Chris (Newport beach, CA): Jim, great chat as always! I was wondering when you were doing the minor league top 10's, which orginization did you have the most trouble with in terms of their top three prospects? Marlins, Braves, other??
SportsNation John Manuel: (2:25 PM ET ) Neat question that I'll answer even though I'm not Jim. The Braves was very tough -- we went back and forth between Jason Heyward and Tommy Hanson; Hanson's AFL performance and scouting reports were so loud and outsized, and he's so much closer to the majors than Heyward, that we switched at the last minute. The Rangers top list and the Marlins are also interchangeable, and to me, you could argue Mike Stanton over Cam Maybin easily for the Marlins No. 1, K rate be damned! Those kinds of things tend to happen to strong organizations, and Texas and Florida rank 1-2 in our Org Rankings in the Prospect Handbook, which is at the printers now.
Rangers and Marlins ...
Pretty much been a given for awhile now that the Rangers were #1... Woulda thought the A's were #2, but outside of Brett Anderson and Trevor Cahill (AndInoa, though he's YEARS away) they don't have any real superstar potential types... Just a lot of guys with solid/everyday player ceilings and a decentlikelihood to reach them... Really can't argue with the Marlins... Lots of high-end talent with Maybin, Morrison, Stanton, West, Tucker, Dominguez, andSkipworth...