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I love the way many of our prospects finished their seasons. Bob Reed mentioned Doyle hot finish. And while he has not been in our ranking conversation yet, Molina had an even better finish.
30 2/3innings in his last 6 starts, allowed 21 hits, 1 earned run, 6 walks and 38 Ks. I’d say he has figured out the AAA baseball after a dismal AAA start. It’s unusual the variance he had in my rankings. He pitched great at Molina and had 11/13, then he struggled at AAA Andujar dropped him to 16/17. With his finish i consider him almost ready for the big leagues and he’s my 8th choice.I have never read through these threads and thiught everybody is right…yet here we are. There are at least eight guys I can’t differentiate.
I remain Joshua Baez at three.#3 – Josh Baez
Barely 23 years old and played in 29 games in St. Louis this year. In AA and AAA combined over the last 2 years and almost 800 plate appearances, he hit 50 home runs and stole 55 bases. His OPS was a little under .900 and he struck out about 25% of the time.
In his last 49 plate appearances in the majors this year, his batting line was .304/.347/.543/.890.
SoonerinNC said:
Baez #3
Hey Sooner, if you check in, could you please specify which Baez? With two, I like to be as specific as possible. Thanks
Voting is, once again, tight. There are still some hours to go before the voting closes at noon CT/1 ET so get your votes in!!
With no more votes coming in and the tiebreaker pretty well set, we are closing voting for this round.
By a whisker’s breadth, your 2027 TCN Community #3 prospect is Liam Doyle, LHP. Congrats to Liam.
1. Rainiel Rodriguez, C
2. Quinn Mathews, LHP
3. Liam Doyle, LHPVoting is now open for the #4 prospect. Voting will close at 12 PM CT/1 PM ET on Monday, October 12th. I may need a little grace on this one as we’ll be out of town and in the woods. I’ll post a contingency if it looks like things are clearly going to be one prospect on Monday morning so we may be able to just start the vote at 12/1 then if we have a clear #4.
4. Leonardo Bernal, C 50/55, Risk Low
Mr Bernal (my #3) is another baby Bird who left the protective nest of the minors to make his debut in the great big world of major league baseball this year. Like some others, he hit the ground running with a very solid debut. I do think that the bat will level out some (I don’t see him as a 128 OPS+ guy but probably a little above average), but he will still provide solid defense (albeit probably not Gold Glove level, despite his minor league accolades) and start as a quality MLB backstop for quite a few years, with a possible peak at near All Star level. Expect Bernal to be the C/1B sort for the next 6 years and be pretty pleased with it. Having his switch hitting bat in the lineup will keep the offense moving along.
The downside? Well, it’s really the lack of upside. He’s a sort of Ivan Herrera with an actual glove, which is a solid player for a team to have. But he’s not necessarily going to be a guy you think will be an All Star or put up a 5 WAR season anytime. That’s ok, though. Bernal will give you more than enough to rank him well within your top 5 prospects.
Bernal for me at 4. I’m very comfortable with Doyle having been picked three. I thought very seriously about him back at 2.
4. Bernal (my 3, but I’m perfectly ok with the #4 selection here – hopefully).
I agree with much of what “25” said above except that I think it’s a good possibility he makes a couple All-Star teams in his peak years. I think he’s going to generally be a 2.0-3.5 WAR player which is a very solid player to have with maybe a couple peak years north of 4. He is still pretty young though so he could still find another gear.
For the Cardinals, he is hopefully the answer at Catcher for some time to come (unless Raniel stays there). He’s been good at managing pitchers, rates well at blocking and framing, and has a good arm. Not that it matters here, but he complements better with Herrera or Pages as the other Catcher due to Bernal being overall better from the left side of the plate. This puts Crooks in a bit of limbo.
This puts Crooks in a bit of limbo.
I agree. Crooks is a guy I thought could have hit the ground running this year and really had the inside edge for a job. Maybe the 2027 season would turn out best for all involved if Bernal and Crooks split time, with Crooks having a good half season before being trade bait to upgrade elsewhere. Maybe some team has a glut of CF or 3B prospects in the high minors and would want to make a swap.
#4 Bernal
He sure looks like he could be our catcher of the future, assuming that Rainiel finds a home at 3B, 1B, or DH. We shouldn’t forget Crooks either. He still has time to rebound.
An extremely valid case could have been lodged for Leonardo “Tank” Bernal being recognized as our #2 top prospect. Leonardo’s name not being called at #3 borders the ridiculous. Since reading Liam Neeson Doyal had been bestowed with #3 honors and not “Tank”, I find myself shaking my head from side to side mumbing the words “do I really want to continue voting”?
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