2019 Bluebird Banter Top 40 Prospects List Index

It’s that time of year where we unveil our top prospects list. Actually, a little past when it usually launches, but we’ll make it up with a more frequent posting schedule than in the past so it’s still wrapped up by the time Spring Training games start. The first post will go up tomorrow (Tuesday).

Back when Tom started on the site (when dinosaurs may or may not still have roamed the Earth), we had an 11-man prospect list. The next year we bumped it up to 20, followed by Alex Anthopoulos became GM and started building up the farm system. We jumped to the top 30 prospects, then a top 40 list which has stuck despite Alex emptying the farm system with trades, which made it hard(er) to find 40 prospects.

The system is getting better and particularly deeper, and for the first time in a number of years it might have possible to go 50 deep. But that’s what the “Beyond the Top 40” posts at the end cover and are for.

This page/stream will serve as a landing page for all the content in this series. In addition to links for all the posts, the entire list will be below in one place as it is unveiled. As a teaser, we’re revealing the #1 spot today...it’s a shocker.

See also: The 2018 Bluebird Banter Top 40 Prospects List (and Index)

Eligibility criteria for BBB Top 40:

• Players must retain rookie status (less than 130 MLB at-bats or 50 innings or 45 pre-September active days)
• Players must be 25 or younger for the 2019 season (born after June 30, 1993). That’s not to say players older than that don’t have value or won’t make the majors, which is why we make a separate list for them as part of the series. Rather, they are closer to finished/developed products and beyond the point where further growth can be readily projected which is a critical component of prospect lists.

2019 Top 40 List:

1. 3B Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (last year: #1)
2. SS Bo Bichette (last year: #2)
3. C Danny Jansen (last year: #5)
4. RHP Nate Pearson (last year: #4)
5. RHP Eric Pardinho (last year: #11)
6. SS Jordan Groshans (last year: HS senior)
7. RHP Sean Reid-Foley (last year: #9)
8. RHP T.J. Zeuch (last year: #8)
9. SS Kevin Smith (last year: #22)
10. IF/OF Cavan Biggio (last year: #34)
11. OF Anthony Alford (last year: #3)
12. RHP Adam Kloffenstein (last year: HS senior)
13. RHP Patrick Murphy (last year: #20)
14. RHP Hector Perez (last year: Houston)
15. OF Chavez Young (last year: #28)
16. LHP Thomas Pannone (last year: #10)
17. 1B Rowdy Tellez (last year: #17)
18. RHP Yennsy Diaz (last year: #23)
19. OF Griffin Conine (last year: junior at Duke)
20. IF Miguel Hiraldo (last year: Tom’s just missed list)
21. C Hagen Danner (last year: #26)
22. SS Orelvis Martinez (last year: unsigned)
23. OF Billy McKinney (last year: New York Yankees)
24. 1B/OF Ryan Noda (last year: #32)
25. C Reese McGuire (last year: #15)
26. RHP Elvis Luciano (last year: Arizona, then Kansas City)
27. RHP Trent Thornton (last year: Houston)
28. SS Logan Warmoth (last year: #7)
29. OF Forrest Wall (last year: Colorado)
30. IF Leonardo Jimenez (last year: NR)
31. RHP Justin Maese (last year: #13)
32. OF Brock Lundquist (last year: NR)
33. IF Santiago Espinal (last year: Boston)
34. 1B Chad Spanberger (last year: Colorado)
35. RHP Zach Jackson (last year: #19)
36. RHP Jackson McClelland (last year: #30)
37. OF Joshua Palacios (last year: #31)
38. IF/OF Otto Lopez (last year: NR)
39. C/DH Alejandro Kirk (last year: NR)
40. C Riley Adams (last year: #14)