/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/28915443/20130629_ter_ax5_106.0.jpg)
Baseball America's Top 100 list is in its 25th year (making it pretty old for a prospect). When prospects first became a thing that the average baseball fan gave any thought to, it was in large part due to the existence of BA's early lists. Sandy Alomar Jr. was #5 on the first list, which also included Indians Mark Lewis, Charles Nagy, and Carlos Baerga. The first list I recall personally was the 1994 edition, which had a Tribe prospect named Manny Ramirez at #7.
This year's BA Top 100 has been released, and three Indians made the cut:
- Francisco Lindor is at #13
- Clint Frazier is at #48
- Trevor Bauer is at #83
That ranking for Lindor is slightly lower than that of the major prospect lists (he was #6 on Keith Law's list, as well as Baseball Prospectus'; #10 on MLB.com's list; and #12 on FanGraphs'). It's still a lofty rating though, and a strong climb from where they had him a year ago (#28). BA's comments include, "Lindor has to make sure he's as ready offensively as he already is defensively."
Frazier's ranking is right in line with where other lists have had him (Law: 45, BP: 36, MLB: 48, FG: 45). He is 6th on their list among players who are still in their teens. BA writes, "If he makes consistent contact, though, it's sure to be loud."
Bauer wasn't listed on most of the lists (the exception being MLB.com's which has him at #73). Seeing him listed at BA is nice, but he was #14 on their list a year ago, so this is a steep drop. BA writes, "Bauer has to stop nibbling and pitch off his fastball more."
Let's Go Tribe looks at other prospect lists:
Byron Buxton of the Twins is #1 on Baseball America's list, just as he is on each of the other lists. Minnesota has a total of 3 players on the list. Elsewhere around the AL Central, The Royals and White Sox each have 4 players on the list, while the Tigers have only 2.