Prospectus is ranking prospects at every position, and Joey Votto comes out on top of a weak 1b class. “Votto has a good chance of being a good major league player. Even so, Votto only barely qualifies for ‘excellent’ prospect status.” This is attributed partly to his somewhat checkered performance before last year, and partly to his “old players’ skills†— power, plate discipline, but unexceptional plate discipline. Guys with that profile, as Nate Silver writes, “have a fairly high incidence of burning twice as bright but for half as long.”
Still, Votto ranks #1 among prospects, and #3 among all 1b age 25 and under, behind Prince Fielder and Adrian Gonzales.