Minors

Minor League Podcast: Melewski, Jones talk prospect rankings

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There’s just something intriguing about analyzing baseball prospects.

Who really knows which ones will pan out and which ones will end up fizzling before they reach the majors? Like the draft, breaking down prospects can be a crapshoot.

I guess that’s part of the allure. Everyone loves potential. And it’s always interesting to follow along and watch whether hyped players can meet the lofty expectations of scouts, analysts and the media.

Today on our “Minor League Podcast with Adam Pohl,” we’ll delve into the Orioles’ top prospects for 2017 from two different viewpoints.

First, Pohl speaks with Steve Melewski, a MASNsports.com baseball writer who, over the years, has specialized in analyzing the Orioles’ minor league system.

For the past few years, Melewski has penned the Top 10 prospect list for Baseball America, the preeminent publication for the minor leagues. He shares the Baseball America list and why he and the magazine chose certain prospects.

The BA list ranks players based on potential as much as what they’ve done so far in their pro careers. Therefore, injured right-hander Hunter Harvey, who had Tommy John surgery this season and likely won’t pitch in pro games until 2018, is listed fourth in the organization. Melewski explains that selection, and details the ceiling that Harvey, a former first-rounder, still possesses.

Afterward, Pohl chats with BaltimoreBaseball.com’s minor league guru, Dean Jones Jr., who will be unveiling his own list, “Dean’s Dozen” in a story next week on our site. He gives us a sneak peek of his selections, revealing his Top 6 in the podcast.

And although Melewski and Jones have the same top prospect – catcher Chance Sisco, pictured above – their lists vary some. Jones concentrates a little bit more on the 2016 production of the club’s minor leaguers, so Harvey isn’t on Jones’ initial six, but Trey Mancini, who surged to the majors this year, is listed at No. 2.

Both discussions will get you going if you like hearing and reading about prospects.

And, really, what baseball fan doesn’t?

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Dan Connolly

Dan Connolly has spent more than two decades as a print journalist in Pennsylvania and Maryland. The Baltimore native and Calvert Hall graduate first covered the Orioles as a beat writer for the York (Pennsylvania) Daily Record in 2001 before becoming The Baltimore Sun’s national baseball writer/Orioles reporter in 2005. He has won multiple state and national writing awards, including several from the Associated Press Sports Editors. In 2013 he was named Maryland Co-Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. And in 2015, he authored his first book, "100 Things Orioles Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die." He lives in York, with his wife, Karen, and three children, Alex, Annie, and Grace.