Law's Top 100, even though I think he's a boob. 9 made the list, and definitely some surprises.
I have the whole list if anyone wants it emailed. Fuck pay walls.
https://theathletic.com/4132943/2023/01 ... ign=601983
13. Andrew Painter, RHP, Philadelphia Phillies
Age: 20| 6-7 | 215 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 13 in 2021
Last year’s ranking: Unranked
The Phillies took a high school pitcher with their first-round pick in 2021, the second time in a row they’d done so, and so far both of those prospects look very promising. Painter was the second of those two picks and he’s quickly become their best prospect, dominating at three levels as a 19-year-old last year with two plus pitches and a good chance he’ll end up with a third. He’s huge, 6-7, listed at 215 but probably 10-15 pounds stronger than that already, and could just bully hitters with his fastball in Low A, where he started 2022. He’s already working at 94-97 mph over full starts and can reach 99, coming from a high three-quarter slot that makes his two-plane curveball at 76-81 even more devastating. He also throws both pitches for strikes, even improving his control as he moved up the ladder — he walked just two of 109 hitters he faced in Double A, his lowest walk rate at any of the three levels where he pitched. He does have a changeup that projects to a 55 but he barely uses it, while he has a slider that is behind the curveball in effectiveness and isn’t as hard as it should be given his fastball velocity. Painter won’t even turn 20 until April, so he has a lot of time to continue developing, but also a lot of time to get hurt, unfortunately. His delivery is good and he repeats it well, but we’ve seen way too many guys like him get hurt on their way to the majors to ignore the possibility here. If your crystal ball says he’ll stay healthy, he’s a top-10 prospect in baseball, and might have a case to be in the top 6.
31. Brett Baty, 3B, New York Mets
Age: 23 | 6-3 | 210 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 12 in 2019
Last year’s ranking: 41
Baty was nearly out of a job a few weeks ago, so I imagine he was the one person in the Mets organization happy when the Carlos Correa signing fell through. Baty is a strong hitter, topping out at 113 mph in his major-league stint last year and averaging over 91 mph on 30 batted balls (so yes, small sample size caveats apply). He returned to Double A to start 2022 after spending 40 games there to finish the prior year, and demolished the level, hitting .312/.406/.544 and cutting his ground-ball rate from 61 percent there in 2021 to 42.6 percent last year. He did backslide a little in the majors, so there’s some swing maintenance for the Mets to do so he stays rotational enough to get the ball in the air. Baty is big for third baseman but a solid athlete who’s worked hard on his defense, which is more than just playable there, but I don’t know if he’d be as good in an outfield corner, so staying at third is by far his best chance to be an above-average regular. The Mets should just give him 500 at bats this year, as there’s nothing left for him to learn in the minors, and he’s by far their best option there. He has the raw power for 30 homers, but I think he’ll be more 40 doubles/20 homers with OBPs well above .350.
38. Brandon Pfaadt, RHP, Arizona Diamondbacks
Age: 24 | 6-4 | 220 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 149 in 2020
Last year’s ranking: 87
Pfaadt was the Diamondbacks’ last pick in the five-round 2020 draft, 12 picks from the end of the round, and signed for well under slot as a junior out of Division II Bellarmine. He has since become their best pitching prospect after two years of striking out everyone in sight, including a minor-league-leading 218 punchouts last year. Pfaadt does a lot of it just with his fastball, touching 97-98 mph and sitting 92-94, filling up the strike zone with a four-pitch mix, using the slider as his primary out pitch against right-handers and both changeup and slider to lefties, with nearly 70 percent of his pitches going for strikes last year. He’s built like a workhorse starter, 6-4 and listed at 220 pounds, with a good delivery he repeats very well. As is, he’s at least a mid-rotation starter, but there could still be some further upside if either of those two main
45. Jeferson Quero, C, Milwaukee Brewers
Age: 20 | 5-10 | 165 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: International signing in 2019
Last year’s ranking: Sleeper
Quero was snakebit in 2021, suffering a concussion, a hamstring injury, and a dislocated shoulder, enough that he might as well have been one of those Unlucky Andersons. I guess he put some butter on it, since he played 95 games in 2022 plus a stint in the AFL at just 19 years old, hitting .286/.342/.439 between Low A and High A with just a 19 percent strikeout rate. He’s an above-average to plus defender with an easy plus arm, throwing out 30 percent of runners during the regular season and 46 percent in the AFL, so the bar for him to clear to just project as a backup is pretty low. He has a short, slashing swing that produces a lot of contact, with some sneaky pop, hitting 10 homers in 2022, and he might get to 45 power at his peak. He’s at the smaller end of the range for catchers, and the 80 games he caught last year (including the fall) were obviously his career high, so durability is the main variable when considering his future. I see a high floor here, with a good chance for an above-average regular who hits for average with some doubles power and even steals a few bags.
67. Andy Pages, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers
Age: 22 | 6-1 | 212 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
International signing in 2018
Last year’s ranking: 76
Pages moved up to Double A last year and took a modest step backward at the plate, although the power still showed up and he hammered left-handed pitching. Pages has plus-plus power and a cannon of an arm, and has generally shown a solid approach at the plate, both in ball-strike recognition and swing decisions. In Double A, he really struggled when right-handers threw him offspeed stuff out of the zone — they’d get ahead with the fastball and expand the zone with the slider, leading him to chase and either miss or make weaker contact. He can catch up to good velocity, and even at age 21 is making major-league quality contact when he squares one up. He’s a fringe-average runner who can play at least solid defense in right, boosted by the arm strength, and could be a soft regular even with his power and good walk rates. There’s significant upside here if he tightens up that approach, though, and can be more of a .260-.270 hitter with 30 homers and similar walk rates.
76. Oswald Peraza, SS, New York Yankees
Age: 23 | 6-0 | 200 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
International signing in 2016
Last year’s ranking: 95
The Yankees have an enviable problem in their upper minors: Their shortstop of the future, Anthony Volpe, isn’t actually their best defensive shortstop prospect, who is also a very promising player in his own right. Peraza is a plus defender at short right now, and a plus runner, with enough power that he could be someone’s starter right now in the big leagues. He’s power over hit, however, as he jumps early in the count and needs to be more selective. He only saw about 3.6 pitches per plate appearance in Triple A, and his approach is too pull-oriented; if he tries to use the whole field more, which he can do effectively because he covers the outer third pretty well, he has a chance to be a more complete hitter without sacrificing that much power. He’s got a pretty high floor even if he’s a .290 OBP hitter, because he might be worth 8-10 runs with his glove and hit 15-20 homers. There’s a better player in here, though, if he becomes more selective and less pull-centric.
92. Jack Leiter, RHP, Texas Rangers
Age: 23 | 6-1 | 205 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 2 in 2021
Last year’s ranking: 26
The Rangers were aggressive with Leiter, the second pick in 2021 out of Vanderbilt, after he didn’t pitch in any games at all after the draft, starting his pro career in Double A last April. He had surprising trouble with command and control, throwing just 59 percent of his pitches for strikes, although his stuff was intact. Leiter can work 92-96 mph when at his best, and a mid-80s slider with a short downward break is his most effective offspeed pitch. He barely threw his changeup, although he has a solid-average one, and as a result he had huge trouble with left-handed batters, who hit .267/.385/.460 off him, including eight of the 11 homers he allowed.
93. Edgar Quero, C, Los Angeles Angels
Age: 20 | 5-11 | 170 pounds
Bats: Both | Throws: Right
International signing in 2021
Last year’s rank: Unranked
Quero took a big step forward last year, showing an advanced feel to hit that gives him a high probability of a big-league career because of his position. He’s a switch-hitter with a strong approach from both sides of the plate, showing plate discipline unusual for his age and experience, with more medium contact quality than hard contact. That means that even with 17 homers last year in the Cal League (a good place to hit), he might be more of a high-average/OBP guy with 10-15 homers a year at his peak. He has the skills to be an above-average defensive catcher, but he’s not that consistent behind the plate yet. He’s from Cuba and signed shortly before his 18th birthday because of the pandemic, so he entered 2022 with just 39 games of pro experience, meaning there’s a lot of room for him to continue to improve behind the plate. He doesn’t look like he’ll get a lot stronger, but that’s the only thing keeping him from projecting as a star.
98. Adael Amador, SS, Colorado Rockies
Age: 20 | 6-0 | 160 pounds
Bats: Switch | Throws: Right
International signing in 2019
Last year’s rank: Unranked
Amador hit .292/.415/.445 in Low A this year as a 19-year-old, with 87 walks and just 67 strikeouts in 555 plate appearances, giving him the best BB/K ratio of any hitter in the minors with at least 350 PA. He does have an exceptional eye at the plate, which will be his carrying tool and gives him a high floor as at least a utility infielder who has real on-base skills. He’s a true switch-hitter who has some sneaky pop when he barrels the ball up, but overall he’s a strong groundball guy, with the second-highest groundball rate of any qualifying hitter, behind only the Angels’ Arol Vera. It’s part swing and part approach, as he can get the bat on the ball anywhere in the zone but often does so at the expense of contact quality. He’s going to have to work to stay at shortstop, with second base the most likely position for him. He could be that good utility guy, a strong regular at second with 10-15 homers a year, or maybe a shortstop who’s a borderline star because of his on-base skills. He’s also just 20 this year, so there’s time to work on the swing a little more to get him to put more pitches in the air rather than on the ground.
"Hating the Yankees is as American as pizza pie, unwed mothers, and cheating on your income tax."
