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Keith Law’s Midseason Top 50 Prospect Rankings: A new guy at the top

By Ray Guilfoyle
Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Last week, Baseball Prospectus and Baseball America published their midseason Top 50/Top 100 prospect rankings, and earlier today, ESPN’s Keith Law released his midseason Top 50 Prospect rankings. The difference between Law’s rankings and those of BP and BA is the fact that Law included 2016 draft choices in his midseason rankings, while the other two did not.

Back in late May, he ranked National’s pitching prospect Lucas Giolito as his top prospect. Today, he has a new number one prospect, and his name is Alex Bregman. While Baseball Prospectus ranked Bregman at #4 and Baseball America ranked him at #8, Law ranked him more appropriately, in my opinion. Bregman is on the cusp of a call up and should make an immediate impact once the Astros deem him ready to face big league pitching.

Let’s take a look at his Top 12 prospects:

  1. Alex Bregman, SS, Astros
  2. Lucas Giolito, SP, Nationals
  3. Andrew Benintendi, OF, Red Sox
  4. J.P. Crawford, SS, Phillies
  5. Yoan Moncada, 2B, Red Sox
  6. Julio Urias, SP, Dodgers
  7. Rafael Devers, 3B, Red Sox
  8. Tyler Glasnow, SP, Pirates
  9. Brendan Rodgers, SS, Rockies
  10. Victor Robles, OF, Nationals
  11. Alex Reyes, SP, Cardinals
  12. Dansby Swanson, SS, Braves

Law has stated several times in his weekly chats that he thinks the Astros should move current shortstop Carlos Correa to third base once they call up Bregman, as he feels Bregman is the better shortstop of the two, and thinks he can hit like peak Dustin Pedroia at shortstop, which is very valuable. Grab him off of you league waiver wire if your league allows stashing of prospects.

We are starting to see more and more calls for the Red Sox to call up outfielder Andrew Benintendi, with some who think he could make an impact right away, similar to how Kris Bryant and Michael Conforto performed upon their call ups last season, so if you have a need for an outfielder, grab him and stash him if your league rules allow it.

Crawford, after a slow start in Triple A ,has turned things around at the plate, and shown some flashes of power over the last week. At the very least, he should see time at shortstop in Philadelphia by September, if not sooner.

Other Notable Rankings

27. Ian Happ, 2B, Cubs

29. Eloy Jimenez, OF, Cubs

30. Trent Clark, Brewers

37. Alex Verdugo, OF, Dodgers

40. Jorge Alfaro, C, Phillies

48. Cody Bellinger, 1B, Dodgers

Law is by far the highest on Clark, Jimenez, Verdugo and Alfaro, while he joins Baseball America in ranking Bellinger in his Top 50. He opines that Verdugo has more power in his bat and has All Star upside, and Jimenez has the potential to be a middle of the order hitter down the road. Alfaro is finally healthy and is hitting for power and a solid average, and reports indicate he should be able to stick behind the plate. He has the power to hit 20-25 home runs per season, and that is pretty valuable behind the plate.

Law ranked several 2016 draftees in his top 50 rankings, including Brewers outfielder Corey Ray, Phillies outfielder Mickey Moniak, and Yankees outfield prospect Blake Rutherford.