The difference between Miller, Motter, and Panik is slight enough that ranking them was nothing more than a flip of my very rare, three-sided coin. I feel much more strongly that Miller, Motter, and Panik are in fact the top three college shortstop prospects. All three players have the defensive tools to stick at short (Miller is probably the most questionable, but count me as a believer), and, at minimum, all profile as average big league players capable of playing anywhere in the infield as a pro. After that, things are wide open. Shortstop and catcher are both really tricky positions to judge as an outsider because many pro teams have very specific types of players they target at those spots. In this case, I tried to err on the side of defense, athleticism, and likelihood of staying at the position professionally, but a few prospects with more bat than glove (e.g. Featherston and Serna) offered skill sets too intriguing to ignore. I’m hoping tomorrow’s expanded commentary on this list will shed some light on the thought process behind many of the picks, but I’m happy to answer any questions in the meantime. Until then, here’s what I’ve got…
- Clemson JR SS Brad Miller
- Coastal Carolina JR SS Taylor Motter
- St. John’s JR SS Joe Panik
- Connecticut JR SS Nick Ahmed
- Michigan SO SS Derek Dennis
- UCLA JR SS Tyler Rahmatulla
- TCU JR SS Taylor Featherston
- Oregon JR SS KC Serna
- Virginia Military Institute SR SS Sam Roberts
- Texas Tech JR SS Kelby Tomlinson
- Long Beach State JR SS Kirk Singer
- Southeast Missouri State JR SS Kenton Parmley
- Lake Erie College SS Ryan Rua
- California JR SS Marcus Semien
- Vanderbilt SO SS Sam Lind
- Troy SR SS Adam Bryant
- Army SR SS Clint Moore
- South Carolina JR SS Peter Mooney
- LSU JR SS Austin Nola
- Texas JR SS Brandon Loy
- LSU JR SS Tyler Hanover
- Tampa JR SS Taylor Wrenn
- James Madison SR SS David Herbek
- Southeastern Louisiana JR SS Justin Boudreaux
- Virginia Tech JR SS Ronnie Shaban
- Virginia Tech SR SS Tim Smalling
- Oklahoma JR SS Caleb Bushyhead
- South Florida JR SS Sam Mende
- Minnesota JR SS AJ Pettersen
- Wichita State JR SS Tyler Grimes
The Baseball Draft Report 