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Top 100 Prospects: John Sickels' Top Rated Pitching Prospects

By Ray Guilfoyle
ATLANTA, GA - AUGUST 30: Pitcher Arodys Vizcaino #59 of the Atlanta Braves throws a pitch during the game against the Washington Nationals during the game at Turner Field on August 30, 2011 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - AUGUST 30: Pitcher Arodys Vizcaino #59 of the Atlanta Braves throws a pitch during the game against the Washington Nationals during the game at Turner Field on August 30, 2011 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images)
Getty Images

Fantasy owners, especially those in keeper or dynasty leagues, are always looking for the next top prospect to draft who will carry them the their next (first?) fantasy baseball championship. The prospect experts are in full force right now with John Sickels covering his Top 20 Prospects for each major league team, Baseball America with their Top 10 Prospects and Baseball Prospectus's Kevin Goldstein publishing his Top 20 Prospects as well. ESPN's Keith Law will publish his Top 100 Prospects for 2012 at the end of January.

With that said, I will post some of the top rated prospects from each of the experts over the next 3 months leading up to draft day, so today I continue with more of John Sickel's Top rated prospects for 2012. I will limit the list to A, A- and B+ rated prospects.

John Sickels updated top rated pitching prospect list after the jump:

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Pitchers

A Rating

Trevor Bauer, ARI

Julio Teheran, ATL

Shelby Miller, STL

Gerrit Cole, PIT

Matt Moore, TB

A- Rating

Jarrod Parker, ARI

Tyler Skaggs, ARI

Archie Bradley, ARI

Jacob Turner, DET

Dylan Bundy, BAL

Jameson Taillon, PIT

Taijuan Walker, SEA

Danny Hultzen, SEA

Drew Pomeranz, COL

B+ Rating

Arodys Vizcaino, ATL

Randall Delgado, ATL

Jake Odorizzi, KC

Carlos Martinez, STL

Tyrell Jenkins, STL

Martin Perez, TEX

Matt Barnes, BOS

Trevor May, PHI

Jesse Biddle, PHI

Robbie Erlin, SD

Joe Wieland, SD

Keyvius Sampson, SD

James Paxton, SEA

A.J. Cole, OAK

Noah Syndergaard, TOR

Deck McGuire, TOR

Justin Nicolino, TOR

Daniel Norris, TOR

Drew Hutchison, TOR

Garret Richard, LAA

Zach Lee, LAD

Matt Harvey, NYM

Zach Wheeler, NYM

Nestor Molina, CHW

Addison Reed, CHW

Chad Bettis, COL (borderline B+)

If I had to pick one pitcher from each of the letter rankings above, I would pick Matt Moore, Tyler Skaggs and Arodys Vizcaino. I have already written enough about Moore, so you already know how much I like him.

I was surprised when I took a look at Tyler Skaggs 2011 stats a few nights ago. He dominated High A and AA in 2011, striking out 198 while walking just 49 in 159.1 innings of work. His minor league strikeout rates match Matt Moores', but Skaggs has better control. He is probably less than a year away from the big leagues, and the Diamondbacks have the makings of one of the better starting rotations in baseball in the next few years with Ian Kennedy, Daniel Hudson, Trevor Cahill, Trevor Bauer and Skaggs. Oh, and don't forget about Archie Bradley.