Puckett Inaugural Top 50 List
There is some pretty good starting pitching not too far away from reaching the show. Starting pitchers gobbled up 21 of the 51 spots on the list with another 8 being RP/CL types. Outfielders were the most prevelent position with 8 of them followed by second basemen and shortstops with 4 each. Anaheim and Houston claimed the most slots with 4 each. NY, Durham and Albuquerque each came in with 3. In my eyes Ried Timlin is second to none, Palaez might be the highest rated pitcher there ever was but his inability to keep the ball in the park hinders him. Tampa Bay has two great young players in Pinzon and worley. If a player had health issues his rating dropped.
Level Breakdown:
ML - 11
AAA - 15
AA - 18
HIA - 6
LOA - 1
POS Breakdown:
SP- 21
RP/CL - 8
OF - 8
SS - 4
2B - 4
C - 3
1B - 2
3B - 1
RANK | PLAYER | FRA | POS | LEVEL | RATING |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Ried Timlin | HOU | SP | HI-A | 9.7 |
2. | Albert Palaez | SP | ML | TAC | 9.6 |
3. | Jason Purcell | SYR | OF | ML | 9.55 |
4. | Valerio Cruz | COL | SP | ML | 9.4 |
5. | Jumbo Almanza | CIN | SP | AAA | 9.35 |
6. | Michael Knight | ALQ | SP | HI-A | 9.25 |
7. | Peter Yang | FLA | SP | LO-A | 9.15 |
8. | Roy Price | NY | CP | AAA | 9.1 |
9. | Heath Worley | TB | 2B | AA | 9.05 |
10. | Andy Hardy | SJU | SP | AAA | 9.0 |
11. | Matty Rojas | ELP | OF | AA | 8.95 |
12. | Teddy Ward | DUR | SP | ML | 8.9 |
13. | Pedro Pinzon | TB | LF | ML | 8.9 |
14. | Mike Finley | MIN | 2B | AA | 8.85 |
15. | Alex James | TOL | SP | AAA | 8.8 |
16. | Alfredo Blanco | NY | SP | AA | 8.8 |
17. | Ross Wolcott | SJU | C | HI-A | 8.75 |
18. | Chick Lieberthal | HEL | SP | AA | 8.7 |
19. | Carlton Lawrence | HOU | SS | AAA | 8.7 |
20. | Julio Gabriel | TUC | SP | AAA | 8.7 |
21. | Nash Penny | ALQ | SS | AAA | 8.65 |
22. | Sammy Ramirez | SLC | SP | AAA | 8.65 |
23. | Al Rucker | COL | 1B | ML | 8.65 |
24. | Theodore Smith | MIN | SP | AA | 8.6 |
25. | Happy Mitchell | ANA | 1B | ML | 8.6 |
26. | Al James | DUR | SP | ML | 8.55 |
27. | Enrique Santana | BUR | CP | ML | 8.55 |
28. | Norm Garcia | HEL | SP | AA | 8.55 |
29. | Sergio Busby | TOL | LF | HI-A | 8.5 |
30. | Neil Edwards | SJ | SP | AAA | 8.5 |
31. | Benny Aybar | JACK | CP | AAA | 8.5 |
32. | Ismael Amaro | ANA | SP | ML | 8.5 |
33. | Humberto Reynosa | SYR | C | AA | 8.5 |
34. | Hulk Powell | NY | RF | ML | 8.45 |
35. | Adrian Kotsay | ALQ | CP | AAA | 8.45 |
36. | Pete Peterson | PIT | C | HI-A | 8.4 |
37. | Hank Finnessey | L.R. | RF | AA | 8.4 |
38. | Jordan Biddle | ANA | RF | AAA | 8.4 |
39. | Scotter Scott | HOU | RF | AAA | 8.35 |
40. | Pep Nicholson | CIN | SS | AAA | 8.35 |
41. | Geoff Ankiel | N.O. | RP | AA | 8.35 |
42. | Michael McCarty | ANA | SP | AAA | 8.3 |
43. | Willis Gwynn | HOU | SP | AA | 8.3 |
44. | Aurelio Nunez | K.C. | 2B | HI-A | 8.3 |
45. | Diego Lee | DUR | CP | AAA | 8.3 |
46. | Jason Walls | K.C. | CP | AA | 8.25 |
47. | Randall Farr | PIT | SS | AA | 8.25 |
48. | Larry Hunter | CHA | 3B | AA | 8.25 |
49. | Joel Newson | HAR | CP | AA | 8.2 |
50. | Desi Duran | RIC | 2B | AA | 8.2 |
51. | Mariano Tejeda | LOU | SP | AA | 8.15 |