Courtesy of the Freep's Jon Paul Morosi, Baseball America has released its list of the top 10 Detroit Tigers prospects today. The list is as follows:
- Rick Porcello RHP
- Cale Iorg SS
- Scott Sizemore 2B
- Michael Hollimon 2B/SS
- Yorman Bazardo RHP
- Jeff Larish 1B
- Matt Joyce OF
- Danny Worth SS
- Francisco Cruceta RHP
- Brandon Hamilton RHP
I'll admit to being out of my league here. This isn't something I follow very closely (or well). But one thing that does jump out at me (and an IM from Billfer confirms that I'm not completely ignorant) is Cale Iorg being the No. 2 prospect. Even with my limited knowledge, I'd take a guess that Danny Worth was a better prospect at shortstop right now - if for no other reason than the kid has been playing. He put in three years at Pepperdine and played 56 games in the minor leagues last year. Iorg, meanwhile, has spent most of the last two years on a Mormon mission. And approximately 1/3 of his professional experience thus far consists of winter ball in Hawaii.
So I'm guessing that lofty ranking is based largely on Iorg's tools. (Lynn Henning seems to be equally enamored with his physical gifts.) I certainly don't mean to sound as if I'm singling him out or picking on him. I'm just curious as to what went into that ranking, given the lack of solid information to work with.
But maybe I stand to be corrected. I'm eager to see what others in the Tigers blogosphere (especially Matt Wallace) have to say. Billfer has already chimed in with some initial thoughts at The Detroit Tigers Weblog.
UPDATE: Matt has indeed posted his thoughts, both on the BA list and Morosi's chat later in the afternoon. Head on over to Take 75 North to check those out.