Keith Law's Updated Top 25 Prospects for 2013

I have been meaning to write about this, but haven't gotten to it till today. ESPN's Keith Law published his updated Top 25 Prospects for 2013 back on May 28th, and here is his Top 10, including a few excerpts:

1. Oscar Taveras, STL

2. Byron Buxton, MIN

3. Xander Bogaerts, BOS

4. Christian Yelich, MIA

5. Francisco Lindor, CLE

6. Miguel Sano, MIN

7. Wil Myers, TB

8. Taijuan Walker, SEA

9. Archie Bradley, ARI

10. Addison Russell, OAK

Law noted that two prospects who were recently promoted did not make the list, but Jurickson Profar would have remained his #1 prospect had he not been promoted, and Orioles pitching prospect Kevin Gausman would have been somewhere in the back of his top 10.

Buxton made a big jump, from Law's preseason #22 prospect to his #2 overall prospect. Buxton is hitting .342-.439-..562 with 7 HRs, 59 runs, 44 RBI and 26 stolen bases in 219 at bats thus far. Buxton is showing all of his tools in Low A this season, and Jason Hunt profiled him here back on May 17th.

Another Twins prospect, third baseman Miguel Sano, jumped from Law's preseason #11 prospect to his #6 overall prospect in his updated rankings. Sano was hitting .330-.424-.655 with 16 HRs, 15 doubles, 51 runs, 48 RBI, 9 stolen bases, and improved defense at third base. He was promoted to AA New Britain after his two homer game on Sunday. The Twins are known to move their prospect slowly, but Sano could be an exception. He will more than likely finish the season in AA, with a chance to start the 2014 season in AAA if he shows that AA is not a challenge for him.

Red Sox shortstop prospect Xander Bogaerts is a favorite of mine, and I have it on good word that we may be seeing a prospect profile piece on him this week, so stay tuned. Bogaerts started the season slowly, but has recently been on a tear, raising his triple slash line to .308-.403-.507 with 6 HRs, 43 runs, 33 RBI and 5 stolen bases in 211 at bats. Since May 17th, he has hit in 17 of 21 games, going 29-80 (.363 BA) with 4 HRs, 17 runs and 18 RBI. He has reduced his strikeout rate to 19.7% and his walk rate to 13.3% this season.

Marlins outfield prospect Christian Yelich, a possible call up later in the season, is Law's 4th ranked prospect, up from 6 in preseason. Yelich is hitting .262-.342-.518 with 6 HRs, 25 runs, 28 RBI and 4 stolen bases in 154 at bats. Yelich has 12 doubles and 6 triples to go along with his 6 home runs, and is hitting for more power this season, but his strikeout rate has increased from 19.0% last season to 25.1% this season.