The BCB Community Prospect Rankings will begin in a few hours, and I've been hard at work for much of the last couple of days getting things ready, trying to figure out ballot structure, collecting other prospect rankings to use for comparisons, etc. But a question came up this morning that I'm not sure how to handle, so I'm asking for your help.
There's some discussion out there about whether or not Alcides Escobar and Mat Gamel should be considered "prospects." Here's a quick case for and against each:
Alcides Escobar
The argument for: Still has rookie eligibility remaining.
The argument against: He's solidly established as the Opening Day starting shortstop, so he's not really a minor leaguer anymore.
Mat Gamel
The argument for: Still an unestablished major leaguer, and could open the season in the minors.
The argument against: By being on the roster much of last season, he's technically used up his rookie eligibility.
Now, I could kick the two sides around in my head for a while and reach my own conclusion, but these are the community's prospect rankings, not mine. So instead, I'll let you decide.