Keith Law’s annual extravaganza of baseball’s Next Big Things has been released for your perusal (ESPN Insider only; sorry), and it’s safe to say that Law sees a star of the future in the Tribe’s young, switch-hitting shortstop.
“Lindor can hit, run, work the count, field and throw, pretty much everything but hit for power, and he makes all of those things look very, very easy,” says Law.
Law also sees Lindor as the Indians’ eventual lead-off man, which, after dealing with Michael Bourn’s balky hamstrings that lead to Bourn’s general reluctance to steal some bases, that’s just fine by me.
Lindor is a gem. Now, for the sorta-kinda downside of things. I know 100 players aren’t a lot, so maybe I’m overselling the importance of quantity within the quality here. But depending on your point of view, Law seems to think that the Indians’ talent in Akron and Columbus is lacking. Lindor is the first of just three prospects in the Indians’ pipeline that made the cut. Outfielders Brad Zimmer is ranked 86th and Clint Frazier is 92nd. Frazier, by the way, was ranked 45th in Law’s 2014 rankings. Who knows if he sees something that should sound the alarms after such a precipitous tumble. (Yeah, yeah, I know. It’s my subjective curiosity, but still, 47 spots???)
Regardless of who and where, this is a must-read article that for nothing else serves as a reminder that baseball is getting closer, and that’s just awesome.
By the way, number one in Law’s list? Cubs’ third-baseman super-prospect Kris Bryant.
now, if you can go back and rate Law’s track record, that would be interesting. So many of these prospects who can do it all never seem to do it in the majors!
Andy Marte!
I went back and looked at Law’s rankings from 5 years ago, figuring that five years was enough time for guys to make it to the majors and prove what they’re worth.
2010 rankings:
1. Jason Heyward
2. Stephen Strasburg
3. Carlos Santana
4. Buster Posey
5. Mike Stanton
…
26. Lonnie Chisenhall
71. Michael Brantley
100. Nick Hagedone