Jonathan Mayo, specifically. The top ten is not surprising, but it is curious to see in the second ten Michael Blazek, Robert Stock, Scott Gorgen and Eric Fornataro, all of whom have been relieving, either part-time or full-time. 12 pitchers and eight position players appear in the new top 20.

link

Domeboys wrote: Jonathan Mayo, specifically. The top ten is not surprising, but it is curious to see in the second ten Michael Blazek, Robert Stock, Scott Gorgen and Eric Fornataro, all of whom have been relieving, either part-time or full-time. 12 pitchers and eight position players appear in the new top 20.

link

You dont think Cleto is a surprise?   i think Gast is a little high also but not totally ridiculous.

CariocaCardinal wrote: You dont think Cleto is a surprise?   i think Gast is a little high also but not totally ridiculous.

Perhaps their placement in the top 10, but they don't disturb me by being in the top 20. The other four I wouldn't have placed in that group at all. What about you?

Is Eduardo Sanchez not viewed as a prospect anymore or is he not viewed very highly or what is the reason for him not being on the top 20 list?

nick3 wrote: Is Eduardo Sanchez not viewed as a prospect anymore or is he not viewed very highly or what is the reason for him not being on the top 20 list?

Don't know what criteria MLB.com used in their rankings. In Sanchez' case, it could be time in the majors. He has 45 innings pitched as a major leaguer.

Thanks, brianpnoonan. So Sanchez was excluded due to service time.

I have never felt that Mayo had much knowledge beyond the top 5 or 6 prospects in the Cardinal organization and maybe not many organizations.

You may notice that other than Blazek most of the players we may question are pretty high draft choices.

I think Mayo's claim to fame is that he and some lady traveled the country one year and saw a game played by every minor league team and maybe every team at home.

He has been prominent in the minor league site's draft coverage only in recent years. So recent draft choices seem to be also be high on his list. Why he picked up on Blazek and Fornatero only one can guess.

They are both high velocity pitchers as is Cleto but probably will max out as set up pitchers if they make the majors at all.

Remember last year he had Seth Blair in the top ten.

very lazy rankings. he left certain people on there to legitimize him picking them before and only considered high profile 2012 draft picks for consideration to be added.

Re his Taveras write-up, perhaps I'm not interpreting the following correctly:

"He would have easily won the Midwest League batting title with enough at-bats..."

Now, Taveras did win the Midwest League batting title.  He knows that, right?  So, he actually means...?

Mayo posted new NL Central team top 20s today. Interestingly, he has Martinez at #2, ahead of Miller. First time I have seen that. Also, in his new MLB top 100 posted the other day, he has Miller at #25 and Martinez at #33. Not sure how that came to be unless he has others helping him behind the scenes.

Domeboys wrote: Mayo posted new NL Central team top 20s today. Interestingly, he has Martinez at #2, ahead of Miller. First time I have seen that. Also, in his new MLB top 100 posted the other day, he has Miller at #25 and Martinez at #33. Not sure how that came to be unless he has others helping him behind the scenes.

Must've been a typo as Miller is ahead of Martinez now.

Miller was given a #3 ranking before on fangraphs, but that was behind Wacha, not Martinez.

Why make two off season prospect lists?

PadsFS wrote:

Domeboys wrote: Mayo posted new NL Central team top 20s today. Interestingly, he has Martinez at #2, ahead of Miller. First time I have seen that. Also, in his new MLB top 100 posted the other day, he has Miller at #25 and Martinez at #33. Not sure how that came to be unless he has others helping him behind the scenes.

Must've been a typo as Miller is ahead of Martinez now.

Miller was given a #3 ranking before on fangraphs, but that was behind Wacha, not Martinez.

This MLB.com article still has Martinez #2 and Miller #3.

I don't pay any attention to Mayo's rating. All you have to do is look at last year's ratings and you see how little he knows about the system.

I understand the concerns about MLB's rankings. However, because they are who they are, I added them to my annual analysis of national raters as the sixth source. This is a subscriber article, but it has all the Cardinals top 10's in one place and I include a lot of comparative analysis and history info.

"2013 Cardinals prospects: What the others say"

Domeboys wrote: I understand the concerns about MLB's rankings. However, because they are who they are, I added them to my annual analysis of national raters as the sixth source. This is a subscriber article, but it has all the Cardinals top 10's in one place and I include a lot of comparative analysis and history info.

"2013 Cardinals prospects: What the others say"

Nice read it is thanks...... Was reading the article and couldnt help but think of the Cards 4th best prospect Zach Cox before the Marlins swooped in and stole him away for a mere 6th inning reliever..  What a steal Loria and Sampson.......

Teufelshunde4 wrote:

Domeboys wrote: I understand the concerns about MLB's rankings. However, because they are who they are, I added them to my annual analysis of national raters as the sixth source. This is a subscriber article, but it has all the Cardinals top 10's in one place and I include a lot of comparative analysis and history info.

"2013 Cardinals prospects: What the others say"

Nice read it is thanks...... Was reading the article and couldnt help but think of the Cards 4th best prospect Zach Cox before the Marlins swooped in and stole him away for a mere 6th inning reliever..  What a steal Loria and Sampson.......

Thank you, Teufel. It is a chicken-and-egg issue, but I hope those who might be on the fence about subscribing take advantage of the seven-day free trial.

Regarding Cox and the Marlins, your comment inspired me to make a quick search. Because they dumped most of their stars for prospects, the Marlins system is somewhere in the top third or half, depending on the rater. Cox himself did not make Law's top 10 Marlins or Sickels' top 20 Marlins. He is Mayo's #10 Marlin.

A more general pair of questions about our farm system, for those of you who follow minor league players much more closely than I:

1.  I am under the impression that our farm system has gone from mediocre to outstanding in recent years.  Fair statement?

2.  Because of the productive farm system, we have been less inclined to jump into the free agent frenzy with both feet.  Fair statement?

Thanks.  And peace
brosky

Yes to both.