Dodgers’ Corey Seager’s Case for Top Prospect in Baseball

MLB.com will release their top-100 prospect list on Friday. Leading up to the reveal, they have writers making a case for five top prospects, including Corey Seager.

If the baseball prospectus rankings are any indication, Corey Seager has a strong case as the top prospect in all of baseball.

Seager took home the top honors on baseball prospectus’ list, and is a strong candidate to be named MLB.com’s top prospect in all of baseball.

This week, MLB.com writers have been making the case for five prospects. Minnesota OF Byron Buxton, Philadelphia shortstop J.P. Crawford and Washington pitcher Lucas Giolito were previously written about (found here Buxton, Crawford, Giolito), and Seager was written about today. It might be a coincidence, but the top-100 prospects list will be revealed Friday, with the top-50 being revealed on MLB Network. On Friday, a writer will also make a case for Julio Urias, which may or may not be a hint as to who the top prospect will be.

Amanda wrote about Seager yesterday, as he was named the top shortstop prospect by MLB.com. Crawford, who was second on the top shortstop list, is the only of the five that didn’t take the top spot in his respective list.

MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo made the case for Seager as the number one prospect in baseball, and called it a relatively easy case to make. Mayo dove into Seager’s minor league stats, which Amanda wrote about yesterday (pretty much off the top of her head). He also said that it’s unfair to crown Seager due to his incredible month with the Dodgers last year, just as it’s unfair to write off Buxton for his struggles in his first stint with the Twins. Both of these claims are fair, but Mayo pointed out that it’s hard to not be impressed by what Seager was able to do in his 113 plate appearances.

"For those of you who like 162-game averages, his debut extrapolates to 24 homers and 102 RBIs, 102 runs scored and 198 hits. But perhaps most impressive: his 84 walks. This is a hitter so confident in his gameplan that being a 21-year-old in the thick of a pennant race did nothing to pull him away from his approach. He is going to hit for average and power for a very long time."

This shouldn’t be news to Dodger fans. Seager has always been highly regarded and whether he remains at short or moves to third, he’ll be a rising star for the next couple years. I’ve been critical of the previous front office, but the absolute best thing Ned Colletti did was stand pat with Seager. The Dodgers have always been active in the trade market, and refusing to move Seager and Urias was probably Colletti’s best move in his final few years.

Barring some craziness, Seager will be the Dodgers’ opening day shortstop. While the Dodgers haven’t turned to free agency or trades to improve their offense from last year, Seager taking over for Jimmy Rollins should be a really solid upgrade. The sky really is the limit for the kid, and if he can come close to the lofty expectations that many have of him, the Dodgers will have a stud on the left side of the infield for years to come.