Byron Buxton remains No. 1 on MLB.com’s prospect rankings
For the second straight season, Minnesota Twins outfielder Byron Buxton is the No. 1 ranked prospect in baseball, according to MLB.com’s official rankings.
The announcement was made during a live special which aired on MLB Network on Friday night. Chicago Cubs slugger Kris Bryant, who was named baseball’s No. 1 prospect by ESPN analyst Keith Law, was ranked No. 2. The top five also featured a trio of shortstops, which goes as follows: Carlos Correa of the Houston Astros, Francisco Lindor of the Cleveland Indians, and another Cubs farmhand, Addison Russell.
Despite an injury plagued season that limited him to just 31 games and a disappointing .234/.307/.395 slash line, Buxton was able to hold off the hard charging group in the eyes of MLB.com’s staff. Though as senior writer Jim Callis noted, the difference between Buxton and Bryant was barely noticeable.
Everything is taken into account when these rankings are formulated, including health and durability. With that in mind, Buxton’s five-tool skill set is what sets him apart. He’s even drawn comparisons to reigning AL MVP Mike Trout, who ranked No. 1 on this list in 2010. . Seriously, here’s hoping the injuries in 2014 were just a one-year setback and not a sign of things to come. We want Buxton around for awhile.
In more good news for the Twins, their farm system ranked No. 1 in MLB.com’s prospect points standings, which assigns points to each team based on where their prospects finished. For example, Buxton earned 100 points as the No. 1 prospect. Bryant earned the Cubs 99 points as No. 2, and so on the down line. Both Minnesota and Chicago finished with six prospects in the top 100, but Minnesota’s earned 464 points compared to 424.
For what it’s worth, the Pittsburgh Pirates had the most overall players in the top 100 with seven.
Among the other notable items:
The Los Angeles Dodgers placed two prospects in the top eight. Corey Seager, a 20- year-old shortstop, ranked No. 7 overall. Julio Urias, the 17-year-old pitching phenom from Mexico, is No. 8. The endorsement of Urias particularly strong, with Callis suggesting he would have given consideration to using Urias in the Dodgers’ bullpen at the end of last season. Again, he’s only 17, and he won’t be 18 until Aug. 23.
Mark Appel settles at No. 30
The Houston Astros’ No. 1 overall pick in 2013 started the 2014 season as MLB.com’s No. 17 prospect, but fell all the way to No. 41 following a miserable regular season.
Pitching at Class A Advanced Lancaster and later Double-A Corpus Christi, Appel went 3-7 with a 6.91 ERA in 83.1 innings. Some of those struggles could be attributed to an emergency appendectomy last January, which setback his preparation. However, this ranking suggests there are questions they’d like to see answered before putting him back in the top 20.
Seven shortstops make the Top 50
We wondered how deep the shortstop might go on the list and now we have our answer. Overall, 14 ranked in the top 100, but the position dominated early, with Correa, Lindor, Russell and Seager ranking among the top eight. J.P. Crawford (No. 21, Phillies), Nick Gordon (No. 33, Twins), and Raul Mondesi Jr. (No. 40, Blue Jays) also made the Top 50.
Overall, pitchers dominated with 46 in the Top 100, followed by outfielders with 20.
For a complete look at the rankings, check out MLB.com.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
