Predicting elite prospects is a fickle business fraught with variables known and unknown. Determining who will contribute at the major-league level is hard enough before prospects reach the majors and casting out projections a year in advance is equivalent to flying blind. Prospects mature at different rates and some take nose dives while others tap a well of talent.
Jim Callis of MLBPipeline.com has always processed his projections through a pragmatic lens and in last season’s edition of this list he read the tarot cards fairly well. Callis and his band of scouting gurus nailed four of the top-10 prospects a year out.
Crystal ball: @jimcallisMLB looks into the future to project who will be @MLB's Top 10 prospects one year from now: https://t.co/9Xtvlmx9wj pic.twitter.com/X4ZeilzC5J
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) September 13, 2017
Eloy Jimenez was on that sexy list as the No. 7 prospect and after an impressive season capped off with several postseason all-star honors, he is poised to add wonder to the White Sox roster very soon. In fact, if it were up to him he would already be in the majors, a rousing combination of confidence and pragmatism given his gaudy second half of the season.
But Jimenez is suspiciously absent from Callis’ latest prediction. Could be that Jimenez is ready to make the jump to the big leagues or that the tide of talent behind him is swelling, and this is good news for the White Sox as Callis named one of their prized prospects in the top three.
Luis Robert did not earn postseason accolades with all-star teams and such, but Callis believes he will be the No. 3 prospect in the minors.
Robert is a young 20 years old and slashed .310/.491/.536 in the Dominican Summer League. His season was shortened by procedural rules for international prospects and riddled with pesky injuries. On July 4th, nearly one month after debuting with the DSL White Sox, Robert suffered a minor meniscus injury that sidelined him for approximately two weeks. Shortly after his return he rolled his ankle on the bases on Aug. 7th and missed another two weeks.
Fears that the White Sox acquired an injury-prone player have not been wiped away yet, but Robert’s appearance on MLB pipeline’s top-10 list and a full winter of baseball ahead of him will give White Sox fans hope.
As Cuban prospects flee the island, elite prospects are becoming an endangered species for the communist nation. And as diplomatic relationships once warmed by the Obama administration now chill in the Trump era a deluge of prospects could flood Major League Baseball.
Robert is one of the last elite prospects from Cuba and the White Sox went all-in on his talent. They signed him for a $26 million signing bonus, a figure they will almost double after league luxury taxes are applied. He is likely to spend the fall and winter playing in the Dominican Republic and likely to land in the United States at Spring Training. Where he goes from there depends on how he flexes his mettle.
