It’s time for the mid-season 2021 Purple Row Prospects (PuRPs) polling thread, Purple Row’s community farm system top 30 ranking! Since the last time we did this (here’s the pre-season 2021 list), there are some new prospects in the Rockies organization: acquired via the draft, trades, and other avenues. Several other players who were eligible for the list the last time have lost their eligibility, whether from exceeding their rookie status or leaving the organization.
This polling comes later than in a typical season, as the delayed 2021 MLB draft (up to 20 rounds from the five we had in 2020) was late enough that it made more sense to wait for the trade deadline to pass before polls opened up (not that the Rockies made too many significant moves). Moreover, most players are coming off a year without organized baseball activities and have been thrown into a different (consolidated) minor league structure than was present before.
Colorado’s farm system is still generally ranked in the bottom 10 in MLB by the national prospect watchers, though the influx in draft and a little trade talent helps a bit. That written, any optimism the farm can provide Rockies fans in this tough year is welcome, and this is still one of my favorite Purple Row threads each year. Let’s get to it.
The polling 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 FanGraphs 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. Same if one of the players on your ballot is traded or released between your post and polling ending. To reiterate: if there aren’t at least 30 distinct players on the list, the ballot won’t be counted. For that reason, it is encouraged that you list more than 30 players in case of a duplicate listing or a player move.
- Feel free to give a rationale about the placement of each prospect, but you aren’t required to do so by any means.
- Voting will be open from now until the end of the week, August 8th. Once I tabulate the results, I will reveal the list five at a time over the next few weeks or so after voting ends.
- Players are eligible for inclusion if they still retain their Rookie of the Year eligibility (fewer than 50 IP, 130 ABs, and/or fewer than 45 days on the active roster, IL and post-Sept. 1 service time are not included).
- Several PuRPs from the pre-season 2021 list are no longer eligible. These PuRPs are: Ben Bowden (13), Yonathan Daza (18), Dom Nuñez (22), and Riley Pint (30). Bowden, Daza, and Nuñez (finally!) exhausted their rookie eligibility while Pint retired.
- In addition, three other players who received votes last time are no longer eligible because they’ve exhausted rookie eligibility: Jordan Sheffield (HM PuRP), Justin Lawrence, and Alan Trejo
- Any player who is eligible at the start of the polling period will be eligible for the list even if they lose eligibility before the final list is posted (e.g. Antonio Santos, who is close to the eligibility limit). Though the trade deadline has passed, roster churn is a year-round phenomenon. Any necessary changes will be made to the final version of the list to ensure it contains the top 30 players still in the org at that time.
- Scoring will be in done like the AP poll in college football. A first place vote gets a player 30 points, a second place vote 29, and so forth on down to one 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).
- All ballots are weighted equally (as long as the players on them are named on enough ballots to qualify). The PuRPs list is a community ranking of Rockies prospects and we’re proud of the fact that again and again it’s a really good one. 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 community member ranks their PuRPs over your own, but it remains in your hands to maintain civil discourse when discussing said PuRPs.
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’ ballots.