Patreon Content: Individual Top 30 lists – Jasper Roos

By / / Rankings Discussion, Patreon

It’s rankings week at FutureSox and the schedule of events is below!

In addition to our regular content, our participating rankers (James Fox, Mike Rankin, Dan Santaromita, Brian Bilek, Rob Young, Sean Williams and Jasper Roos) will each release their individual top 30 lists to Patrons throughout the week! James posted his on Monday. This is the second edition.

JASPER ROOS
TOP OF THE BILL

1. Luis ROBERT (OF)
2. Michael KOPECH (RHP)
3. Andrew VAUGHN (1B)
4. Nick MADRIGAL (2B)
5. Jonathan STIEVER (RHP)

Seeing how every single FutureSox writer was in agreement about the top 4, I don’t have much to add to that order. I am, however, one of just three writers who put Stiever in the top 5. I’m a huge believer in Stiever (no rhyme intended, though I guess it kinda .. works?). I mean, come on, his teammates call him ‘Verlander’, what more do you want? All jokes and premature comparisons aside, Stiever put himself on the map in 2019. He thrived under Matt Zaleski’s tutelage, and with a slightly altered approach to pitching and a tweaked arsenal, I don’t think we’ve seen the best of the former fifth rounder yet. He’s probably the guy I am most looking forward to following this season.

Heck, with Robert, Kopech, and likely Madrigal all promoting off this list in the upcoming months, Stiever could be the number two prospect on my list, come mid-season.

Also, Andrew Vaughn will continue to be a stud this year. #analysis

THE NEXT WAVE

6. Dane DUNNING (RHP)
7. Andrew DALQUIST (RHP)
8. Matthew THOMPSON (RHP)
9. Zack COLLINS (C)
10. Micker ADOLFO (OF)

Pushing Stiever into my top 5 cost Dane Dunning his spot. Please don’t get me wrong: this does not mean I am down on Dunning (again, any rhyme or alliteration here is accidental). I still believe he could be a very important rotation piece in the future, and the way he pitched before he got hurt left little to be desired. I’m giving him a little room to breathe and work his way back from TJ. I’m also the high-guy on Dalquist, but as I’ve said before: he and Thompson are basically 1A and 1B for me right now. I don’t like one better than the other as of right now, and will rank them together as long as they don’t change my mind. I still see Collins as a big leaguer, especially after the improvements he made in Charlotte last year. Give him some time.

I have a love/hate relationship with Adolfo. When the Sox signed him, I was excited, though I wonder how much that was because they dropped $1.6 million on him after having to rebuild the Latin American operations because of the skimming scandal. We’ve been up and down ever since, me and Micker, but the breakout of 2018 seemed legit. I want him to be healthy again, and continue his ascend up the ranks.

THE FAB FIVE

11. Luis GONZALEZ (OF)
12. Gavin SHEETS (1B)
13. Blake RUTHERFORD (OF)
14. Luis Alexander BASABE (OF)
15. Yolbert SANCHEZ (SS)

This might be my favorite set of five players on the list. My fab five if you will. I’m higher than most on several of these guys, and even the ones I was lower on in the past have found the way up. Some of that has to do with what they’ve showed in the (recent) past, some of it with the upside I see.

Listen, Sheets was by far my least favorite of the bunch this time last year, but he did some work in 2019. In Birmingham, where power goes to die, he made huge strides. I wrote about Luis Gonzalez’ down season earlier this month, and I am fully aware that another mediocre season could cause me to lose faith. For now, however, I remain the high-guy on him, and believe in what he showed in 2018 and late 2019. More on why I stand by Luis later this week in our writers round table.

I was all over Rutherford pre-draft (and even had the Sox pegged as the team that would pick him, not expecting them to go with Collins), and I was thrilled when they got him from the Yankees, about a year later. The outfielder hasn’t lived up to his pre-draft shine yet (and as you can read later this week, there is plenty not to like as well), but he had a much better second than first half in 2019 and… well, I guess I’m curious to see where it leads. I like the player. Sue me. Yolbert Sanchez was the last position player I wanted to rank ahead of a foursome of similarly ranked pitchers, mostly due to his advanced age and the upside, so.. there you have it.

FOUR PITCHERS AND A BEARD

16. Zack BURDI (RHP)
17. Jimmy LAMBERT (RHP)
18. Tyler JOHNSON (RHP)
19. Konnor PILKINGTON (LHP)
20. James BEARD (OF)

This is an interesting bunch, and I view at least three of those pitchers very similarly as of right now. It’s the law firm of Burdi, Lambert & Johnson. Burdi and Johnson are the relief arms that the Sox could potentially really need this season, and between Burdi telling us he’s fully healthy and back to normal, and Johnson figuring some stuff out as well, I’m optimistic that these guys are close to contributing, to varying degrees.

Lambert underwent Tommy John in June, so he’s ranked lower than he would’ve been if he’d remained fully healthy. I don’t know if he makes (or should make) it back to affiliated baseball this season, but we’ll see how the recovery process goes. His 2018 was too good to ignore. Pilkington is one of those fun, under-the-radar kinda guys whose underlying stats are more enjoyable to look at than the superficial ones. Love the strikeout-to-walk-rate. Not a huge fan of the contact rate. I do like the pitchability and the secondary stuff, and I want to see where it leads in 2020.

That leaves us with James Beard as the only non-pitcher in this group, and he gives me all the feels. I know, Sox fans have rightfully grown averse of the term ‘toolsy outfielder’, but Beard is one if I ever saw one. The wheels are legit, and he showed some nice pop in high school. Love the upside. Plenty of work to do, especially on defense, but boy, if things click for this kid, watch out.

THE ‘CONVINCE ME’ CREW

21. Lenyn SOSA (SS)
22. Bryce BUSH (OF)
23. Codi HEUER (RHP)
24. Ian HAMILTON (RHP)
25. Bernardo FLORES (LHP)

Interesting five players in this group, as they all have something to prove to me in 2019. I had to be talked into Heuer initially, missing what makes him a worthy top 30 prospect. After writing the reliever top 5, I can see what makes him intriguing, and I am curious to see him pitch this upcoming year. Bush is another player I did not know what to do with. I should like him more than his 22 spot indicates, and I guess I do. It’s just difficult to find a spot for him in the top 20 after a pretty ‘meh’ 2019.

Sosa and Hamilton fit perfectly here for me. I like Hamilton’s chances of coming back this year while leaving all the unfortunate injury trouble behind. Here’s to hoping the shoulder is alright. Sosa is only 20 years old, but he held his own in Kannapolis. Though– statistically — he hasn’t shown what was expected of him when he signed at 17 years old (“one of the best hitters out of Venezuela that year” according to evaluators), the athleticism is undeniable.

That leaves Bernardo Flores, who I am the lowest on of all writers. I’m not a fan of the low strikeout rate, especially in today’s game. I know Flores is a groundball pitcher, strikeouts aren’t everything, and there is a role for guys like him in baseball too, but they don’t make it big as often as the guys with the gaudy strikeout totals. If there is a silver lining, it’s that his k-rate went up between 2018 and 2019. Who knows what else he has in store? I’ll have more on him in our round table discussion, later this week.

THE FINAL FIVE

26. Jose RODRIGUEZ (SS)
27. Benyamin BAILEY (OF)
28. DJ GLADNEY (3B)
29. Danny MENDICK (2B)
30. Jake BURGER (3B)

Disclaimer: I should have put Bryan Ramos at 29, not Danny Mendick. Ramos was accidentally omitted from our initial list of nominees and I would have picked him over Mendick, as he fits perfectly in between Gladney and Burger for me. Alas, once we realized our mistake and agreed to move Ramos into the top 30, I forgot to take Mendick off my list. It wasn’t meant to be, but I did not want to commit fraud and pretend I had Ramos on the list to begin with.

That said: Bailey and Gladney are my clear favorites of these five, as the upside that’s oozing out of these two (really) young guys is tantalizing to say the least. If Stiever is my favorite pitcher to follow this year, Bailey and Gladney may be my favorite position players. That’s not to say I don’t like Jose Rodriguez, because he was really good in Arizona in 2019 too. Take Burger out of this group and you have some of the youngest upside all grouped together. Just a fun bunch, that can take big steps in 2020.

I left Burger in because I’d feel like I’d be cheating him out of a top 30 ranking due to things beyond his control. Dude’s been hurt a ton. I still believe in the talent that made him a top draft pick, and I’m just really hoping he’ll make it back to a baseball field this year. If he doesn’t, even I may have a tough time keeping him on my list.

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