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My thinking about Clarke is, best case, he has to stay on the mound all 2027 working up through AA and AAA, just to position himself to take a run at MLB sometime in 2028. That is way more staying healthy than what Roby has to do to get to the promised land. I have previously mentioned that there is no structure in a pitching arm that sheds loose bodies when healthy and undamaged, which is concerning, but in Clake’s case, it seems intuitive that maybe it is debris from a previous procedure, and maybe that is less concerning. We don’t know, of course.
Clarke is one of the most talented arms in the system, but his health is a massive question mark, to say the least. Chucking it 103 in rehab starts just puts an exclamation point on it for me. I have him around 30th, which is around replacement level as a projection from me, 0ish WAR over the six controllable years.
13. Sandro Santana. The guy ran a 60% K rate in his time with Springfield. That’s not a typo…he faced 30 batters and struck out 18 of them. And he wasn’t too shabby with Memphis either, punching out 36.1% of batters who stepped into the box. You may say that a reliever should never be this high, but a very good reliever will produce 1+ WAR per year, which is plenty enough to make most top 15s if you were to go back and audit prospect lists. I will make the case that the 21 year old has as good a shot as anyone outside the top 5 or 6 to produce at the big league level going forward.
14. Mason Molina, LHP 45/50 Risk Med
My #11 prospect, here’s a guy who has really raised his stock this year to the point where he should probably be getting some consideration for a chance to take the spot previously assumed to go to Matthew Liberatore for the 2027 season. Mason started the year in Springfield and generally breezed through his starts, compiling a 2.87 ERA and a 10.7/3.4 K/BB ratio. He was moved up to the International League and got rocked early on, before settling down a bit in August and then really turning on the afterburners down the stretch. His last six starts…30-⅔ IP, only 1 (!) earned run, 39 K, 8 BB, and only 17 hits (0.82 WHIP). The lefty had a really great finish to his year and set himself up to get a shot as early as the spring, which is pretty great from a guy who was middle of the pack in last year’s rankings at 30th. I have more faith that he will end up a big league starter in the long term than a couple of guys that I had ranked behind him in Hjerpe and Fajardo. He projects as a #4 or 5 for me, with a little bit of upside. Sort of a just a little bit lesser Quinn Mathews. The fastball is good but not elite. The change is very good. The breaking stuff is alright. He takes the Ixan Henderson spot for me, as the hope to grab a back end starter sort of out of the ether.
We are going to close a much-closer-than-it-seemed vote. While Dos Santos was named on only 6 ballots compared to 9 for Peete, he did get 5 votes at 11, compared to only 3 for Peete. This *nearly* swayed the voting for #12. With that being said, your 2027 TCN Community number 11 prospect is Trevor Condon, OF. Your number 12 prospect is Tai Peete, OF. Congrats to both of our worthy candidates!
1. Rainiel Rodriguez, C
2. Quinn Mathews, LHP
3. Liam Doyle, LHP
4. Leo Bernal, C
5. Joshua Baez, OF
6. Tanner Franklin, RHP
7. Cooper Hjerpe, LHP
8. Jesus Baez, IF
9. Yhoiker Fajardo, RHP
10. Jurrangelo Cijntje, SHP
11. Trevor Condon, OF
12. Tai Peete, OFVoting is now open for the 13th and 14th ranked prospects. Voting will close at 12 PM CT/1 PM ET on Friday, October 30th.
On the pitching front, I think Bling is the only one to mention him, but I have Mason Molina as the next pitcher and above many of the hitters actually. He is another guy I see pitching in the bigs and as a #4 type guy.
I have Molina higher than most of the guys who are getting votes now. I still think Santana is going to be such a dominant reliever that I have to vote him for every slot until he gets in, but Molina is a highly respectable choice.
I like Peete as well and have moved him up a bit due to his excellent AFL, although I got Victor Scott-ed before so I’m nervous about voting him too highly. But he’s a fine choice as well.
Ragsdale is the one I’m not as high on as others, it seems. I see he and Cho as 4th OF competition with very similar skill sets. They’ll be in my top 20, but at the tail end of it.
With just under 3 hours until the polls close, we have a tight race for the #12 spot at least! Literally one vote could make all the difference, so get your votes in before the 12 PM CT/1 PM ET deadline!
#11 Sandro Santana, LHP 40+/50, Risk Low
Until Bob Reed chimed in, I thought that there was a good chance that I was going to be by far the high man on Mr Santana, but I’m becoming more and more of a believer in the upside. While he’s shorter in stature and a bit slight, the stuff is electric and he was dominant across three levels in two different organizations in 2026, and was rightly named the prospect reliever of the year for MLB Pipeline. I’ll throw a few stats out there…64 IP, 101 Ks, 1.97 ERA, 1.016 WHIP. After he came over in the Nootbaar trade, he was so dominant (18.7 K/9, 0.577 WHIP) that the organization had to move him up to Memphis to give him a challenge. While the walks increased with the major league baseball, he was still basically unhittable. In his 33-⅓ innings at AA and AAA this year he gave up a total of 9 hits and 1 HR. Oh, and 4 runs (1.08 ERA). His fastball is good and his slider is elite. He toys with a little bit of a changeup, which may be something the team works on for his long term success in 2027. Outside of his size, you’d be hard pressed to make a better lefty relief prospect, IMO.
The downside is that he’s 5-10 and listed at 165 lbs. Hopefully the staff can get him on the opposite nutrition program of Rodriguez and Doyle and maybe he’s already bulking up a bit as he’ll turn 22 in March. I think the Cards got a huge steal in the Nootbaar trade (not to mention the guys who will be coming up later) and I wouldn’t be shocked if he’s a better than 1-for-1 replacement for Jojo Romero by late summer, and especially in 2028. He’s a dynamite arm with explosive results, to say the least.
#12 Trevor Condon, OF 45+/60 Risk High
My highest ranked 2026 draftee, Trevor is a classic centerfielder and an old school sort of player. You can tell from his early interviews that he’s a baseball junkie and will probably maximize his potential. Kyle Reis mentioned that he would probably talk his way into a game at Palm Beach before the season was out…well, he got into 7 games, socked his first pro homer, hit .321/.387/.526, stole a couple of bases and was probably really good in CF. That’s what you’re getting with Condon. I think he’s a Nathan Church at a minimum, and probably average or better across the board for a CF when he matures. He’s an exciting prospect who could well be Top 5 next year, with several projected graduations and his own chance to make a mark in a full season of professional ball. But he is far away, so the risk is high, albeit muted by my opinion that he has a very high ceiling for a high school prospect with his speed and bat to ball skills.. But expect Trevor to work hard enough to make his future average CF potential happen, with the chance for even more. I have Trevor 10th, which speaks to the depth of the system as he would have been pushing the Top 5 in his draft year just a few years back.
We are closing the voting now for the #10 prospect. Your 2027 TCN Community #10 prospect is Jurrangelo Cijntje, SHP. Way to go, Jurrangelo!!
1. Rainiel Rodriguez, C
2. Quinn Mathews, LHP
3. Liam Doyle, LHP
4. Leo Bernal, C
5. Joshua Baez, OF
6. Tanner Franklin, RHP
7. Cooper Hjerpe, LHP
8. Jesus Baez, IF
9. Yhoiker Fajardo, RHP
10. Jurrangelo Cijntje, SHPVoting is now open for the #11 & 12 prospects. This voting changes a little, in that we use a weighted voting system. The prospect voted by each voter at #11 will get 2 points and the prospect voted #12 will get 1 point. Total points will determine the #11, then #12 prospect. In case of a tie, the first tiebreaker is the most votes at the earliest position, in this case #11. The second tiebreaker is the first to get to their total points, which is an incentive to get your votes in early!!
Voting will close at 12 PM CT/1 PM ET on Wednesday, October 28th.
Re the medical folks, I have Roby ahead of Clarke
I’m there with you for sure. Roby has health issues, but Clarke is on a whole other level with the arm injuries. I think Roby will at least pitch in the big leagues, whereas I have my doubts about Clarke holding up long enough to even make it there.
The injury history for both has depressed their ranking in my book. Roby is within my top 20, with Clarke in the 30ish range. Roby has looked good in Arizona, but that just tells me that he’s able to pitch at this point. The competition was pretty overmatched, as it should have been.
Really good stuff this round, and yet another close vote! So get your votes in prior to the deadline at 12 PM CT/1 PM ET!!
My vote for #10 is Jurrangelo Cijntje, RHP. He’s right there with a shot to make the majors this year. He just needs to pitch like he did the last month and a half at Memphis.
Closing out the voting here after our tiebreaking vote came in…your 2027 TCN Community #9 prospect is Yhoiker Fajardo, RHP. Congratulations to the 20 year old on a strong showing!
1. Rainiel Rodriguez, C
2. Quinn Mathews, LHP
3. Liam Doyle, LHP
4. Leo Bernal, C
5. Joshua Baez, OF
6. Tanner Franklin, RHP
7. Cooper Hjerpe, LHP
8. Jesus Baez, IF
9. Yhoiker Fajardo, RHPVoting is now open for the #10 prospect. This will be our last solo vote. Voting will close at 12 PM CT/1 PM ET on Monday, October 26th.
Adding some comments from my writeup about Fajardo…
Fajardo has been pushed aggressively since being acquired in the Willson Contreras trade, and his mature arsenal and results have held up very well. He started off in Peoria, where he had great results early before fading a little as the season got to its midway point (1.69 ERA in April, fading to 5.75 in July, although the peripherals were about the same). This suggests that maybe the staff had him working on something at the midway point and felt like he was handling it well, because he was promoted to Springfield and into that very crowded rotation in late July, where he proceeded to pitch pretty much like you would expect a 19 year old at a new advanced level to pitch. The Ks came down, but the walks also did. He acquitted himself well enough to start in both of Springfield’s playoff series.
Yhoiker features a fastball with solid velocity, but without ideal shape, that he controls really well, an excellent slider, and a very good changeup. He commands it all very well for a pitcher of his age and that has allowed his stuff to play up at lower levels. It will be interesting to see how he responds to a second visit to Springfield and the shot to pitch with the big league ball in later 2027, if that occurs. His fastball does limit his upside more than the two guys in front of him, but he has a pretty good floor considering his age and control. He feels like an under the radar #5 sort of pitcher who will probably give up some dingers, but also have a year where the wind and barrels fall in his favor and he puts up a 3.50 ERA and starts a playoff game.
Too bad Roby is being sent home.
I think they’ve shown what they need to with him, and he passed the test with flying colors. Hopefully he can stay healthy over the winter and contribute to the big league club in 2027.
We have a few more hours left to vote, and once again, voting is tight, so get your votes in as soon as you can!
It’s good to see Roby and Elissalt doing pretty much what they should do against lower level competition in Arizona. I look at these as rehab assignments. It doesn’t change their standing a whole lot for me from where I had them prior to the AFL, but it doesn’t hurt them at least.
#9 for me is once again, Jurrangelo Cijntje, RHP. I can’t wait until the #11/12 voting so I can vote for someone else finally.
Closing out the voting, in yet another hotly contested vote, your #8 prospect in the 2027 TCN Community Top Prospect Voting is Jesus Baez, IF. Nicely done, Mr Baez.
1. Rainiel Rodriguez, C
2. Quinn Mathews, LHP
3. Liam Doyle, LHP
4. Leo Bernal, C
5. Joshua Baez, OF
6. Tanner Franklin, RHP
7. Cooper Hjerpe, LHP
8. Jesus Baez, IFVoting is now open for the #9 prospect. Voting will close at 12 PM CT/1 PM ET on Thursday, October 23rd.
I want to add a comment about Baez before we close voting here in a bit… I think he’s a very talented young man and if anyone else was on the Cijntje bandwagon he would have been my vote at 8. I have him, even as a midpoint, as a playable 1-1.5 WAR 3B as soon as the middle of this coming year. Despite his youth and despite the prodigious power, I have the ceiling only as a slightly above average 3B. That’s because I have heard from the beginning, when we acquired him, from Kyle Reis and others on here, and backed up by Nigel T in this very thread, about his in game antics and I do think that really tempers my hopes. The weakness beyond that is how aggression. He would really need to double his walk rate at a minimum to reach the heights that many have hoped for him, but it’s hard to imagine that happening. So, he’s still a good prospect, and one that I would very feel very comfortable with being at number 8, but there are definitely some red flags.
Since we all have been adding plugs for prospects that we haven’t ranked yet, I’ll put one in for a guy that I have ranked ahead of Ragsdale, Frias, Dos Santos, and several others.
Suppose I told you that we had a pitching prospect who, at 21, just plowed through 3 levels, was named reliever of the year by MLB Pipeline, noted as “best left handed slider” by Baseball America, 14.2 K/9 (39.6% K rate), allowed a total of 4 earned runs and 14 hits the last four months for a 0.91 ERA, allowed a very good .576 OPS against righties and an absurd .349 OPS against lefties? Other than his small size, Sandro Santana is a virtuoso on the mound. He’s got an excellent fastball and the killer slider, which makes him a potentially elite bullpen arm.
Some may say that relievers don’t belong in the top 10. I would counter that we probably have a reliever worthy of being top 10 on many years’ lists. I looked at 2018, which was absurdly deep with 39 of our 65 ranked guys making the big leagues at some point, including the top 21. Coming in at #12 on the WAR leaderboards, both for career and peak season? Ryan Helsley. And that was a particularly deep year. This year may be that good or better (think the Cards may have won something with Alcantara and Gallen in 2022ish?) but it would be hard to be that much deeper. So I’ll be taking Sandro before too long.
I’m going with Jurrangelo Cijntje again at #8. He was pretty good in Memphis despite some not great batted ball luck. The 3.57 xERA and 3.22 FIP both show a guy who got more comfortable as the season went on. In fact, after a couple of rough outings to start at AAA and a wild one, he settled in nicely at the highest level of the minors. 2.95 ERA, 48 strikeouts against 14 walks in 39-2/3 IP for a 21% K-BB rate. I think he gets a very good shot to help the rotation next year if he starts out that well again at Memphis.
Since I’ve got a meeting at 1, I’m going to call this one a little bit early. Your TCN Community 2027 #7 prospect is Cooper Hjerpe, LHP. With the wide variety of votes, I’m sure there will be quibbles, but that’s the way the vote goes sometimes. Congrats to Mr Hjerpe.
1. Rainiel Rodriguez, C
2. Quinn Mathews, LHP
3. Liam Doyle, LHP
4. Leo Bernal, C
5. Joshua Baez, OF
6. Tanner Franklin, RHP
7. Cooper Hjerpe, LHPVoting is now open for the #8 prospect. Voting will close at 12 PM CT/1 PM ET on Wednesday, October 21st.
We are in the closing stretch and this is possibly the most varied vote for a top 10 position that I can recall. There’s a man in the lead right now, but a couple of others could take the spot if they get a late bump. Voting closes at 12 PM CT/1 PM ET, so get your votes in!
Yeah, BA loves Franklin. But if his pitches were so incredible, why can’t he outperform a guy who is two years younger and doesn’t have a great fastball?
If you include the playoff starts that each made, Franklin DID outperform Fajardo (who gave up 7 runs in 7 playoff innings) both at Springfield and for the season. Even without the playoff starts, Franklin had a better WHIP allowed, lower hits allowed per 9 (7.5 to 9.1), more innings pitched and more strikeouts total, slightly lower HR rate allowed, was better against RHB (.703 OPS vs .775 OPS allowed) and against LHP (.677 OPS vs .701 OPS allowed). Fajardo had a slightly better K/9 (11.54 to 11.4) and a better walk rate (2.9 to 3.9).
Franklin was in his first year pitching as a starter. Fajardo is younger. I’m not saying that Fajardo is a bad prospect…what he did at his age was pretty impressive. But he’s got more limited upside due to the less than great fastball. Franklin was impressive himself as a first year starter in the system, and with the way he pitched late in Springfield and in the playoffs, has the talent and potential to be a #2-3 starter that I just don’t see anyone, anywhere, putting Fajardo in that bracket.