats, the exact opposite is true:

 

Palacios had a 1.061 OPS in the GCL and a .852 OPS in the Appy League.

Cameron had a .576 OPS in the GCL and a .721 OPS in the Appy League.

 

So anyway, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ about how those rankings go (must be based on scouting, not just performance, and by different people). But assuming then that it must be two different sets of scouts for each league, it is great to see Palacios considered a real prospect by scouts for two different leagues.

[2wins87]

 

So anyway, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ about how those rankings go (must be based on scouting, not just performance, and by different people). But assuming then that it must be two different sets of scouts for each league, it is great to see Palacios considered a real prospect by scouts for two different leagues.

 

Yeah, my understanding is that the authors that compile the league and team lists pretty much determine the order themselves, and obviously are talking to different scouts as well.  The top 100 list that comes out at the end of the process is more of a group process, so there will be some discrepancies.  Good to see Palacios making appearances on both of these tough.  I think he's gotta be in the Twins top 20 this year.

[Bob Sacamento]

 

Had Palacios at 36 in my off-season top 40 list.  7 ahead of him graduated, 2 were traded and few more had pretty bad seasons, so I think that he will be knocking on the top 20.  His biggest issue before he came up North was his glove, but that is looking pretty ok these days...

Yeah the glove has improved to average, he covers his ground and he has a strong arm and quick hands that allows his defense to play up at SS.

[kab21]

They have addressed the discrepancy between league lists before.  The rankings are heavily dependent based on what the league scouts tell them.  There is a chance that GCL scouts didn't get a chance to see him much and he didn't rise in their rankings like he did in the appy league.

[Bob Sacamento]

 

They have addressed the discrepancy between league lists before.  The rankings are heavily dependent based on what the league scouts tell them.  There is a chance that GCL scouts didn't get a chance to see him much and he didn't rise in their rankings like he did in the appy league.

There were ample opportunities for the scouts to see him in GCL, I know I was there as much as they were. On BAs' podcast, Ben Badler was just talking about how he relied on the scouts who are at these spring training complexes more so than the coaches who don't get a chance to see everyone in the league like in the Appy League.  That probably accounts for some of the discrepancy in ratings more so than anything else.

[jokin]

 

Yeah, my understanding is that the authors that compile the league and team lists pretty much determine the order themselves, and obviously are talking to different scouts as well.  The top 100 list that comes out at the end of the process is more of a group process, so there will be some discrepancies.  Good to see Palacios making appearances on both of these tough.  I think he's gotta be in the Twins top 20 this year.

 

With all of the graduations at the top and a number of busts/mehs/serious injuries, cracking that list ain't quite the same honor that it was one year ago at this point in time.

[kab21]

 

There were ample opportunities for the scouts to see him in GCL, I know I was there as much as they were. On BAs' podcast, Ben Badler was just talking about how he relied on the scouts who are at these spring training complexes more so than the coaches who don't get a chance to see everyone in the league like in the Appy League.  That probably accounts for some of the discrepancy in ratings more so than anything else.

 

There could be all kinds of reasons but he might not have been on the scouts radar early in the season (the GCL part of his season) and they might not have paid as much attention to him.  And we are only talking about 31 games in the GCL for a position player.  If a scout only saw a few games and Palacios didn't stand out at the plate or in the field he might not have jumped up their personal rankings.  Or any number of reasons.