Today I present my top 100 Prospect list for 2012. This list is the culmination of a year's work. I've been watching, following, getting out on the field and videotaping these guys over the last 12 months... and the process really goes back even further as I've been following a good number of them since high school/signing. I typically state that I treat these things as a "draft" - I go down the list and take my next most preferred prospect with each "pick." However I felt Kevin Goldstein framed things really well in the intro to his top 101 list this year:

I approach [a top prospects list] as if I were a major league club. What I'm sharing with you is what is known in the industry as a "pref list." That is, if I were an MLB club trading for one these players, this is the order i which I would try to acquire them. Every team maintains such a list for all 30 clubs; this is mine.

-Kevin Goldstein's Top 101 Prospects for 2012

This is, simply put,  the order I'd take these prospects. So don't worry about who has proven what, or who is safer, etc... as this is about who I'd pick if you put a gun to my head and told me to choose (though with much more thought & deliberation!). Prospect rankings aren't a points based system where if you perform well you move up in a consistent, linear fashion proving yourself more "safe" a prospect at each level. Risk is obviously still an issue I consider and weigh, but often I simply prefer a relatively "risky" player over a relatively "safe" one. Worrying too much about how high a player's floor rates is a good way to end up with a bunch of 4th outfielders and long relievers. I'd rather look foolishly high on a kid with standout, impact tools than rate that toolsy prospect beneath a fringe average regular in AAA. As I look back over the years I'm more troubled by how low I ranked the toolsy prospects than I am about underrating solid regulars. My greatest concern is ignoring impact talents. That's what the game is about - impact potential.

So I do not put much weight on what a player has "proven." Prospects are very rarely actually safe bets or fully proven despite our conception of them as such. They're still prospects by definition until they actually go out and establish themselves as effective major leaguers (or not). Its is a fool's errand to try to divide the universe of baseball prospects into those that are safe/proven and those that aren't. The fact is they are all unproven to varying degrees. The lower in the minors the prospect plays the less likely I am to care about how they performed and their stats. Further, baseball does not begin at the professional level and I don't need to see pro data before I rank a prospect highly. I've watched many of these guys play in high school, college or the cape. They weren't non-entities before they signed a professional contract - scouts have seen them play many, many times before then and they know what these kids are about.

Remember also, that these things are a snapshot of a moment in time. They frequently change as every day I get new data, see players again or have conversations that can change things. That is why you will see a good amount of differences between our individual lists and the consensus BB top 100 list. We had to turn in our top 100 for editing for the group lists sometime in November. So its perfectly natural and fitting if your personal lists change like mine does - don't sweat it.

Now I'll step down off the soapbox and let you view my list:

Some quick bullet points on players and their rankings:

• The top 3 - There's not a tremendous amount of separation between the top 3. I like Harper as having the most impact potential of the group, but they're all great prospects.
• Profar - When we first turned in our lists for our group 100s in November we were all surprised by how much of a consensus #4 Jurickson Profar was among us. By the time we published that was no longer a brave opinion at all!
• Bundy - I expect Dylan Bundy will surprise some people at #5. He has a chance to be pretty special. All the pitching tools are there - and so are the intangibles, drive and polish.
• Walker - Same story for Taijuan Walker. His stuff is really special and he keeps getting better by leaps and bounds. I could go the safer route and put Teheran or Shelby Miller there... but if you gave me my choice of only one of these guys I'd take Walker and I was surprised how fast that answer came to me.
• Machado vs Profar - I'm more certain Profar will stick at short and be premium defender there. Machado has a better bat, but not by enough. Both will be excellent major leaguers.
• Hultzen - Danny Hultzen wowed me when I saw him and I see him as a number two.
• Mesoraco vs d'Arnaud - I've gone back and forth a lot on Mesoraco vs. d'Arnaud. Either one would be a fine choice, but I think Mesoraco's bat is enough better than d'Arnaud's that it more than makes up for d'Arnaud's superior glovework.
• Myers - Very much see Wil Myers as an impact player. Controls the strike zone extremely well and hits the ball hard to all fields. Underrated athlete, too, who I expect to be at least an above average right fielder
• Darvish - I see Yu Darvish as more of a #2 than Ace because I'm just not 100% sold on his FB life or command. I think Hultzen has a significant chance to be a better pitcher than Darvish as soon as a year from now. I think Archie Bradley will be better in 3-4 years, but Darvish being a finished product does count for something.
• Bradley - Pretty electric arm and special prep talent.
• Bauer - You've probably seen my thoughts on Bauer before, but his flyball tendencies and lack of FB command make him more of a 2/3 in my eyes, though he will miss plenty of bats.
• Montero - Excellent bat, but I'm waiting for him to show me special bat. Swing is too long and approach is too unrefined for me to label him "special." I do think he can be used in a hybrid part time catcher role, though.
• Bubba Starling - These tools are just too special to ignore.
• Cespedes - He could take awhile to adjust, but these are impact tools.
• Barnes - College arm with good velo and a solid three pitch mix? Really liked what I saw.
• Springer - Fun, fun player to watch. I think he could be the face of that franchise in a few years.
• Guerrieri - Shown us the heat and a good CB. Love his low effort mechanics and I think he has real front of the rotation potential
• Carlos Martinez - Need to see more... far too much about him screams "reliever" to me.
• Daniel Norris - Best prep lefty in the draft. If he can demonstrate some consistency and cleaned up mechanics he could be a #2.
• Josh Bell - Impact tools.
• Cecchini - Love the swing and I think the power is coming. I don't really have reservations about his glove and I expect him to become an above average defender once he has some time to learn the position.
• Jose Campos - Front of the rotation potential and already knows how to pitch with his FB.
• Deck McGuire - Stuff is pretty underrated from what I've seen and he knows how to pitch.
• Kaleb Cowart - Personal favorite who I see as an elite defensive 3B with plus power.
• Yonder Alonso - I still think there's more here with the bat than we've seen.

If I didn't address a prospect you are curious about please feel free to ask me in the comments below.

Here are the 10 players I'm right now regretting the exclusion of most (sorted by team, but in no particular order):

Hope you all enjoyed the list. Please continue to check Bullpen Banter for your major league coverage, stats & PitchFX articles, fantasy needs, prospect coverage and 2012 MLB Draft coverage. We've got some great content coming up soon that I think you'll all love. -AS

Al Skorupa is a co-founder of Bullpen Banter. He can be reached @alskor on twitter. His email is alskorupa@bullpenbanter.com. His youtube channel can be found here. Any comments or questions are welcome.