Sometime in the next couple of weeks, Baseball America will unveil its list of the Top 100 prospects in baseball. BA’s rankings have become a cornerstone in the evaluation of young ballplayers and many fantasy owners use them as a guidepost throughout the season (and in future seasons) to help determine the upside of a given player when considering roster moves. But BA’s Top 100 also requires a little bit of deconstruction for fantasy purposes and with that in mind, here’s a few tips:

• Baseball scouts weigh fielding ability heavily. Fantasy owners only care about a batter’s defense insofar as a potential hindrance to playing time. Move players with defensive shortcomings like Mat Gamel and those playing positions like first base without as much defensive value up on your scale. There’s a reason why Joey Votto ranked no higher than #44 last year.
• Baseball scouts try to be age-neutral, but probably lean towards the young. The rankings will be crowded with those who have never played above Single-A and don’t project to make an impact for a few years. Move players like Madison Bumgarner and Carlos Triunfel  down your scale. Move those with a clear path towards major league opportunity like Chris Perez and Brett Wallace slightly up.
• Baseball scouts are in love with toolsy players, those with great potential power and speed, but who haven’t mastered the art of hitting yet. Players like Fernando Martinez, Alcides Escobar, and even Cameron Maybin might not quite be ready to be fantasy contributors even if they get a shot. On the pitching side, pay attention to command (K:BB).
• Remember there are other worthy lists out there, including John Sickels, Keith Law, Project Prospect, and Baseball Notebook.

Finally, one questions gets asked repeatedly. All hype being equal, is it better to take a hitting or pitching prospect? In the argument map below, HoneyNut Ichiros and Schilling Me Softfly debate that question.