Baseball America Named Top Ten Padres Prospects

Yesterday, Baseball America released its rankings of the top ten Padres prospects.  Perhaps the most surprising part of the list was Anthony Rizzo‘s spot, number one.  Rizzo may belong there, but after his performance with the Padres last season, it would have been easy to bump him down the list.  Nonetheless, he is number one.  Here’s the rest:

The beauty of prospects is in their potential. They are like unopened gifts on Christmas morning (a good analogy considering the season, I think). They are packaged in a pretty exteriors, staged so neatly in their places, and they are pined over by those who desire them most. And just like Christmas gifts, the true contents are not known until they are exposed. Rip back the paper, play them at the Major League level. This is when you learn whether you received a lump of goal or that perfect present that topped your list.

If even four of these top players can develop into above-average players for the Padres, playing on the same field around the same time, the Padres will be in good shape. By 2014, these guys will either be struggling along at them minor league level making decisions about their future, or they will be playing under the lights of the big leagues.

The yearly top-ten list is an exciting thing. Especially when players from the previous season return to the list but they’ve made it one step closer to an appearance with the Major League club. So we welcome another top-ten list, and we hope like a kid on Christmas morning that when each gift is unwrapped, it turns out to be exactly what we hoped.