Top 100 Split Decisions: Next-Tier Shortstops

We had some debates in our discussions to reach a consensus for the Top 100 Prospects. In a desire for transparency, we give you some of the tougher decisions and our rationale for the selection.

Next-Tier Shortstops: Gleyber Torres (41) vs. Tim Anderson (45) vs. Willy Adames (46)

John Manuel: These guys are pretty different. Adames and Anderson have higher ceilings than Torres but are more likely to move off short than Torres. I also worry about their ability to control the strike zone in the big leagues. Torres is the safest bet to hit for average and has the best chance to stay at shortstop. That said, Anderson has the best ceiling; I love his tools, his plus speed, his raw power—I know he’s raw and doesn’t walk, but I love him as a player. I like Adames’ bat a lot and think he has the best impact bat of the trio, but he likely will wind up at second base, third base or perhaps left field, and his strikeout rate (27 percent) is the highest of the trio and helps push him to third in this group.

Ben Badler: Anderson is in my Top 100, but he’s much lower on my list. On raw tools and athleticism, he’s certainly going to jump out at you more than Torres or Adames if you watch him play for a four-game series. And I will say that I’m higher on Anderson now than I was a year ago now that he showed he could be successful in Double-A, which is a big jump that I wasn’t sure he would be able to handle. But the approach still worries me going forward. I don’t think Torres is going to be a star, but he’s a very smart, polished player for his age who should play somewhere in the middle of the diamond and has consistently shown that he’s a quality hitter. And let’s not forget, Torres played all year as an 18-year-old in the Midwest League, the same age as high school seniors from last year’s draft and an age where most of his peers from Latin America are still in a complex league or in the Dominican Summer League. Teams have all sorts of excuses (some legitimate, some not) when a teenager struggles in the Midwest League, and while the Cubs could have used that if Torres had scuffled, instead he excelled in a challenging environment.