re:Bauer: His fastball is the real deal. I think his stuff is the real deal, but his control needs to be harnessed. Most college aces are ridden harder than a 40 year old hooker. I don’t think that will be an issue moving forward. High-risk, high-reward. Should be given a change to pitch from the bullpen at some point in 2012.

re:Cox: I think that his upside is exactly what you stated. However, I don’t see Pujols moving. With Freese’s unbelievable playoffs, the Cardinals will give him an extended chance to sustain the third base job. However, I don’t think he stays if Cox is hitting well in the minors.

re:Betances: hehe. True.

re:Vitters: If he is as good as Reynolds, than the Cubs break even. If he is as good, as say, Danny Valencia, than tough luck Cubbies. Those are position comparisons. However, he’s more Delmon Young than Mark Reynolds. Adam Dunn is quite the stretch. Truly, he’s a .275 hitter with average power (15 to 20 home runs).

I was big on Zach Cox going into 2011 and like the prospect of him manning 3rd with Freese moving to 1B considering his health ssues and Pujols moving to Miami (I Hope). Cox could be a 15/80/80 at best but what upside does the kid really have? Is his stock rising or falling based on a Pujols move?

Dellin Betances. I am so sick of hearing how the Yankees want to take it slow with Betances. Trade him to Florida already. Da Yankees will never let him be in the 5 man.

And nice to see Josh Vitters again on the watch list. I know how old I am getting based on how many years I wait for these top draft picks to finally get called up. I don’t buy his power potential and don’t think he will be any better than Reynolds or Dunn in the long term.

Was also surprised to see Betances over Banuelos, but it’s close.

@DrEasy: Plausible yes.

@Cornelius: I didn’t catch that. Thank you.

@royce!: thanks for the information.

@Scott (2): If he doesn’t sustain SS eligibility he has very limited value.

Sorry to burst everyone’s bubble but Grant Green got moved to CF this year and isn’t going back to SS. His value plummets w/ that news.

Thanks.

I’m not sure what the service time limits are, but I think most fantasy leagues I’ve seen just use the official 130 AB/50 IP limits since it’s easier to understand. Since I own both Trout and Kipnis in a league, I’d be glad to see both come in under 130 so I have an extra year of cheap keeper options. The difference will probably be a few AB, so I hope they both start walking a lot and get a few days off over the last week.

@Calogero: Prospect watchers are usually not watching for fantasy baseball. I would recommend using this list in conjunction with other lists too.

re:Jason Kipnis & Mike Trout: the difficulty in doing a 2012 list at the end of the 2011 season is that some prospect may not graduate that were expected. There is of course both the days in the majors and/or number of at-bats in the majors that remove the rookie label. When I started the list, Kipnis appeared to be on pace to remove his rookie eligibility.

If Kipnis remains a rookie, number 4 or 5.

There is one omission that I can’t imagine was intended – Jason Kipnis. He has 106 AB, meaning that he’ll come within a few AB in either direction of 130. But I figured since you had Trout (110 AB) on the list that Kipnis would be in play as well.

Where do you think you’d put him? I’d probably throw him out there between 3 and 5. His numbers are shockingly good so far in 2011 – a .292/.905 6 HR, 4 SB in 106 AB would translate to a 30/20 season over a full slate of AB.