Here are the top 25 second base prospects. Picking the first three was easy, but the process became more difficult starting at #4.
1. Dustin Ackley—Mariners
2. Brett Lawrie—Brewers
3. Jason Kipnis—Indians
4. Billy Hamilton—Reds
5. Delino DeShields—Astros
6. Jean Segura—Angels
7. Reese Havens—Mets
8. L.J. Hoes—Orioles
9. Johnny Giavotella—Royals
10. Yamaico Navarro—Red Sox
11. Jemile Weeks—Athletics
12. Scooter Gennett—Brewers
13. Oscar Tejada—Red Sox
14. Adrian Cardenas—Athletics
15. Daniel Descalo—Cardinals
16. Russell Wilson—Rockies
17. D.J. Lemahieu—Cubs
18. Logan Forsythe—Padres
19. Ryan Adams—Orioles
20. Corban Joseph—Yankees
21. Ryan Brett—Rays
22. Cord Phelps—Indians
23. Logan Watkins—Cubs
24. Cesar Hernandez—Phillies
25 (tie). Hector Guevara—Rays
25 (tie). Ivan DeJesus–Dodgers
Future Players: Levi Michael (Univ. of North Carolina), Zack McPhee (Arizona State), Josh Tobias (North Carolina HS)
Very good question. Even though Dejesus’ 2010 numbers were decent, two things bothered me: (1) his OBP dropped to .335 from his previous numbers near .400; and (2) his stolen base totals dropped giving me some concern (possibly unfounded) the leg injury affected his speed. The second question is opportunity. The Dodgers did not grant him a September promotion and just signed Juan Uribe, raising some concerns whether he’ll receive an everyday opportunity.
That being said, a strong argument can be made DeJesus deserved a spot on the second half of this list because he is a solid all-around player reasonably close to the major leagues. I went ahead and added DeJesus to the list in the name of Christmas spirit…just don’t like the idea of explaining why I snubbed a guy named “DeJesus” from our prospects list on Christmas Day. Haha…he should have been there anyway.
Really? No DeJesus? I did a cursory check on some of the stats of a few guys and DeJesus blows them away. Specifically Havens played in like 30 games…
Yeah, the Rays apparently cleaned up this year in the NW drafting Sale, Vettleson, and Brett. Do you have some good info on Brett? I don’t know that much besides he offers solid speed and a good swing.
Great job having Ryan Brett on this list, someone has been paying attention!
Kyle Seager?? I understand that alot of guys numbers get inflated out in the Cali League.. but Baseball America had this guy listed in their top 10 for Seattles Organization. He played with Ackley at UNC and I actually saw him play in Omaha. Hes a solid player, maybe not a power threat, but he could end being an MLB Regular someday.
Even with the defensive problems, Culberson should have been listed. I considered picking him for one of the last spots, and when I chose Hernandez/Guevera, I didn’t realize how well he was playing in the AFL. Just saw this today…
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20101119&content_id=16157300&vkey=affililiate&c_id=
With the good performance in the AFL, Culberson definitely should have gotten one of the last five spots.
Ok, I know it’s SS time now, but I have one more quick question about the second basemen. I have read a bit about Charlie Culberson of the Giants. I notice that he is not on your list. Does this have to do with how bad he was all around until this year and the fact that he’s hitting good but apparently is a terrible defender?
Wow I missed seeing that Hamilton was on the 2B list. Looks like my dynasty team will be all set at 2B in a few years… I have Kipnis, Hamilton and Segura on my MiLB roster. Thank you for getting me excited in November 2010 for stuff that won’t happen until 2013
Hamilton is a great addition. I ended up listing him at 2B b/c I think that’s where he played a majority of last season’s games. He could easily move to SS next season because it seems like he has plenty of range to play SS.
Hamilton is fast enough to lead the league in steals and the early reports about his offense are encouraging. He’s definitely a great prospect.
Can’t wait to see the SS list! Hopefully Billy Hamilton will be on it! I just added him to my minor league roster for my dynasty league team! Haha.
I am definitely a Lipka fan. In the draft, it was surprising Lipka went first round b/c he seemed to get overlooked to some degree. But it didn’t take long to see the Braves made a great pick. Lipka offers rare speed that the Braves graded as 80/80, and he is theoretically big enough (6’1, 188) to develop decent power. If the power develops, he could become one of the game’s best prospects. So it’s an awesome investment for $800k.
Lipka is listed w/ the shortstops because that’s where he played last season, even though he could easily move to second base. I created a really preliminary ranking of the shortstops last night. It is a weird group because there are 8-10 really good prospects, but there is no nobody I would place on the level of Dominic Brown, Julio Teheran, Jesus Montero, Desmond Jennings, etc.
Lipka is one of the hardest to rank. As much as I like Lipka, I think it’s too early to place among the 8-10 elite shortstops (Franklin, Gordon, Colon, Machado, etc). Right now, I have him somewhere in the second group. Still trying to read more about the players, but my first instinct was to place Lipka right behind Hak-Ju Lee and Drew Cumberland?
What do you think about the Braves 1st pick, Matt Lipka? I know he’s listed as a SS/2B for now, but everything I’ve seen seems to project him as having to move to 2B as a pro.