Every year, I put together a draft list of the top 100 prospects, send it around to scouts and front-office execs, get their feedback, send around a fresh list ... and end up considering 20 to 30 more names than those I ultimately include. If I had continued past 100, here are the next 10 names I would have included, with a thought on why they fell short of the ultimate list.
Prospects 1-50 | Prospects 51-100 | Full Top 100 index
Eddy Julio Martinez, CF
Chicago Cubs
Age: 21 | Top level: Cuba
Martinez was supposed to get something around $10 million in the last international signing period, but for reasons that aren't entirely clear, the rumored deal never came to fruition and he ended up signing with the Cubs for $3 million in October. He's a toolshed, with great bat speed, raw power and plus speed, but has barely any game experience, with only 46 games in Cuba's Serie Nacional under his belt before he defected. He hit .233/.329/.319 at ages 18 and 19. Now 21, Martinez should be ready to go to high-A, but no one seems to have any feel for how advanced he is as a hitter, and we won't really know until he gets back out on the field. He has the tools of a top-50 or even top-25 prospect, but we need to see if those tools play.
