MLB Top 350+ Prospects for 2010 (Arranged by Position)

The Spreadsheet is viewable below. Click here to view The MLB Chronicle's 2010 Top 350+ MLB Prospects (ranked and arranged by position)!

The following spreadsheet file is a listing of The (Major League) Baseball Chronicle's top 300 MLB prospects for 2010. The prospects are arranged by position and ranked by their overall talent, and their distance from the Major Leagues. For position players, scouting ratings (using the standard 20-80 Scouting Scale) are provided for their hitting ability ("Bat"), power ("Pwr"), base-running speed ("Spd"), overall defensive ability ("Fld"), and for their plate discipline/batting approach ("Dis"). I've also provided, each players' name, primary position(s), career on-base-plus-slugging percentage ("OPS")-- in the minor leagues (including the Dominican Summer League)--, their handedness with which they bat and throw ("B/T" for "bats and throws"), their date of birth ("D.O.B."), their height and weight ("Ht/Wt"), and their overall prospect grade ("Grade").

The 20-80 scouting scale used by The Major League Baseball Chronicle, is one that is almost universal utilized by baseball scouting organizations. The numbers are projections of what the player could do, when (and if) they reach 80% of their potential. A scouting rating of "50" represents the MLB average-- 15 homeruns, an 87-88 mph fastball, a .270 batting average etc... A scouting rating of "80" is extremely rare, and only given to the most impressive skills-- Adam Dunn's power, Jose Reyes' speed, Tony Gwynn's batting ability, Ozzie Smith's defense, Pedro Martinez' changeup, Nolan Ryan's fastball, Barry Zito's curveball, etc... A scouting rating of "35" is fringe MLB-passable for most skills, except defense due to the existence of the designated hitter in the AL. Occasionally subpar skills (a Tim Wakefield's fastball velocity, Sean Casey's foot-speed, Adam Dunn's defense) (below a "35" rating) are acceptable if the player's other skills compensate. Jason Tyner for instance, had 1358 MLB at bats despite hitting just one homerun during that span. A scouting rating of "20" is a skill that will keep a player from receiving an at bat in the Major Leagues and is rarely seen in Minor League baseball.

For pitchers, the same information that was listed for batters is provided (Name, position, team, grade, etc...)-- except their scouting ratings are appropriate for their position. In the hitter's batting-ability column, pitchers have a rating for their fastball movement and velocity ("fb"). In the hitter's power column, pitchers have a rating for their breaking-ball movement and velocity ("Bb"), followed by a rating for their changeup movement/velocity ("ch") in the next column, their overall command and control ("Cmd") in the next, and finally a rating for their polish ("pol") (-- a measure of major-league readiness and pitching intelligence-- in the final column. Note that, instead of providing an OPS, a pitchers' career, minor league, earned-run-average ("ERA"), is listed.

All of the prospects listed on this spreadsheet have less than 150 Major League at bats and less than 50 MLB innings pitched. Most of the players listed on this sheet have no experience in the Major Leagues, while some have no professional baseball experience whatsoever.

For players that have an inadequate amount of statistical data in the Minor Leagues, "N/A" is listed under their "OPS" or "ERA" columns.

By the end of the week, written scouting reports for each of these players will be posted, but premium information will only be available to online subscribers ($19.95 + $2.95 s&h for access to the 2010 TBC Prospect Handbook). For subscription information, please contact Ryan Kelley (rskelley9@gmail.com) or Laura Ryan (lryan09@gmail.com) for further details. The official website of The Major League Baseball Chronicle (www.mlbchronicle.com) is currently being repaired, and will be available by February 3rd, 2010.



(c) 2010, RyanSK LLC. MLB Top 350+ Prospects 2010 is property of RyanSK LLC. Any attempt to copy or redistribute MLB Top 350+ Prospects for 2010 is illegal and those responsible will be prosecuted to the utmost of the law.

Dominican I.F.A. Rafael DePaula Back on Market

After being suspended by Major League Baseball for misrepresenting his age, the young, right-handed pitcher Rafael DePaula is once again fielding offers from MLB clubs. Just weeks ago DePaula and his agent considered beginning DePaula's professional career in Japan instead of the United States. However, the relatively minor level of deception that DePaula used (a matter of a few months) has probably allowed the Dominican teenager the opportunity to being his career in the US.

Numerous teams have resumed contacting/scouting DePaula. Both the Yankees and the Red Sox are reportedly interested in signing him. The seventeen year old righty wields a low 90s fastball and a repertoire of breaking pitches that have shown impressive potential. With further maturation and development, many scouts believe that DePaula will become a fire-balling ace, capable of launching mid-to-high 90s fastballs and spinning razor sharp sliders past opposing batters.

While no formal offers have been reported, DePaula should easily command a seven-figure contract. However, his age-misrepresentation offense won't be taken lightly by many clubs--especially those that have been burned in similar (but certainly more severe) cases in the past, and his final contract will definitely max out considerably below what it would have been, had he avoided being caught.

Below is a video of DePaula pitching for scouts while in the Dominican Republic. The video is from Kiley McDaniel of Baseball Prospectus.

Rafael DePaula from Kiley McDaniel on Vimeo.