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Baseball Prospectus has released its Top 101 Prospects list (they can't be limited to a mere 100!), and there's a notable inclusion for the Indians. Pretend you didn't already read the headline to this post and see if you can figure out which player's position below is such a pleasant surprise:
4. Francisco Lindor
84. Francisco Mejia
89. Clint Frazier
It's nice to see Lindor so high, but we've grown used to that. He's a consensus top 5 or 6 prospect and we eagerly anticipate his arrival in Cleveland sometime this summer. This is the first time Mejia has been a part of any of the major lists from places like BP, Baseball America, Minor League BALL, MLB.com, FanGraphs, or ESPN.
Mejia, who is only 19 years old, spent 2014 with Low-A Mahoning Valley, where he played strong defense at catcher and posted a batting line of .282/.339/.407, good for a wRC+ of 119.
The other prospects outlets I mentioned above all have Mejia on their list of the top ten Indians farmhands, but on average he's been about 5th, which is where he was voted in LGT's ongoing prospects project. BP obviously has him 2nd in the organization. In their ranking of Tribe prospects, BP had this to say about Mejia:
The tools are extremely loud for this 19-year-old, which are highlighted by unteachable bat speed, surprising pop for his size, and an arm that can be the type of weapon that halts opposing team's running games. All of the ingredients are here for impact on both sides of the ball...
They also point out that he is in many ways still a very "unrefined" player, but for someone so young, that doesn't strike me as a major problem. (You should go to the article and read more of their report on Mejia and other Indians prospects, because there's a wealth of interesting insights.)
Mejia probably won't be MLB ready until at least 2018, which is a long ways off. Ideally Yan Gomes continues to be one of the best at the position for another four years, and Mejia is ready to take over just as Gomes is declining.