After revealing the PuRPs list five players at a time in six installments, it's time to wrap up the fall list by putting it all out at once. So without further ado, here is the full Fall 2011 Purple Row community prospect list:

40 ballots were cast in this edition of the PuRPs poll, with 30 points being granted for a first place vote, 29 for second, etc. Until a player was named on 13 ballots, his vote totals were modified on a sliding scale to avoid an individual ballot having too much say over the community forecast -- but none of the above players had that problem, as all thirty players on the PuRPs list were named on at least 14 ballots.

Some commentary follows after the fold.

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This is it, ladies and gentlemen: the moment you've all been waiting for -- and if you weren't waiting, it's here anyway. Today the top five Colorado Rockies prospects as voted on by the Purple Row community are revealed. Tomorrow I'll wrap up this series with a look at the list as a whole, but for now, let's take a look at the future stars in Colorado's minor league system.

Here are PuRPs 30-26, 25-21, 20-16, 15-11, and 10-6. As a reminder, 40 ballots were cast in this edition of the PuRPs poll, with 30 points being granted for a first place vote, 29 for second, etc. Until a player was named on 13 ballots, his vote totals were modified on a sliding scale to avoid an individual ballot having too much say over the community forecast -- but none of the above players had that problem, as all thirty players on the PuRPs list were named on at least 14 ballots.

For each player, I've included a link to their stats (via Baseball-Reference), their relevant "tool scores" on a 1-100 scouting scale (which is explained here) per the wonderful Baseball Cube, their contract status (via Rockies Roster), their probable MLB ETA (assuming they do make the Show), and a note on their 2011 season.

Remember that neither the tool scores nor the statistics pages are the end-all be-all when evaluating these players. Context is hugely important (such as the player's age relative to the league's average or the league average offensive numbers), as is the fact that injuries to prospects can affect both their tools and their stats.

Results after the fold.

Continue reading this post »

This is the penultimate installment of the Fall 2011 PuRPs list. Here are PuRPs 30-26, 25-21, 20-16, and 15-11. As a reminder, 40 ballots were cast in this edition of the PuRPs poll, with 30 points being granted for a first place vote, 29 for second, etc. Until a player was named on 13 ballots, his vote totals were modified on a sliding scale to avoid an individual ballot having too much say over the community forecast -- but none of the above players had that problem, as all thirty players on the PuRPs list were named on at least 14 ballots.

For each player, I've included a link to their stats (via Baseball-Reference), their relevant "tool scores" on a 1-100 scouting scale (which is explained here) per the wonderful Baseball Cube, their contract status (via Rockies Roster), their probable MLB ETA (assuming they do make the Show), and a note on their 2011 season.

Remember that neither the tool scores nor the statistics pages are the end-all be-all when evaluating these players. Context is hugely important (such as the player's age relative to the league's average or the league average offensive numbers), as is the fact that injuries to prospects can affect both their tools and their stats.

Results after the fold.

Continue reading this post »

This is the 4th of six installments of the Fall 2011 PuRPs list. Here are PuRPs 30-26, 25-21, and 20-16. As a reminder, 40 ballots were cast in this edition of the PuRPs poll, with 30 points being granted for a first place vote, 29 for second, etc. Until a player was named on 13 ballots, his vote totals were modified on a sliding scale to avoid an individual ballot having too much say over the community forecast -- but none of the above players had that problem, as all thirty players on the PuRPs list were named on at least 14 ballots.

For each player, I've included a link to their stats (via Baseball-Reference), their relevant "tool scores" on a 1-100 scouting scale (which is explained here) per the wonderful Baseball Cube, their contract status (via Rockies Roster), their probable MLB ETA (assuming they do make the Show), and a note on their 2011 season.

Remember that neither the tool scores nor the statistics pages are the end-all be-all when evaluating these players. Context is hugely important (such as the player's age relative to the league's average or the league average offensive numbers), as is the fact that injuries to prospects can affect both their tools and their stats.

Results after the fold.

Continue reading this post »

This is the 3rd of six installments of the Fall 2011 PuRPs list. Here are PuRPs 30-26 and 25-21. As a reminder, forty ballots were cast in this edition of the PuRPs poll, with 30 points being granted for a first place vote, 29 for second, etc. Until a player was named on thirteen ballots, his vote totals were modified on a sliding scale to avoid an individual ballot having too much say over the community forecast -- but none of the below players had that problem, as all thirty players on the PuRPs list were named on at least fourteen ballots.

For each player, I've included a link to their stats (via Baseball-Reference), their relevant "tool scores" on a 1-100 scouting scale (which is explained here) per the wonderful Baseball Cube, their contract status (via Rockies Roster), their probable MLB ETA (assuming they do make the Show), and a note on their 2011 season.

Remember that neither the tool scores nor the statistics pages are the end-all be-all when evaluating these players. Context is hugely important (such as the player's age relative to the league's average or the league average offensive numbers), as is the fact that injuries to prospects can affect both their tools and their stats.

Results Post-Jump

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Today I reveal to you five more names on the Fall 2011 PuRPs list. Here are PuRPs 30-26. As a reminder, forty ballots were cast in this edition of the PuRPs poll, with 30 points being granted for a first place vote, 29 for second, etc. Until a player was named on thirteen ballots, his vote totals were modified on a sliding scale to avoid an individual ballot having too much say over the community forecast -- but none of the below players had that problem, as all thirty players on the PuRPs list were named on at least fourteen ballots.

For each player, I've included a link to their stats (via Baseball-Reference), their relevant "tool scores" on a 1-100 scouting scale (which is explained here) per the wonderful Baseball Cube, their contract status (via Rockies Roster), their probable MLB ETA (assuming they do make the Show), and a note on their 2011 season.

Remember that neither the tool scores nor the statistics pages are the end-all be-all when evaluating these players. Context is hugely important (such as the player's age relative to the league's average or the league average offensive numbers), as is the fact that injuries to prospects can affect both their tools and their stats.

Results Post-Jump

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With the 2011 World Series already set, it's high time that I began revealing the Purple Row Prospects (PuRPs) list for Fall 2011, as voted on in early September. I will reveal these prospects five at a time to give people who aren't in the know a little bit more of information on them. I'll reveal the list a little bit more each day over the next week, with the top five coming out next Monday.

Forty ballots were cast in this edition of the PuRPs poll, with 30 points being granted for a first place vote, 29 for second, etc. Until a player was named on thirteen ballots, his vote totals were modified on a sliding scale to avoid an individual ballot having too much say over the community forecast -- but none of the above players had that problem, as all thirty players on the PuRPs list were named on at least fourteen ballots. The first tiebreaker goes to the player who was ranked on the most ballots, then to the one who was ranked highest on an individual PuRPs ballot.

In all, 64 players received at least one vote for this PuRPs list, 52 got mentioned on multiple ballots, 34 were named on at least 13 ballots (and therefore were unmodified), and 24 were named on at least 30 ballots, showing that the top 80% of the list was more or less agreed upon by the community, if not necessarily the order. Here is a link to the polling thread.

All prospects who retained their Rookie of the Year eligibility (less than 130 ABs, 50 IP, and 45 days on the active roster) were eligible for selection on this list. Among last spring's list, Juan Nicasio (2), Rex Brothers (8), and Chris Nelson (13) exhausted their eligibility and were removed from consideration. In addition, Bruce Billings (22) was traded during the season. Though Alex White did end up losing his ROY status in his last start of 2011, at the time of the voting his rookie status was still intact, therefore he will appear on this list.

More discussion on the voting will be included in the final installment of this series, but here are the five players who came closest to inclusion on the Fall 2011 PuRPs List:

35. Dan Houston (47.7 points, 10 ballots), 2008 7th round, RHP at Tulsa (will be 25 Opening Day)
34. Mike Zuanich (70 points points, 14 ballots), 2008 28th round, 1B at Modesto/Tulsa (25)
33. Sam Mende (70 points, 15 ballots), 2011 31st round, SS/3B at Casper/Tri-City (22)
32. Dillon Thomas (77 points, 17 ballots), 2011 4th round, OF at Casper (19)
31. Edgmer Escalona (85 points, 16 ballots), 2004 FA (VZ), RHP at Colorado Springs/Rockies (22)

It's highly likely that of those 5 players only Escalona (who has an inside track at a bullpen spot in 2012) ever contributes at the major league level, but if there were a player to watch among the five in terms of a breakout season, it would be Dillon Thomas -- a toolsy young OF prospect who may repeat in a short season league in 2012. Both Houston and Zuanich are Rule 5 Draft eligible this off-season and are unlikely to be protected.

One interesting trend compared to this spring's list is that Escalona was the highest rated relief prospect on the list -- whereas in the spring four relievers made the cut.

For each player on the PuRPs list, I've included a link to their stats (via Baseball-Reference), their relevant "tool score indicators" compared to their league on a 1-100 scouting scale (which is explained here) per the wonderful Baseball Cube, their contract status (via Rockies Roster), their probable MLB ETA (assuming they do make the Show), and a note on their 2011 season. Unless otherwise noted, all ages listed are for Opening Day 2012.

Remember that neither the tool scores nor the statistics pages are the end-all be-all when evaluating these players. Context is hugely important (such as the player's age relative to the league's average or the league average offensive numbers), as is the fact that injuries to prospects can affect both their tools and their stats.

Results past the jump.

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All right Purple Row, it's once again time for the community to vote on their top 30 Purple Row Prospects (PuRPs).

For your reference, here is the Spring 2011 PuRPs list.

 The rules are pretty simple:

• Your list must be at least 30 players long -- partial ballots will not be counted. If you're having trouble filling out your list, check out great resources like RockiesRoster.com and Baseball-Reference to find any stats you might need. Only the top 30 names will be counted on the ballot -- if the same player is listed multiple times on the ballot, the player ranked 31st (if applicable) will be moved up to fill the list. To reiterate: if there aren't at least 30 distinct players on the list, the ballot won't be counted. Additionally, Charlie77 compiled a Google Spreadsheet of the stats from every level for your convenient reference.
• Feel free to give a rationale about the placement of each prospect, but you aren't required to do so by any means.
• Polls will be open from now until the end of Friday, September 9th (MDT). As needed, I or another staff member will bump this post to the top to keep it on the front page. Once I tabulate the results, I will reveal the list five names at a time over the next week or so. 
• Players are eligible for inclusion if they still retain their Rookie of the Year eligibility (less than 50 IP, 130 ABs, and/or less than 45 days on the active roster). Players on the spring list that have exhausted their ROY eligibility are Juan Nicasio (2), Rex Brothers (8), and Chris Nelson (13). In addition, PuRP 22 Bruce Billings was traded to Oakland and therefore is ineligible as well, so the minimum of new names on the PuRPs list is 4. Alex White is an interesting case, as he will almost definitely exhaust his rookie eligibility by the end of the year, but he has yet to do so as of now. He probably deserves one rotation on the ballot, so he will be eligible this once. 
• Scoring will be in done like the AP poll in college football -- that is, a first place vote gets a player 30 points, a second place vote 29, and so forth on down to 1 point for a 30th place vote. It's important to note that until a player is named on at least 1/3 of all ballots cast that their vote totals will only receive partial credit (on a sliding scale which depends on the total number of ballots cast). This is to prevent individuals from manipulating the poll with "vanity" votes for marginal prospects.
• Finally, all ballots are weighted equally (so long as the players on them are named on enough ballots to qualify). Rox Girl's ballot is worth the same as mine or my dad's. The PuRPs list is a community ranking of Rockies prospects and we're proud of that fact. As a result, we ask that you put some quality effort into compiling your list.
• Remember, everyone has their own methodology of ranking their PuRPs. You may disagree with how one user ranks their PuRPs over your own, but it remains in your hands to maintain civil discourse when discussing said PuRPs. That's what makes this ranking so unique

With that, have fun with this list. I look forward to a lively (but civil, in accordance with Purple Row's rules and regulations) debate over each others' lists. Let's try to keep this thread focused on the lists, please.