We’re a bit deep into the season to do prospect list reviews … but somehow I missed the ESPN Insider Kiley McDaniel‘s prospect list release. That’s directly do to the fact that ESPN.com eliminated their RSS feeds for their writers and make it nearly impossible to keep up with their new content unless (of course) you go to their website daily. Which of course I don’t have time to do.
So, I noticed I was missing a near-annual list from this leading pundit, and went and found it. Released March 23rd, 2022. I’m pretty sure its behind ESPN insider’s paywall, so apologies if you cannot see the above.
McDaniel is definitely an international expert, and he’s definitely heavier on the ceiling than the floor, especially with younger players. So keep that in mind when you see 19yr olds perhaps a bit higher than other, more “sure thing” players.
Here’s his full list:
| Kiley Rank | Last Name | First Name | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ruiz | Keibert | C |
| 2 | House | Brady | SS/3B |
| 3 | Cavalli | Cade | RHP (Starter) |
| 4 | Henry | Cole | RHP (Starter) |
| 5 | Lara | Andry | RHP (Starter) |
| 6 | Rutledge | Jackson | RHP (Starter) |
| 7 | Adon | Joan | RHP (Starter) |
| 8 | Lile | Daylen | OF (CF) |
| 9 | Vaquero | Cristian | OF (CF) |
| 10 | Cruz | Armando | SS |
| 11 | Antuna | Yasel | SS/OF (Corner) |
| 12 | Carrillo | Gerardo | RHP (Starter) |
| 13 | Cronin | Matt | LHP (Reliever) |
| 14 | Cate | Tim | LHP (Starter) |
| 15 | Ramirez | Aldo | RHP (Starter) |
| 16 | Parker | Mitchell | LHP (Starter) |
| 17 | White | T.J. | OF (Corner) |
| 18 | De La Rosa | Jeremy | OF (Corner) |
| 19 | Infante | Samuel | SS |
| 20 | Romero | Seth | LHP (Starter) |
| 21 | Saenz | Dustin | LHP (Starter) |
| 22 | Denaburg | Mason | RHP (Starter) |
| 23 | Boissiere | Branden | OF (Corner) |
| 24 | Quintana | Roismar | OF (CF) |
| 25 | Brzykcy | Zach | RHP (Reliever) |
| 26 | Fox | Lucius | SS |
| 27 | Cluff | Jackson | SS |
| 28 | Lee | Evan | LHP (Starter) |
| 29 | Millas | Drew | C |
| 30 | Casey | Donovan | OF (Corner) |
| 31 | Pineda | Israel | C |
| 32 | Barley | Jordy | SS |
Lets talk about the players one by one who are notable for where he had them ranked:
- Ruiz is “eligible” on his list so he’s #1.
- McDaniel is one of the few pundits to put House over Cavalli.
- He remains very high on Rutledge, having him #6 in our system.
- He’s easily the high man on Daylen Lile, loved him as a prospect last year as one of the best “pure hitters” in the draft. We didn’t see that in last year’s FCL though, so this is definitely a ranking based on faith of the scouting report.
- He’s dinged Antuna down to #11, which I think is fair. This is the same Antuna who is STILL not hitting (current high-A slash line for 2022: .216/.382/.715. He now has hit 1,000 career pro at bats and has a career slash line of .236/.324/.364. At some point, pundits and front office execs are going to have to acknowledge the facts on him.
- He’s lower on Carrillo than most, but only a few slots.
- He’s quite high on T.J. White as compared to other shops, some of whom didn’t even rank him in their top 30 (Baseball America). So far in 2022, as an 18yr old he’s slashing .250/.333/.422 in a league where the pitchers are on average 3.5 years older than him. Wow.
- He remains somewhat hopeful on Seth Romero, having him ranked 20th.
- He’s one of the few to rank Dustin Saenz, having him 21st and describing him as “a better-than-the-sum-of-his-parts squatty lefty with an above-average heater and good feel who could travel the Parker path to a backend rotation outcome.“
- He also is one of the few to rate Boissiere, having him ranked 23rd.
- He’s quite low in comparison on players like Cluff and Casey, perhaps because he views them as org pieces and not stars.
Notable players not in his top 32
- No Holden Powell … but nobody has him ranked this year with his injuries.
- no Daniel Marte; most other shops at least had him in their 20s.
- No Riley Adams, who would have been eligible here if Ruiz was.
- No Tres Barrera or any other veteran minor league catcher.
conclusion: I like this ranking, a lot. He has House over Cavalli, he has Henry #4 and of Henry says, “Henry is the consensus fourth prospect in this system with a lot of differing opinions beyond that. After an up-and-down time with raw stuff in college, he’s now back to sitting 94-96 mph with an above average-to-plus hook, improving changeup and starter traits. He should be in Double-A this year and is a safer bet for rotation value than Cavalli, but with a little less upside.“