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2021 Minor League Thread

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Law dropped his full organizational top 20 today:

1. Triston McKenzie
2. Bo Naylor
3. George Valera
4. Tyler Freeman
5. Nolan Jones
6. Brayan Rocchio
7. Gabriel Arias
8. Lenny Torres
9. Daniel Espino
10. Ethan Hankins
11. Jose Tena
12. Aaron Bracho
13. Angel Martinez
14. Gabriel Rodriguez
15. Tanner Burns
16. Carson Tucker
17. Owen Miller
18. Isaiah Greene
19. Junior Sanquintin
20. Carlos Vargas

Full write-ups are included in the article ($)

As to the "lack of pitching prospects" comment -- he clearly likes a number of these arms on this Top 20, but (especially with the lost 2020) he see's the CLE system as having few if any impact starters in the upper levels....good possibilities in the lower levels. He is clearly not as high on Cantillo as is the Tribe FO (or me :cool: ), but does not dismiss him either, He notes Hentges may get some chances in the bigs this year -- power arm, lacking command.
 
Law dropped his full organizational top 20 today:

1. Triston McKenzie
2. Bo Naylor
3. George Valera
4. Tyler Freeman
5. Nolan Jones
6. Brayan Rocchio
7. Gabriel Arias
8. Lenny Torres
9. Daniel Espino
10. Ethan Hankins
11. Jose Tena
12. Aaron Bracho
13. Angel Martinez
14. Gabriel Rodriguez
15. Tanner Burns
16. Carson Tucker
17. Owen Miller
18. Isaiah Greene
19. Junior Sanquintin
20. Carlos Vargas

Full write-ups are included in the article ($)


Say what you will about Keith Law, but the dude is not afraid to go against mainstream consensus on so many guys and he's worth the read every time.
 
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Is the omission of recent add Gimenez mentioned?
 
Agree -- none of these guys are infallible of course, but I have followed Law's commentary for years and he brings a unique, often divergent perspective.
 
Is the omission of recent add Gimenez mentioned?
From a November BA article:
Previously, days on the active roster after Sept. 1 were not counted toward a player’s service time. But with no September callups this year, days on the active roster in September 2020 were counted toward the 45-day active roster limit. As such, players like Mets infielder Andres Gimenez and Angels outfielder Jo Adell exhausted their rookie eligibility when, in previous years, they would have remained rookies heading into the following season.
 
Now that we can see K Law's prospect list for CLE, his earlier comment (that was part of the farm system rankings) about needing to refocus efforts on adding arms makes more sense.
Only 6 of his top 20 for CLE are pitchers this time around.
In 2020 it was 8 of 20.
In 2019 it was 10 of 20.
In 2018 it was 6 of 16 (including Civale at #7 & Bieber at #10).
 
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New Minor League structure for 2021 and beyond. Gone are the historic league names; replaced by generic, directional monikers.


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Though change is hard and this restructuring has grinded more than a few gears, I could not be happier personally. Bye Bye Short Season A ball and hello full season High A ball!!!!! Too bad it is an Arizona affiliate but oh well.
 
Kiley McDaniel (ESPN) released his ranking of the farm systems late on Friday 2/12/21.

CLE at #9

Tampa at #1 (unanimous so far).. Washington at #30 (also unanimous so far).

Rest of AL Central:
Detroit #3
Minnesota #5
ChiSox #14
KC #17
 
Don't know if this has been posted...

Bleacher Report has us rated 9th.
Twins 8th
Tigers 7th
KC 15th
Chicago 16th

These rankings are kinda disingenuous, because a lot of the prospects listed have already gotten their feet wet in MLB, and will drop off the lists within weeks of opening day...and a lot of really good recent prospects are already playing.

Our top ten list includes only one kid...TMac...who has seen MLB. Only Jones has any kind of shot at the Bigs this year.

Two of KCs top ten are likely to play this year and one was just traded away.

Two of Chicago's top three are already in the Bigs.

Two of the Twins top six have already arrived.

Two of Detroit are already in the Bigs, with three more likely to be up this year.

By default, if we make no moves, we will jump way up by mid-season, even farther by seasons end.

But these things go in cycles. Chicago has had their wave.

Minnesota is in the midst of their wave.

Detroit wave has begun.

I'm not sure KC will ever have a wave.

Ours looks to be heading for shore.

Mad will remember this from the old IBI forum. About three years ago some of the more astute posters, several that have thankfully moved here, began wondering how we were gonna be able to compete with Chicago, Minnesota, and Detroit when all their talent reached MLB while ours were near the end of their control years.

Now the question might be reversed. How will they be able to compete when all our talent reaches MLB as theirs nears the end of their control years?

It doesn't seem that long ago, but Berrios and Buxton have two years until free agency. Right after that, Sano, Polanco, and Kepler will hit their option years, when they begin to get expensive.

Chicago isn't as bad off, but they have similar decisions to make on Anderson, Moncado, and Grandal.
 
Don't know if this has been posted...

Bleacher Report has us rated 9th.
Twins 8th
Tigers 7th
KC 15th
Chicago 16th

These rankings are kinda disingenuous, because a lot of the prospects listed have already gotten their feet wet in MLB, and will drop off the lists within weeks of opening day...and a lot of really good recent prospects are already playing.

Our top ten list includes only one kid...TMac...who has seen MLB. Only Jones has any kind of shot at the Bigs this year.

Two of KCs top ten are likely to play this year and one was just traded away.

Two of Chicago's top three are already in the Bigs.

Two of the Twins top six have already arrived.

Two of Detroit are already in the Bigs, with three more likely to be up this year.

By default, if we make no moves, we will jump way up by mid-season, even farther by seasons end.

But these things go in cycles. Chicago has had their wave.

Minnesota is in the midst of their wave.

Detroit wave has begun.

I'm not sure KC will ever have a wave.

Ours looks to be heading for shore.

Mad will remember this from the old IBI forum. About three years ago some of the more astute posters, several that have thankfully moved here, began wondering how we were gonna be able to compete with Chicago, Minnesota, and Detroit when all their talent reached MLB while ours were near the end of their control years.

Now the question might be reversed. How will they be able to compete when all our talent reaches MLB as theirs nears the end of their control years?

It doesn't seem that long ago, but Berrios and Buxton have two years until free agency. Right after that, Sano, Polanco, and Kepler will hit their option years, when they begin to get expensive.

Chicago isn't as bad off, but they have similar decisions to make on Anderson, Moncado, and Grandal.
I had not posted this Bleacher Report item as it was from in January.
BR tends to publish 4 or 5 rankings or re-rankings each year (start of calendar year, start of ST Camp, Midseason, Post trade deadline and post MiLB season).

Since there are typically some moves made late January & leading into spring training, I use the Start of Camp rankings from BR for the report/ chart I put together. As an example: Back in 2019, Philly was listed as #14 by BR at the start of the year & as #20 by the time camp started. Oakland dropped from #12 to #16 in those rankings also. Miami moved up from #28 to #25 in the same period and there were a handful of other moves as well...
 
Now here is an interesting listing....
I was pleasantly surprised to see 21 CLE farmhands on a listing of 300 Fantasy Baseball Prospects.

Site: Fantrax HQ
Free/ Open Source
Posted: 2/11/21

https://www.fantraxhq.com/top-fantasy-baseball-prospects/

Top-300 Fantasy Baseball Prospects – Updated 2/11/2021
RankPlayerPositionOrgAgeETAPrevious rank
66Nolan Jones3BCLE22.8202165
69George ValeraOFCLE20.3202236
87Isaiah GreeneOFCLE19.5202381
89Brayan RocchioSSCLE20.1202283
93Tyler FreemanSSCLE21.8202286
106Aaron Bracho2BCLE19.92023110
116Daniel EspinoRHPCLE20.22023121
119Ethan HankinsRHPCLE20.82023113
126Triston McKenzieRHPCLE23.6Debuted130
128Alexfri PlanezOFCLE19.62024133
146Gabriel AriasSSCLE20.92022147
195Gabriel Rodriguez3B/SSCLE21.92024186
209Jhonkensy Noel1B/3BCLE19.62024181
212Petey HalpinOFCLE18.82023205
242Owen Miller2B/SSCLE24.32021236
246Joey CantilloLHPCLE21.22022239
249Angel MartinezINFCLE19.12024224
254Josh WolfRHPCLE20.52023247
256Tanner BurnsRHPCLE2022249
264Daniel JohnsonOFCLE25.72021NR
278Carson TuckerSSCLE19.12024NR
 
I know its only fantasy baseball, but Greene at #3 for us is mind blowing.
 
Now here is an interesting listing....
I was pleasantly surprised to see 21 CLE farmhands on a listing of 300 Fantasy Baseball Prospects.

Site: Fantrax HQ
Free/ Open Source
Posted: 2/11/21

https://www.fantraxhq.com/top-fantasy-baseball-prospects/

Top-300 Fantasy Baseball Prospects – Updated 2/11/2021
RankPlayerPositionOrgAgeETAPrevious rank
66Nolan Jones3BCLE22.8202165
69George ValeraOFCLE20.3202236
87Isaiah GreeneOFCLE19.5202381
89Brayan RocchioSSCLE20.1202283
93Tyler FreemanSSCLE21.8202286
106Aaron Bracho2BCLE19.92023110
116Daniel EspinoRHPCLE20.22023121
119Ethan HankinsRHPCLE20.82023113
126Triston McKenzieRHPCLE23.6Debuted130
128Alexfri PlanezOFCLE19.62024133
146Gabriel AriasSSCLE20.92022147
195Gabriel Rodriguez3B/SSCLE21.92024186
209Jhonkensy Noel1B/3BCLE19.62024181
212Petey HalpinOFCLE18.82023205
242Owen Miller2B/SSCLE24.32021236
246Joey CantilloLHPCLE21.22022239
249Angel MartinezINFCLE19.12024224
254Josh WolfRHPCLE20.52023247
256Tanner BurnsRHPCLE2022249
264Daniel JohnsonOFCLE25.72021NR
278Carson TuckerSSCLE19.12024NR
encouraging.. yes.. but only three guys with ETA's for 2021? Fortunately, ETA's are best guesses..
 

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