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Industry sites that know our audience realize that you can't wait until January and February to start posting your top rankings, projections and rookie lists. Thankfully we have owners in an industry site who play fulltime in the NFBC and know that our customers are as crazy as they are. That site is Mastersball.com!!!

Todd Zola and Lawr Michaels posted Perry's Top AFL players to watch link last week and now they are ready for the Top Prospects. Subscribers get access to the 250 Prospects list, but they've agreed to share the Top 50 for NFBC owners here. Enjoy.

http://www.mastersball.com/index.php?op ... le&id=2368

Feel free to post your comments here because I'm sure Lawr and Todd will appreciate the feedback and enjoy the debate over their rankings. Thanks all.

Guys, IMHO it's a bad idea to pass around the crack pipe before making a list like this!!!

Wil Myers #32
Mike Zunino not on list
4 Pitchers ahead of Dylan Bundy

However, I will give you props for Clayton Blackburn. I was wondering when I would finally see him ranked.

On the road, will reply in more detail when I am back at my desk but you need to review the methodology and intent of the list as it is not designed to be a normal ranking of prospects. It is best thought of as a means of putting younger players on your radar than an nfbc draft guide. FWIW we have that as part of the subscription package

Nevadaman wrote:Guys, IMHO it's a bad idea to pass around the crack pipe before making a list like this!!!

Wil Myers #32
Mike Zunino not on list
4 Pitchers ahead of Dylan Bundy

However, I will give you props for Clayton Blackburn. I was wondering when I would finally see him ranked.

You really need to read the intro to the list - it is NOT your normal prospect list

Here's the actual intro - sorry if you were expecting a "top 50 guys to draft in an NFBC Slow Draft List"

Some prospect lists are tilted towards fantasy, some focus on MLB potential. Lawr Michaels' Top-250 combines both. It is a proprietary meld of the player's skills, age and the level at which he played. The focus is on the skills that most often lead to success (OBP, xBH, K%, BB% for hitters and K%, BB% and BAA for pitchers). Age versus level is a strong consideration.

Perhaps the best use of Lawr's list is in deep leagues with extended reserve, ultra or farm lists. Since age plays such a major role, Lawr's methodology often identifies a player a few years away from the Show but displaying the necessary skills to get there. Often, the player is on your radar to track before your league-mates have ever heard about him.

To comment on the players highlighted.

Myers high K% cost him several spots. This is going to be the key to whether he hits the ground running or if he struggles. Many are comparing Myers to Jay Bruce and I see the similarities. That's his upside. On the other hand, he could also be compared to Brandon Belt. It will be interesting to see which career arc he takes.

Zunino did not meet the minimum AB to make the list. The criteria are objective and require enough of a sample size to be significant and he did not accrue the AB necessary for inclusion,

Bundy has thrown a total of 105 2/3rds innings as a professional and he is ranked EIGHTH - and the implication is it is too LOW?!?!?!? Perhaps more attention should be focused on the fact a 19 year old kid has shown enough to only have SEVEN players finish ahead of him -- that's pretty awesome. Plus, you can't see it from the top-50, but if you subscribe and look at the whole 250, you'd see just how close Skaggs, Walker and Ortiz are to Bundy -- it would not have taken much for Bundy to be ranked #4 overall -- the points are that close.