I can tell you who I think the top 100 prospects are, but that's just one man's opinion, removed from the strategic considerations of a draft. It's also one-size-fits-all, not taking into account all the various scoring formats.
So how about an alternate form of rankings, one that takes into account other opinions, gauges perception to maximize value, and is tailored to one particular scoring format? What if, in other words, I gathered up 11 other people and we drafted nothing but prospects? How about that?
That's what we did here, with traditional 5x5 Rotisserie scoring in mind. Here's who all took part:
1) Rhys White, Prospects Live (@RhysBWhite)
2) Jesse Severe, Dynasty Sports Life podcast (@jessesevere)
3) Jake Wiener, Prospects1500 (@GatorSosa)
4) Frank Stampfl, CBS Sports (@Roto_Frank)
5) Scott Wampler, The Can-Am Super Show (@CanAmSuperShow)
6) R.J. White, CBS Sports (@rjwhite1)
7) Tim Kanak, Fantasy Aceball (@fantasyaceball)
8) Drew Wheeler, Prospects Live (@drewisokay)
9) Scott White, CBS Sports (@CBSScottWhite)
10) Anthony Kates, SportsEthos (@akfantasybb)
11) Darren "Doc" Eisenhauer, Scout the Statline (@DocHollidayDyna)
12) Phil Ponebshek, Patton & Company
You'll notice right from the start how opinions can differ, with Wyatt Langford being drafted first overall, but those differences can help to establish tiers within the prospect rankings. The top four here are the same as in my own rankings, just in a different order. Of course, to me, it's really more like a top five, and I was disappointed to see Yoshinobu Yamamoto slide to Pick 8 here.
The two teenagers drafted in the top five last year, Walker Jenkins and Max Clark, get more love here than they do in my own rankings. So do catchers Samuel Basallo and Ethan Salas, which exposes my bias against catchers for Dynasty purposes. Proximity seemed to carry more weight with this crowd, judging by the Colton Cowser (13th overall), Shota Imanaga (17th), Pete Crow-Armstrong (32nd), Kyle Harrison (36th) and Masyn Winn (37th) picks.
- Prospects-only mock for H2H points leagues
It being a 5x5-scoring league, only 31 pitchers were drafted overall. I tried to take advantage by waiting on my No. 16 prospect, Andrew Painter, but I ultimately waited too long, seeing him go two picks before mine in Round 4.
Round 6 began a run of players who I didn't even include in my top 100, with Gabriel Gonzalez, Josue De Paula, Samuel Zavala, Bryan Ramos and Bubba Chandler all going in the span of six picks. By Round 8, more picks than not weren't a part of my rankings, but seeing as 120 players were drafted in all, that wasn't entirely expected.
Note that Padres shortstop Leodalis De Vries and Braves shortstop Jose Perdomo, the two biggest names from the latest international signing class, were both drafted outside the top 100. Guess we don't put the same faith in 17-year-olds that we used to.
