News and Notes: MLB Pipeline Top 100 List Released
News and Notes for Saturday, January 27th, 2024
MLB.com released their top 100 prospects list. Chase DeLauter is 31st, Kyle Manzardo is 59th, Brayan Rocchio is 91st and Daniel Espino is 100th. Juan Brito was robbed.
FanGraphs’ ZiPS projections are complete, so you can look at the projections for the Guardians. For hitters, the top 9 are:
Jose Ramirez: 5.2 fWAR, 129 wRC+
Andres Gimenez: 4.7, 113 wRC+
Steven Kwan: 2.9 fWAR, 102 wRC+
Bo Naylor: 2.7 fWAR, 102 wRC+
Brayan Rocchio: 2 fWAR, 91 wRC+
Josh Naylor: 1.9 fWAR, 117 wRC+
Estevan Florial: 1.9 fWAR, 94 wRC+
Kyle Manzardo (if given full-time plate appearances): 1.8 fWAR, 113 wRC+
Ramon Laureano: 1.6 fWAR, 101 wRC+
George Valera 96 wRC+, David Fry 95 wRC+, and Will Brennan 93 wRC+ also have decent hitting projections. Also a good sign that Juan Brito and Chase DeLauter are both projected for 90 wRC+, given their limited exposure to the upper levels of the minor leagues.
FanGraphs did a deeper dive into Nolan Jones’ 2023 season and 2024 projections, making me even more upset that the team punted on him. Hard not to think how much better we’d feel about the Guardians’ lineup for 2024 with Jones in right field.
Willie Hood from Next Year in Cleveland did a quick Twitter thread on potential options for the Guardians at the first overall pick that’s worth the time:
Calianone is such a high-risk proposition. Running a strikeout rate in the 30's in college isn't an indicator of future success against superior competition. That said he has immense power which is enticing.
— Willie Hood (@WillHoo99) January 26, 2024
On the other side, he's changed his arm swing and picked up velo & cmd. https://t.co/n4gwF17Tb7