On Friday, MLB Pipeline announced their annual preseason rankings of the league’s 100 best players. Five Brewers made the cut, all of whom were also named to Baseball America’s Top 100 prospects a few days earlier.
Since I already briefly profiled each prospect when the Baseball America list came out, I won’t repeat myself. If you want to read a quick profile of each of the prospects, check out that article.
Now I’m interested in why the two lists differ; in other words, why did MLB Pipeline rank every prospect lower or higher than Baseball America?
3. SS Jesus Made (BA No. 4)
Made’s status as one of the best players in baseball is almost unanimously agreed upon. Pipeline likes Made more than Cardinals infield prospect JJ Wetherholt, who Baseball America ranked above Made, but the difference between Made and Wetherholt (and Kevin McGonigle, Leo DeVries and even No. 1 overall prospect Konnor Griffin) is pretty minimal. While none of these shortstop prospects are exactly the same, they are all seen as having superstar potential and have (so far) lived up to their billing in the minors. Each of these guys could ultimately become the best big leaguer in the group.
One of the reasons Pipeline ranked Made over Wetherholt is that he is more likely to stick at shortstop, which is often considered a “premium” position. Wetherholt will likely move to second or third base (at least early in his career) because he is not a better defensive shortstop than current Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn. Milwaukee does have a defensive shortstop candidate in Cooper Pratt, but he is a potential candidate; Winn just won a Gold Glove. Brewers shortstop Joey Ortiz may be a top-three defensive shortstop in the league, but his bat left a lot to be desired early in his career.
26. INF Luis Peña (BA No. 47)
Peña is ranked more than 20 positions higher than him at Baseball America. As detailed in the BA article, Peña’s offensive stats dropped when he was promoted to High-A. Pipeline has a more optimistic view of that trajectory:
“Peña continued to aggressively seek contact and High-A pitchers exposed him as allergic to non-fastballs, causing him to throw off-speed about 60% of the time after his promotion. Peña moved so fast that he needed exposure to that quality, but now it’s up to him to readjust.”
The other thing holding Peña back for now is his defense. Although he is fast, has good reach for his size and has an above-average arm, he showed a tendency to “let balls slip by or … give sail throws.” His ultimate home could be second or third base.
Peña is quite raw, very young (turned 19 in November) and still developing, so there is a lot of projection involved in predicting his potential future results. Still, he has the tools to one day be in the top 10 of this list – which is ostensibly one of the reasons he’s ranked so high.
51. SS/2B/OF Jett Williams (BA No. 71) and 64. SS Cooper Pratt (BA No. 50)
Although Pratt (Pipeline No. 64) was higher on the BA list than Williams (Pipeline No. 51), their places are reversed here. Pratt is a better defender and may have more upside if his bat develops as hoped, but that’s far from certain.
Pratt got on base at a solid clip last year (.343), but his batting average (.238) and slugging percentage (.348) still leave something to be desired. Williams (.828 OPS, 17 HRs) had a much better offensive season than Pratt (.691 OPS, 8 HR) last year. Williams is also fast (sprint speeds of over 30 feet per second), a great baserunner and incredibly versatile. He has played at least thirty minor league games at three different positions (shortstop, second base and center field). Pipeline sees Williams as a “good fit in a Milwaukee organization that values short, quick types in the middle.” Since Pipeline slightly outweighs Baseball America’s current production and proximity to the major leagues, it makes sense that Williams is ranked higher than Pratt.
For what it’s worth, the “short” feels like an odd addition to me. Other than Caleb Durbin (who isn’t normally a Brewers center player), none of the Brewers center and midfield options are even that short. Joey Ortiz is 5’10”, Brice Turang is 5’11”, Jackson Chourio and Blake Perkins are evenly listed at 6′. Garrett Mitchell is 6 feet tall. Milwaukee didn’t trade for Williams because of his small stature (6-foot-1); they traded for him because they value fast, athletic, defensively capable players who can get on base.
100. Brandon Sproat (BA No. 81)
Pipeline Mr. Irrelevant is an excellent pitching lab candidate. Sproat has great stuff; Pipeline gives him a 60-degree slider and a 55-degree curveball and changeup. He is ranked so low because he had a disappointing season in Triple-A last year (4.24 ERA) and did not pitch better in four September appearances with the Mets (4.79 ERA, albeit with 17 Ks in 20 2/3 innings pitched). He’s also 25 and will be 26 by next year’s playoffs.
The Sproat acquisition gives me Quinn Priester vibes. Both were promising prospects with great stuff who struggled in their first taste of the big leagues. Priester had a great season with Milwaukee last year; hopefully Sproat can do the same. If there’s one team that can get the most out of him, it’s the Brewers.
As I mentioned in the Baseball America article, I will have a review of both Williams and Sproat coming soon…stay tuned.
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