Braves 2010 Top Prospects Introduction

October 13, 2009 at 8:00 am by Capitol Avenue Club under Atlanta Braves, Prospects, Site News

As some of you may know, every year I publish a list of the Braves’ top-40 prospects.  This is something that is rather important to me and I take it seriously.  I’ve spent the past month and a half gathering scouting reports, comparing statistics, and analyzing the farm system for the purposes of publishing this list.  Over the next few days, the list will be revealed, 10 at a time, and eventually will appear on the Top Prospects page (the 2009 prospects page will still be available, in its entirety, as a subpage) located on the top bar above the banner.  First, a little bit about the list.

Of last year’s top-40, 23 made the 2010 list.  3 of the 2009 list made their MLB debut (Tommy Hanson, Kris Medlen, and Diory Hernandez), 5 of them are no longer with the organization (Gorkys Hernandez, Jeff Locke, Eric Campbell, Isaiah Ka`aihue, and Steven Evarts), and 9 were dropped from the rankings (Stephen Marek, Todd Redmond, Richard Sullivan, Chad Rogers, Jose Cabrera, Kyle Cofield, Jacob Thompson, Van Pope, and Michael Mehlich).  In addition to the 23 from the 2009 list, 9 2009 draftees appear on the 2010 list.  8 previously unranked prospects round out the list.

You may have seen the prospects “year in review” series.  There were 6 total pieces.  Four reviewing the 2009 list, one reviewing the entire 2009 draft class, and one reviewing the 8 previously unrakned prospects.  The articles reviewing the 40 prospects who made the list will include links to these pieces.  They will also include links to last years’ write-up if applicable.

The format for the listings is this:

Number (whatever their rank is): Prospect Name (linked to their baseball-reference page) – Position (2010 age) Height Weight LB. Last Year’s Rank: (2009 rank, link to write-up).  2009 in review (link to write-up).

The first list is scheduled to be published later today.  I hope you enjoy it.