BA's John Manuel's Personal Top 20

Baseball America's John Manuel posted his personal Top 20 prospects at their prospect blog the other day. Of course, the Giants top two prospects show up, Buster Posey and Madison Bumgarner, at number 9 and 10, respectively.

9. Buster Posey, c, Giants

WHY HE’S HERE: The 2008 College Player of the Year, Posey combines athletic ability and hitting prowess with playing a premium position.

WHAT HE’LL BE: Remember Russ Martin before Joe Torre played him 150 games a year? Posey may not have Martin’s fiery leadership, but he’ll be a similar catcher with better hitting ability.

WHEN HE ARRIVES: As soon as he shows he can receive effectively for pitchers like Brian Wilson and Matt Cain, who have premium velocity. Then he’ll have to take it up another notch to handle Tim Lincecum’s wicked velocity and late movement.

10. Madison Bumgarner, lhp, Giants
WHY HE’S HERE: No pitcher has had Bumgarner’s sheer results the last two seasons, when he went 27-4. He did it in 2009 with diminished velocity but it didn’t seem to matter as he mowed down Double-A competition at age 19.

WHAT HE’LL BE: Bumgarner’s mound presence and ability to pitch off his fastball evokes Cliff Lee. He has similar mound presence and could match Lee if he regains some of his slider’s lost bite.

WHEN HE ARRIVES: The Giants have enough other rotation options to keep Bumgarner on the farm for at least part of 2010, and perhaps until late in the season, when he could get another bullpen cameo.

Giants Thoughts

Nothing really new here for those who follow prospects, but good to get a current confirmation. This is another comparison where I see Posey compared to the D'gers Russ Martin, but this is the first I've seen of Bumgarner being compared with Cliff Lee. BA chronically complains about how the Giants don't really talk much with them about their plans and thoughts about their prospects, so I would take with a larger grain of salt what they say about what the Giants might do with them.

However, to give BA a plug, I was involved with a couple of fantasy keeper leagues which unfortunately folded over the past year. However, by looking through BA's Top 10 lists, it enabled me to draft the following out of this Top 20 list: Mike Stanton, Jesus Montrero, and Casey Kelly. And I should have chosen Madison Bumgarner over Josh Vitters (it's a mistake to draft for need up that high) and was planning on getting Alcides Escobar but someone just beat me to him. And I got Gordon Beckham, who would be on this list if he didn't make the majors last season.

Happy Holidays!