End of Season Top Prospects Lists

[OregonStrosFan]

Sickels posted his Top 75 Prospects: End of Season Update (h/t to Astros County)

The Astros on this list are as follows (link provides commentary):

#6: Carlos Correa
#9: George Springer
#20: Mark Appel
#37: Mike Foltynewicz
#43: Lance McCullers, Jr
#73: Jon Singleton
Honorable Mentions: Delino DeShields, Jr, and Rio Ruiz

Good to see someone finally including Springer in their Top 10.  As for Singleton at #73, Sickels has been fairly consistent on ranking Singleton below (or well below) most of the other prospect folks.

And to add, though I usually don't point people to readers comments, I think the "Springer-detractors seem to misuse age relative to level" comment is worth a look (and Sickels seems to have given his approval to it as well).

[Reuben]

He also responded to a question in the comments by saying that he thought Preston Tucker would fall "in the 100-130 range". Higher than I expected.

[Reuben]

Also, on Domingo Santana:

Well the tools really stand out. I think he would be in the low 100s. But that might move up some after I get the book written

And Fontana:

Fontana is a prospect but I want to see how he handles pitching above the California League.

[Nate in IA]

Can't believe I've been lucky enough to see Byron Buxton AND the gang from the Quad Cities all in one year.  Quite the array of talent flowing through Cedar Rapids this year.

[astrosfan76]

Not really a list, but Callis posted an article this morning citing DDS's superiority over Billy Hamilton. A few highlights:

Hamilton might be the next Vince Coleman. DeShields could be the next Kenny Lofton.

The most important job of a leadoff hitter isn't to steal bases. It's to get on base, because he can't wreak havoc unless he does. DeShields has a significantly higher walk-rate percentage (11.0), compared to 9.5 percent for Hamilton, and his on-base percentage of .366 is 16 points higher than that of Hamilton.

As a bonus, DeShields offers more power as well. The 5-foot-9, 205-pounder generates occasional pop from the right side of the plate, and he has a higher slugging percentage (.406 vs. .378) and isolated power (.131 vs. .098; slugging percentage minus batting average) than the six-foot, 160-pound Hamilton.

He also cites DDS moving off second as a reason for future development. Hamilton's stock took a hit this season after struggling at AAA. DDS will face a challenge moving to AA next season, but I've preferred DDS's skillset since they both started making names for themselves. Homerism aside, I just think he presents a tougher challenge for pitchers. I'm excited to picture him in the Houston lineup in a couple of seasons alongside Altuve and Springer as guys who can steal 30+ bases at the top of the lineup.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/hou/pipeline-perspectives-delino-deshields-jr-has-more-upside-than-billy-hamilton?ymd=20131003&content_id=62426704&vkey=news_hou

[juliogotay]

There woud be alot of tools in an OF of DDS, Springer and Santana.

[astrosfan76]

Springer wins his first major award, being named MiLB's Offensive Player of the Year. 

With 37 homers, 45 steals and a stellar season patrolling center field for Double-A Corpus Christi and Triple-A Oklahoma City, Springer earned the staff MiLBY for Offensive Player of the Year in emphatic fashion, despite a stellar class of competition.

The 11th overall pick in the 2011 Draft edged top Minnesota prospect Byron Buxton for the honor by taking six of the available 11 first-place votes. No MiLB.com staffer had Springer ranked lower than second on his or her ballot. The Cubs' top prospect Javier Baez finished third, and Philadelphia's No. 2 prospect Maikel Franco checked in fourth.

http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20131024&content_id=63250530&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_milb&sid=milb&tcid=tw_share