The MLB Draft, the All-Star Break, and the trade deadline are all in the rearview mirror. 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 the new additions to the system as well as the holdovers who have risen and fallen with their production during the 2023 season.
Since the last time we voted in January (here’s the pre-season 2023 list), some prospects lost their eligibility, whether from exceeding their rookie status or leaving the organization, while, of course, the MLB Draft (and actual trades at the deadline!) have added new players to be evaluated. It’s an important evaluation period for the Rockies, who have several potential names to add to the 40-man roster this off-season to avoid losing them in minor league free agency or the Rule 5 draft.
Colorado’s farm system is still generally ranked in the middle third in MLB by the national prospect watchers. That written, there are plenty of future Rockies in the system 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. The same will happen if one of the players on your ballot leaves the organization between your post 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, August 11th. Once I tabulate the results, I will reveal the list five-at-a-time over the next couple weeks 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 service time is not included).
- From the pre-season 2023 PuRPs list, prospects who are no longer eligible are Ezequiel Tovar (No. 1 PuRP, MLB time), Michael Toglia (No. 13 PuRP, MLB time), Brenton Doyle (No. 17 PuRP, MLB time), Gavin Hollowell (HM PuRP, MLB time), Mitchell Kilkenny (received votes, no longer in org), Blair Calvo (received votes, no longer in org).
- 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. Coco Montes (receiving votes) is a current example of an eligible player potentially meeting this criteria.
- 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!
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