ESPN's Keith Law Releases His Top 100 Prospect List

Yesterday, Keith Law released his organizational rankings.  Today, he released his annual top 100 prospect list and his top ten in each organization list.  (Sorry, ESPN Insider only.) 

Not surprisingly, Law list starts with Angels OF super-prospect Mike Trout at the number one spot.  Trout appears to be the consensus number one prospect, and for good reason.  Here is Law's analysis on the 20 year old outfielder:

"Trout's performance reflects his outstanding tools. He's an 80 runner, not just fast underway but explosively quick out of the box. That speed, combined with good instincts, gives him good range in centerfield. At the plate, he's an intelligent, disciplined hitter, with very good hand-eye coordination and a direct path to the ball. He has good leverage in his swing with a well-timed weight transfer to his front foot, and strong follow-through, so he should hit for above-average power as well as high batting averages. And Trout consistently gets the highest marks from the Angels for makeup, work ethic, and ability to take instruction."

Needless to say, Law thinks that Trout is going to be a superstar player.  After Trout, Bryce Harper (Nationals), Dominic Brown (Phillies), Jesus Montero (Yankees), Eric Hosmer (Royals), Julio Teheran (Braves), Dustin Ackley (Mariners), Wil Myers (Royals), Shelby Miller (Cardinals), and Aaron Hicks (Twins).  Strangely missing from the list was Rays pitching prospect Jeremy Hellickson who placed second on mlb.com's list yesterday.  Hellickson places at number 14 on Law's list.  Other notables include, Zach Britton (Orioles) at 11, Kyle Drabek (Blue Jays) at 13, Aroldis Chapman (Reds) at 15, Casey Kelly (Padres) at 19, Desmond Jennings (Rays) at 20, and Mike Moustakis (Royals) at 23.

Organizationally, the Rays have the most prospects in Law's top 100 with eight.  The Blue Jays and Royals aren't far behind with seven and six, respectively.  Every team except the Brewers had at least one prospect on the list.  The Cubs and White Sox had the unfortunate distinction of only having one prospect on the list. 

Prospect Lists and Organizational Rankings

For those of you who are prospect geeks, today was a pretty exciting day.  MLB.com released their list of Top 50 prospects, and ESPN's Keith Law released his organizational rankings. 

Starting out with the mlb.com list, Angels outfield prospect Mike Trout takes the top spot.  Trout has tremendous upside, and looks to be a true five tool prospect.  With blazing speed, good power to the gaps, and excellent defensive instincts, Trout has all of the makings of a star.  At 19, he still has quite a bit of development remaining, but it wold not surprise me in the least two see him in the majors at some point during the 2012 season.   Rounding out the top five are SP Jeremy Hellickson (Rays), OF Bryce Harper (Nationals), OF Dominic Brown (Phillies), and 2B/OF Dustin Ackley (Mariners).   

In Keith Law's organizational rankings, the Kansas City Royals take the top spot.  This is such a non-surprise, that it's almost anti-climactic.  As I mentioned in my post on the Royals farm system a couple of weeks ago, the Royals have three top hitting prospects in Mike Moustakis, Eric Hosmer, and Wil Meyers, and a plethora of top pitching prospects including Mike Montgomery, Danny Duffy, and John Lamb (among others).  To say that the farm system is stacked is an understatement of mass proportions.  Rounding out the top five are the pitching rich Tampa Bay Rays, the Atlanta Braves, the Toronto Blue Jays, and (surprisingly) the Philadelphia Phillies.