Ask Ba is a regular column written by Jim Callis that typically appears every Friday where he answers a few email questions from BA readers. It often overflows from his Wednesday ESPN chats. More important, though, is the fact it is not behind any subscriber wall as his ESPN chats are once finished and a lot of Baseball America content.
What he did this week was rank the top prospect of each team against his #1 ranked peers. In parentheses, he noted where on his Top 50 list that prospect appeared. As you can see there are breaks between the #1 prospects rankings and his personal Top 50 after Travis Snider. Some of those gaps are addressed in his "Ask BA" column. The rest are available in the Baseball America Prospect Handbook 2008.
Here are the #1 Prospect Rankings by Jim Callis.
- Jay Bruce, of, Reds (1)
- Clay Buchholz, rhp, Red Sox (2)
- Joba Chamberlain, rhp, Yankees (3)
- Evan Longoria, 3b, Rays (4)
- Clayton Kershaw, lhp, Dodgers (5)
- Mike Moustakas, ss, Royals (6)
- Colby Rasmus, of, Cardinals (7)
- Cameron Maybin, of, Marlins (8)
- Travis Snider, of, Blue Jays (9)
- Franklin Morales, lhp, Rockies (11)
- Rick Porcello, rhp, Tigers (13)
- Brandon Wood, ss/3b, Angels (14)
- Matt Wieters, c, Orioles (15)
- Angel Villalona, 3b/1b, Giants (19)
- Fernando Martinez, of, Mets (23)
- Matt LaPorta, of, Brewers (25)
- Andrew McCutchen, of, Pirates (27)
- Carlos Gonzalez, of, Athletics (28)
- Jordan Schafer, of, Braves (31)
- Jeff Clement, c, Mariners (32)
- Chris Marrero, 1b/of, Nationals (35)
- Elvis Andrus, ss, Rangers (37)
- Adam Miller, rhp, Indians (38)
- Josh Vitters, 3b, Cubs (43)
- J.R. Towles, c, Astros (47)
- Chase Headley, 3b, Padres (50)
- Jarrod Parker, rhp, Diamondbacks (NR)
- Carlos Carrasco, rhp, Phillies (NR)
- Nick Blackburn, rhp, Twins (NR)
- Aaron Poreda, lhp, White Sox (NR)