Over the weekend, Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com released his mid-season top 100 prospects. The list, along with the updated Pirates top 20 prospects, can be found on the MLB Prospect Watch page.
Five Pirates made the top 100 list: Jameson Taillon, Gregory Polanco, Alen Hanson, Austin Meadows, and Luis Heredia.
Taillon was ranked 12th overall, which is right around where he has been ranked in a lot of these mid-season lists. The report given on him is similar to the other reports, that he has a few things to work on, and is a year away from Pittsburgh.
Gregory Polanco was next, coming in at number 15. Polanco has been a consensus top 25 prospect in the mid-season rankings, and in most lists he has ended up in the 13-20 range. Polanco was ranked 65th overall in the pre-season ranks.
Alen Hanson was next, ranked 44th overall, which was up from 54th overall in the pre-season ranks. He has been in most of the mid-season rankings as a top 50 prospect.
The other mid-season rankings don’t include 2013 draft picks, so this is the first time we’ve gotten to see Meadows ranked. Mayo has him 75th, noting that one scout not with the Pirates said he wouldn’t be surprised if Meadows ends up the best player from this draft class.
Luis Heredia was the final prospect on the list, ranked 83rd. This ranking surprises me. Heredia wasn’t in the pre-season top 100. He was 5th in the Pirates top 20, with Josh Bell 6th and Tyler Glasnow 7th. If any pitcher is going to move up into the top 100, you’d think it would be Glasnow instead of Heredia. Glasnow is a year older, but his stuff is far more advanced, and his numbers are some of the best in the lower levels of the minors. Plus the downsides with Glasnow (command, lack of a changeup) are also downsides for Heredia.
