http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/2014-top-10-prospects-miami-marlins/

Fangraphs' Marc Hulet ranks 'em. Fangraphs is Marlins-intensive today by the way, interview with Heaney at AFL, a detailed piece on Austin Brice & release point consistency, and Steamer Projections on the Fish prospects. Go read.

• Heaney
  
• Marisnick
  
• Nicolino
  
• Colin Moran
  
• Adam Conley
  
• Anthony Desclafani
  
• Brian Flynn
  
• JT Realmuto
  
• Jose Urena
  
• Avery Romero
  
• Trevor Williams
  
• Colby Suggs
  
• Austin Brice
  
• Austin Barnes
  
• Sam Dyson
  

No real issues here, Desclafani & Flynn made big strides.

Just for comparison sake here's the rankings from last season:

1-Jose, 2-Yelich, 3-Heaney, 4-Nic, 5-Jake, 6-Hech, 7-Ozuna, 8-Urena, 9-Brantly, 10-Conley, 11-JT, 12-Brice, 13-Dietrich, 14-Avery, 15-Barnes

Dyson is a bit of a stretch, but otherwise I would have all the other players on there, though not necessarily in that order

Still no Keys?! *throws a chair*

[/sarcasm]

 

Hopefully some time in the next year, Josh Easley will be added to this list. I hope his stats continue from this past year.

Not a chance in hell Realmuto is a better prospect than Barnes right now.

 

I am interested to see if the Marlins decide to make Barnes a catcher or 2nd baseman long term. If he improves his defense, he has a chance of being a decent starting catcher at the major league level.

 

And Conley was sneaky good last season. He's got a chance of taking over a rotation spot if anybody bombs out of the gate.

I also disagree with Marisnick being our 2nd best prospect right now. I'd probably rank it something like

 

1. Heaney

2. Moran

3. Nicolino

4. Conley

5. Wittgren

6. Marisnick

7. Flynn

8. Desclafani

9. Barnes

10. Williams

11. Keys

12. Solorzano

13. Angel Sanchez

14. Romero

15. Urena

 

Honorable Mention to Realmuto, Hope, Cox, Dyson, Canha, and Brady.

On second thought, I'd place Mark Canha somewhere just outside the top 10 Marlins prospects. He might be 24 and doesn't hit for enough power as a 1st baseman, but he's been consistently good since joining the system after 4 years at FSU. He's one of those guys I think has a shot at making the majors this year if certain things go his way.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/2014-top-10-prospects-miami-marlins/

Fangraphs' Marc Hulet ranks 'em. Fangraphs is Marlins-intensive today by the way, interview with Heaney at AFL, a detailed piece on Austin Brice & release point consistency, and Steamer Projections on the Fish prospects. Go read.

• Heaney
  
• Marisnick
  
• Nicolino
  
• Colin Moran
  
• Adam Conley
  
• Anthony Desclafani
  
• Brian Flynn
  
• JT Realmuto
  
• Jose Urena
  
• Avery Romero
  
• Trevor Williams
  
• Colby Suggs
  
• Austin Brice
  
• Austin Barnes
  
• Sam Dyson
  

No real issues here, Desclafani & Flynn made big strides.

Just for comparison sake here's the rankings from last season:

1-Jose, 2-Yelich, 3-Heaney, 4-Nic, 5-Jake, 6-Hech, 7-Ozuna, 8-Urena, 9-Brantly, 10-Conley, 11-JT, 12-Brice, 13-Dietrich, 14-Avery, 15-Barnes

What does fangraph have against Wittgren????

Not a chance in hell Realmuto is a better prospect than Barnes right now.

 

I am interested to see if the Marlins decide to make Barnes a catcher or 2nd baseman long term. If he improves his defense, he has a chance of being a decent starting catcher at the major league level.

 

And Conley was sneaky good last season. He's got a chance of taking over a rotation spot if anybody bombs out of the gate.

agreed on Conley and a little on Canha too. He just might make his way up here eventually.

 

I'd keep using Barnes at catcher. That's where he's gonna have the most value.

Still no Keys?! *throws a chair*

[/sarcasm]

 

Hopefully some time in the next year, Josh Easley will be added to this list. I hope his stats continue from this past year.

I just read Keys is back to back batting title winner in two leagues. Uh, yeah I would have to agree with you on this one

Still no Keys?! *throws a chair*

[/sarcasm]

 

Hopefully some time in the next year, Josh Easley will be added to this list. I hope his stats continue from this past year.

I just read Keys is back to back batting title winner in two leagues. Uh, yeah I would have to agree with you on this one

He was being sarcastic.

 

But I seem to think Keys is worth a bit more than everyone else, whatever, my opinion. He's like Luis Castillo as an outfielder...

I like Keys, myself. I feel people overrate the lack of power, personally.

Just cause a guy doesn't OPS .800 doesn't make him a bad player, but whatever.

I like Keys, myself. I feel people overrate the lack of power, personally.

Just cause a guy doesn't OPS .800 doesn't make him a bad player, but whatever.

 

Agreed. Dude just hits, and hasn't stopped. I would put $20 that he makes it to the majors before Marisnick does in 2014.

He's come around in the AFL, as well. He's hitting .319 with a .773 OPS.

 

I'm going to have to assume Moran is starting in Jupiter, and that's honestly where I wanted him to go, anyhow. Nothing against him, but I'd rather he progress naturally rather than jump a level.

He's come around in the AFL, as well. He's hitting .319 with a .773 OPS.

 

I'm going to have to assume Moran is starting in Jupiter, and that's honestly where I wanted him to go, anyhow. Nothing against him, but I'd rather he progress naturally rather than jump a level.

Agreed on Moran. Especially if we're able to pick up a serviceable player like Freese for a year, there's no need to rush him. Start in Jupiter, if it goes well send him up to Jax... go from there.

I kinda see that one guy we signed, Juan Diaz, as filling in at third for a year. He's a shortstop, yes, but he's 6'4 200, might translate decently at third. Who knows?

I kinda see that one guy we signed, Juan Diaz, as filling in at third for a year. He's a shortstop, yes, but he's 6'4 200, might translate decently at third. Who knows?

 

Jesus, I hope not. His numbers are worse than Zack Cox... At least Cox gets on base.

I like Keys, myself. I feel people overrate the lack of power, personally.

Just cause a guy doesn't OPS .800 doesn't make him a bad player, but whatever.

 

The lack of power drastically limits his ceiling. That's why Fangraphs and Baseball America aren't ranking him.

I like Keys, myself. I feel people overrate the lack of power, personally.

Just cause a guy doesn't OPS .800 doesn't make him a bad player, but whatever.

 

The lack of power drastically limits his ceiling. That's why Fangraphs and Baseball America aren't ranking him.I understand that, but he gets on base at a pretty high clip thus far. Jacksonville will be a pretty good test for him.

I like Keys, myself. I feel people overrate the lack of power, personally.

Just cause a guy doesn't OPS .800 doesn't make him a bad player, but whatever.

 

The lack of power drastically limits his ceiling. That's why Fangraphs and Baseball America aren't ranking him.

Doesn't mean there isn't a place in the game for a player like that. I know Juan Pierre isn't a great comparison for Keys, but he made $50+ Million in his career and barely reached double digit career HR. Power isn't everything if you can contribute in other ways. If Keys can get to the majors and hit and get on base this way, he will be a very fun lead off hitter to watch... But that's a big IF. If he can't produce these kinds of numbers in the bigs, he is a career 4th/5th OFer. He's still going to be a major leaguer, one way or the other.

 

Let's put it this way, I'll take Brent Keys and his tools over Kyle Jensen and all that power...

That's assuming that Keys is capable of putting up .380 OBP in MLB, which is something that I doubt.

 

Pierre had elite speed to compensate for that. Without it he's kind of worthless. Keys doesn't bring much else to the table. He's a reserve outfielder at best.

That's assuming that Keys is capable of putting up .380 OBP in MLB, which is something that I doubt.

 

Pierre had elite speed to compensate for that. Without it he's kind of worthless. Keys doesn't bring much else to the table. He's a reserve outfielder at best.

 

I mean, no, if he can post that .380 OBP you suggested in the majors (his OBP this season was actually .415 between A/AA ball) then he's a starting CFer at best.

 

He's a reserve outfielder at worst if he can't post those numbers.

You cannot anticipate what role a player will have in the majors by assuming that his minor league numbers will carry over.

You cannot anticipate what role a player will have in the majors by assuming that his minor league numbers will carry over.

Making this more difficult than it is. How do any prospects get looked at or get a chance to move up. Probably by looking at what they posted in the previous levels, high school, college, or minors. I mean you have to make some assumptions on a prospect or there is no point in even calling them a prospect. What better way to make an assumption than based on what they have already proven and making a guess at what their physical abilities will become.

You cannot anticipate what role a player will have in the majors by assuming that his minor league numbers will carry over.

 

Using the number .380 would anticipate a drop off of .035 points from his OBP, it's NOT assuming his numbers carry over. Hell, drop off .050 points... he's still valuable and a starting major-league outfielder on a number of MLB teams...

You cannot anticipate what role a player will have in the majors by assuming that his minor league numbers will carry over.

Making this more difficult than it is. How do any prospects get looked at or get a chance to move up. Probably by looking at what they posted in the previous levels, high school, college, or minors. I mean you have to make some assumptions on a prospect or there is no point in even calling them a prospect. What better way to make an assumption than based on what they have already proven and making a guess at what their physical abilities will become.

You look at the players tools/skill set. Keys has a limited range of offensive skills, which puts a low ceiling on his upside. I've explained this countless times to you both already. That's precisely why Baseball America and Fangraphs are ignoring him. His upside is really limited compared to most other outfield prospects.