1. Apologies for not being around much of late, but a handful of side projects and the seemingly constant stream of grad school research/paper writing has left me with little time to write for the site. As always, be assured that there’s been lots of updating of materials going on behind the scenes, so get excited for what I like to think is my annual strong content push in the weeks leading up to draft day.
2. Huge thank you to the two individuals who emailed me asking me, in so many words, if I was still in one piece after the recent attacks in Boston. I’ve obviously sent personal emails back — seriously, thanks again — but, egomaniacal fellow that I am, figured that if two strangers were concerned enough to ask then there might be one or two less vocal worriers out there as well. I’m good. My undergrad days in Boston are long gone and I’m a few hundred miles south now. Scary, unimaginably horrible stuff all the same, but I’m good.
3. Personal bookkeeping finally out of the way, how about a list? Here are some ground rules before this thing gets picked apart:
I’ve updated the list as much as possible based on any and all updated scouting information (note: this is still not perfect, as evidenced by the too high ranking of Matt Roberts and the too low ranking of Elvin Soto), but haven’t had a chance to run each prospect’s 2013 numbers through any kind of meaningful statistical testing. Because of this, I strongly considered scrapping the whole ranking aspects of the list and going with a generic alphabetized “follow list” like I’ve done in the past. I’m going with the tentatively ranked list for now because I do think it shows a decent snapshot of where certain players were ranked by me heading into the season.
I’m happy to answer any specific questions and provide any answers about forthcoming changes (e.g. Roberts down, Soto up) in the comments or via email. I’m also planning on slotting in players from elsewhere around college ball, including the juco ranks, in the coming days.
VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: The list only includes players from the conferences I’ve profiled so far. That would be the Big 10, SEC, ACC, Big East, Ivy, Mountain West, WCC, Sun Belt, Pac 12, WAC, Conference USA, Missouri Valley, and Big 12. As referenced above, players from the rest of college ball will be added in the very near future.
- California JR C Andrew Knapp
- Mississippi JR C Stuart Turner
- LSU JR C Tyler Ross
- North Carolina JR C Matt Roberts
- New Mexico SR C Mitchell Garver
- Texas JR C Jacob Felts
- Dartmouth JR C Jeff Keller
- Vanderbilt JR C Spencer Navin
- Auburn JR C Blake Austin
- Loyola Marymount SR C Colton Plaia
- North Carolina JR C Brian Holberton
- Air Force SR C Garrett Custons
- Oregon State JR C Jake Rodriguez
- Washington State JR C Collin Slaybaugh
- San Diego SR C Dillon Haupt
- Arizona State SR C Max Rossiter
- Southern California JR C Jake Hernandez
- Louisville JR C Kyle Gibson
- Pittsburgh SO C Elvin Soto
- Fresno State SR C Austin Wynns
- Virginia Tech rJR C Chad Morgan
- Cal State Bakersfield JR C Cael Brockmeyer
- Duke SR C Jeff Kremer
- Rutgers SR C Jeff Melillo
- Fresno State rSR C Trent Garrison
- Missouri State SR C Luke Voit
- Missouri JR C Dylan Kelly
- Illinois State JR C Mike Hollenbeck
- Bradley JR C Austin Jarvis
- Georgia SR C Brett DeLoach
- Mississippi State SR C Mitch Slauter
- Arkansas JR C Jake Wise
- Mississippi JR C Will Allen
- Alabama JR C Wade Wass
- Wake Forest SR C Brett Armour
- St. John’s JR C Frank Schwindel
- Florida Atlantic SR C Mike Spano
- Central Florida SR C Ryan Breen
- Texas State rJR C Tyler Pearson
- Louisiana Tech rJR C Kyle Arnsberg
- Texas State SR C Andrew Stumph
- Dallas Baptist SR C Duncan McAlpine
- Baylor SR C Nathan Orf
- Kansas JR C Kai’ana Eldredge
- South Carolina SR C Dante Rosenberg
If you’ve made it this far, thanks. Here’s a quick idea of what the immediate future holds. First, I’ve got a paper that needs to be written between now and Thursday. Once that’s out of the way, things will pick up for a bit. In the meantime, I’m hoping to a) continue updating the college catcher rankings and perhaps move on to other positions, b) finish my thoughts on the SEC, and c) do a little MLB Draft/NFL Draft mock draft remix before Thursday’s first round.
The Baseball Draft Report 
Curious why you don’t tweet these articles out? You provide fantastic info and that would be a great way to get your work out there.
Thanks, Matt. I really appreciate that. I wish I had a better answer for you other than the fact I worry about being too much of a self-promoter if I go the tweet every article route. I guess that’s what people do these days, so maybe I’ll give it a shot.
MLB Draft info is so scarce, especially truly informative sites, so I think this would not only be great for you but fortunate for draftniks starving for more information.
How is Gibson from Louisville ranked ahead of soto when spots the best catcher in that conference? Jeff Melillo in my opinion is better then Gibson
You’re absolutely right about Soto – I actually used his too low ranking as an example in my intro. These lists are based mostly on older scouting info and stats, so consider them more of a pre-season snapshot than an up to the minute ranking. I guess that makes them not all that useful, come to think of it. You could definitely argue Melillo over Gibson as well. I like Melillo just fine as a potential mid-round backup catcher possibility. I went with Gibson because I’ve long been enamored with his athleticism and rapidly improving defense. As much as I like those things, the lack of 2013 playing time will surely knock him down when the final rankings (the real ones) come out next month. Don’t be shocked to see Melillo ahead of him by then.
Can I ask what this is based off of. Curious about Dartmouths Jeff Keller, can he get drafted at a decent round?
Trent Garrison ,Fresno State. Absolutely one of the best Arms in College Ball. A Rocket. Utility Player . Can play all over and can Hit. Throws 1.7’s even some 6’s on the POP. Twin Brother Taylor, a New York Yankee Pitcher. I hear Trent throws 95 plus as well.
I agree, MUCH NEEDED UPDATE should be in the works. No way Soto should be out of the top 10, not in my books.