BA Top 20 Lists: Texas, International, Pacific Coast, and Independent Leagues

On September 23rd, Baseball America started releasing its Top 20 Prospect Lists for each league in the minors.  On October 9th, I provided the links to the lists covering the Gulf Coast League through the Eastern League.  Below you will find links to the remaining lists that cover the Texas League, International League, Pacific Coast League, and the Independent Leagues.

I mentioned it last time, but it bears repeating.  If you are a BA subscriber, you can click on the link at the beginning of each league’s write-up to read scouting report on each player in the top 20. I also recommend checking out the chats that are done on the same day as the list for each league. The Royals do not have teams in all of these leagues, obviously, but I think it is important to keep tabs on prospects in other organizations so I’m including links to them all.   Enjoy!

Texas League (October 13th)

The NW Arkansas Naturals were represented by two players, although one of them is no longer a part of the organization.  2B/SS-Jeff Bianchi came in at #16 on the list and RHP-Dan Cortes, who was used to acquire Yunie, came in at #18.

International League (October 14th)

Pacific Coast League (October 15th)

It is not surprising that none of the Omaha Royals’ players made the list.  To further highlight the lack of talent in AAA, nobody even bothered to ask about any of the Omaha players in the PCL prospect chat that BA’s Jim Shonerd did.

Independent League (October 16th)

This one was very interesting to read because I don’t follow Independent baseball all that closely outside of the occasional check of the St. Paul Saints and Kansas City T-Bones.  The Independent Leagues are another area where Kansas City can afford to take some chances based on the current state of the organization.  The Omaha Royals roster is so devoid of young, potential ML talent that acquiring a few of these guys could provide a nice boost at the Triple-A level and maybe, just maybe, provide some returns at the ML level as well.  SS-Adam Frost, could provide infield depth at AA or AAA for the Royals if the scouts saw any potential in him.  Then again, there is something pretty cool about a guy with the last name of Frost playing for Winnipeg in the Northern League.  These guys are all long shots just to manage an appearance in the majors, but taking a shot is better than doing nothing.  The top prospect on this list, 1B-Reynaldo Rodriguez has been signed by the Boston Red Sox.

Some random thoughts to close this post:

1. Lou Holtz is starting to sound and resemble Daffy Duck more and more every day.
2. Not impressed by the Texas v Oklahoma game today, but at least Oklahoma has the excuse of injuries.
3. Purdue beat Ohio State.  To quote Nelson Muntz, “Ha ha!”

I hope to get a new edition of Royals Seasons up later tonight but it may not be published until tomorrow since they take a long time to research and write.  I covered 1B, 2B, and SS back in March when I was just getting this site rolling, so if you are interested in going back and reading those, select Royals Seasons from the Categories drop down on the left column above the blogrolls.  At some point I will probably revisit those posts and update them to include 2009 as well or I might just link to them in my next edition, but if you can’t wait now you know where to go.