Prospects and Scouting

Personal Top 15 Prospect Lists: Twins, Orioles, Red Sox

By Satchel Price Updated Mar 1, 2011, 10:30am EST

ANAHEIM CA - JULY 11: U.S. Futures All-Star Zach Britton #12 of the Baltimore Orioles throws a pitch during the 2010 XM All-Star Futures Game at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on July 11 2010 in Anaheim California. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

We're getting a divisional combo today, as we're transitioning from the AL Central to the AL East. After this group, we're left with only the AL West foursome in my personal top-15 lists, which will get covered tomorrow. As mentioned before, Dave and I are going to finish the week with our own personal top-15 lists for the Royals, Braves, Blue Jays, Rays and Yankees, and the plan is to release our individual top-100 lists next Monday. We're taking the approach that when it comes to ranking the game's best prospects, the more the merrier, I suppose. Let's delve into these systems for now though, and don't forget that links to the other top-15 lists are included at the bottom of the page.

MINNESOTA TWINS

1) OF Aaron Hicks

2) 3B Miguel Sano

3) RHP Kyle Gibson

4) OF Ben Revere

5) OF Joe Benson

6) RHP Alex Wimmers

7) OF Oswaldo Arcia

8) RHP Adrian Salcedo

9) RHP Liam Hendriks

10) OF Angel Morales

11) RHP Carlos Gutierrez

12) OF Max Kepler-Rozycki

13) RHP David Bromberg

14) RHP Manuel Soliman

15) RHP Billy Bullock

This is a very strong system even though it doesn't get a ton of hype, although it seems like some are becoming unfairly impatient with Hicks' development. He's still an elite prospect with unreal upside, and he could be an impact player both in the field and at the plate. I've discussed Minnesota's impressive stable of young outfielders before, and I continue to be bullish on them. Toss in the monster upside of Sano and a high-quality right-hander like Kyle Gibson, and this system is clearly among the best in the league.

BALTIMORE ORIOLES

1) SS Manny Machado

2) LHP Zach Britton

3) OF Xaviery Avery

4) RHP Dan Klein

5) 2B L.J. Hoes

6) SS Mychal Givens

7) SS Jonathan Schoop

8) 2B/3B Ryan Adams

9) RHP Ryan Berry

10) 1B Joe Mahoney

11) SS Connor Narron

12) RHP Wynn Pelzer

13) RHP Parker Bridwell

14) OF Trent Mummey

15) RHP Robert Bundy

This system starts off so awesome with Machado and Britton, and then, well, kinda sucks from there on out. I went back and forth between the club's top two prospects, but Machado's potential as an all-around shortstop is just too tempting. Britton's one of the best pitchers left in the minors, with an excellent power sinker and the ability to miss bats; he's one of the better No. 2 prospects in the game. Things get rough from there, though. Avery's a toolsy center fielder with some potential, Hoes could be a good offense-first second baseman, and they have some intriguing middle infielders in Givens, Schoop, Adams and Narron, but they all have questions marks. There's minimal pitching behind Britton, partially because of graduations and partially because Matt Hobgood's struggles, but Klein, Berry and Pelzer are awfully weak for the second-, third- and fourth-best pitching prospects in a farm system.

BOSTON RED SOX

1) SS Jose Iglesias

2) RHP Anthony Ranaudo

3) LHP Drake Britton

4) OF Josh Reddick

5) LHP Felix Doubront

6) RHP Stolmy Pimentel

7) 3B Will Middlebrooks

8) 2B Oscar Tejeda

10) SS Xander Bogaerts

11) RHP Brandon Workman

12) 3B Kolbrin Vitek

13) 1B Lars Anderson

14) 2B/3B Yamaico Navarro

15) RHP Chris-Balcom Miller

The Red Sox traded away three of their top six prospects and I still had a really tough time omitting guys from this list. They don't have any top-25 prospects right now, but it's still an incredibly deep system that's loaded with useful players and guys with upside. Iglesias is arguably the second-best shortstop prospect in the game, and many believe that Ranaudo can be a front-line starter if he can stay healthy. They're loaded with intriguing position player prospects, and there are numerous guys that I couldn't even fit on the list: Garin Cecchini, Ryan Lavarnway Sean Coyle, Bryce Brentz, Luis Exposito, Kendrick Perkins and Derrik Gibson are among those that I couldn't find room for. There are so many interesting guys in the lower levels that this system could jump up pretty quickly, and they always seem to add quality players through the draft and/or Latin America. It's awfully impressive that they're this deep in talent after trading for one of the game's best players.