Laika

Wowwww Not sure which side I like

MLB catching is so random so there are tons of comps - he could be a good hitter with bad D, or a surprisingly competent defender without much pop - how the tool/skill package will play long-term at the MLB level is just so hard to predict. He could be a fringe backup... or Francisco Cervelli, or Wilson Ramos, or a less athletic Realmuto. Who the f knows.

Good - Smith and Biggio Bad - Warmoth

Apparently Jansen and SRF coming up - SRF starting Monday

Making some athletic plays on D too

Vlad is Juan Soto with much more power. I wonder if he'll be the miraculous .400 MLB hitter the league has been waiting for.

Really hope SRF gets that call so he can finally be EXPOSED for the no-command poser that he is.

Soto is basically peak Joey Votto, already. He definitely has more raw power than Votto though. And I suppose a chance to have more defensive value, depending how much he does or doesn't develop out there.

Gibbons doesn't even wear jerseys so an actual Gibby Jersey is fundamentally wrong and inauthentic.

Borucki is the only interesting thing going on at the MLB level now. Good for him

Top 25 catcher of all time good?

And I didn't even mention the NINE postseason appearances across four different organizations, which is kind of absurd.

Steve Pearce in 118 games as a Blue Jay: 0.3 fWAR 18 games as a Red Sox: 0.9 fWAR

Billy McKinney as a role player / gamble? Pffft. Have they seen his Trackman readouts? They're nuts!

I want to say Carlos Santana with the bat. I didn't realize that Noda was maybe a viable outfielder. He actually has 3 starts in CF this year!

It's crazy to think about how good Russell Martin is, historically, as a catcher. He's accumulated career fWAR equal to Yadi, who people talk about as a HOF candidate. Russell is 29th in career fWAR for catchers since 1900. If he can limp to a few more WAR he might finish as a top 20 or 25 catcher, basically of all time. Nuts.

First 20/20 prospect since 2000? That's kind of sad, actually.

The K rate isn't alarming but it also isn't good. He's performing but it's not like he's crushing the league, nor is he one of the ~10 youngest players at the level or anything like that. Treading water is a pretty good thing for a 2nd rounder to be doing but hard for me to get excited about the profile until he starts hitting at a higher level, in the future. It's not like we should have expected a guy to go from .300/.400/.600 in the ACC to struggling in the NWL.

1. Vlad 2. Bo consensus 1-2 3. Jansen I don't see the argument for anyone else. Jansen is a well-rounded, MLB-ready player at a premium position. 4. Pearson 5. Alford Pearson's upside keeps him here for me despite the lost season. Similar argument keeps Alford afloat despite a really bad year - his proximity also helps his ranking - but 2019 is going to make or break for him I think. 6. Borucki 7. Smith This is where the rankings get fun because there are so many options. I'm buying what Borucki is selling at the MLB level and think he has mid-rotation upside, long-term. Smith's combination of production, power, defense, and position is hard to ignore. 8. SRF 9. Groshans 10. Pardinho Upside tier. SRF is punching out grown men in AAA, has a fantastic 2.96 FIP in 13 starts at age 22, and has a nice combination of upside and floor. Pardinho and Groshans' numbers are jumping off the page and they apparently have the tools to back it up, so I don't see the point in being hesitant to rank them highly. 11. Paulino Hard to rank Paulino. The stuff and production has been very attractive, but he also has an extensive injury history in addition to the PED conviction. He's ranked here because he obviously has mid-rotation upside and is MLB-ready. 12. Zeuch 13. Biggio 14. McKinney 15. Conine Really boring bottom 4, hard to get excited about any of them, but some of these guys are close and I think they are likely MLB contributors. McKinney in particular has Justin Upton upside. Conine is kind of treading water since the draft - hit tool reservations remain. Did not rank comments: Kloffenstein - I appreciate the reported talent but it's hard to just slide a high school arm into the top 15 in a deep system with no real data. Perez - The K-BB% doesn't do it for me. Looks like he still needs to figure some stuff out in order to be a decent MLB RP. Wall - probably 16th, fits into the same tier as the 12-15 guys. Boring. Warmoth - suxxxxx. Gurriel - is not eligible, or else he would have been somewhere 5th-7th for me. I didn't really consider anyone else for the top 15 but you can obviously make a pretty decent looking top 30 at this point.

Nice! I am excited to see Meadows a lot and to see Archer not very much if ever.

I will forever mis-remember Aaron Loup's face as being a lot more "Fetal Alcohol Syndrome-ey" than it actually is.

Funny ass wording. "continue to try to check on interest in their [own] veteran relievers" in other words, there is no interest in them (unsurprising).

You might think you're extreme, but if you don't have time for Ms. Mr. Sheryl Ring, then you are demonstrably not extreme. Poser.

Z goes home

Quintessential virtue signalling. Well that's no fun!