Colorado Rockies prospects: Purple Row Prospects polling thread, pre-season 2023

The hot stove has gone from a boil to a simmer, and the Rule 5 draft has concluded. That means it’s time for a new edition of the Purple Row Prospects (PuRPs) list — Purple Row’s community farm system Top 30 ranking — to rank new additions to the system as well as prospects who rose and fell with their production during the 2022 season!

Since the last time we voted in August (here’s the mid-season 2022 list), some prospects lost their eligibility, whether from exceeding their rookie status or leaving the organization, while some trades have added new players to be evaluated. Building a roster is a year-round business, so player churn will no doubt continue before, during, and after voting is concluded, but this is a good time to take measurements of Colorado’s prospects.

Colorado’s farm system took a leap forward in the estimation of national prospect watchers into the top half in 2022. There are plenty of future Rockies in the system, so let’s get to the ranking!

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 stats. 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 leaves the organization between your vote and the end of polling. 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.
• Voting will be open from now until next Friday, January 13th. Once I tabulate the results, I will reveal the list one-at-a-time over the next few weeks as we await Spring Training.
• 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 service time is not included).
• From the mid-season 2022 PuRPs list, prospects who are no longer eligible are Elehuris Montero (No. 5 PuRP, MLB time), Ryan Vilade (No. 24 PuRP, DFA), Juan Brito (HM PuRP, trade), Sean Bouchard (receiving votes, MLB time), Wynton Bernard (receiving votes, DFA), Julian Fernández (receiving votes, DFA), and Chad Smith (receiving votes, trade). Also not eligible is trade acquisition Nolan Jones (he has exactly 45 days of qualifying service time).
• Notable players with major league service time who are eligible for this list include Ezequiel Tovar (No. 1 PuRP), Michael Toglia (No. 11 PuRP), Ryan Rolison (No. 13 PuRP), Helcris Olivarez (No. 20 PuRP), Noah Davis (receiving votes), Gavin Hollowell (receiving votes), and Tommy Doyle (receiving votes)
• 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. if the Rule 5 Draft happens and one of the unprotected players is picked).
• As mentioned, roster churn is a year-round phenomenon, even after the trade deadline. Any necessary changes will be made to the final version of the list to ensure it contains the top 30 players with the most votes 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 it’s a really good one. As a result, we ask that you put some quality time into compiling your list.
• Everyone has their own PuRPs ranking methodology. Please maintain civil (in accordance with Purple Row’s Community Guidelines) discourse when discussing the posted lists.

Happy voting!