After spending five weeks plowing through this year's top-30 prospects list, we've arrived at the last five-prospect installment, and the cream of the crop. It's not exactly a secret as to who will be appearing on this list, and with bb and me having identical rankings of prospects 1-5 on our respective lists, I'm fairly confident in the rankings. As is only fitting, we'll be bucking the trend of past weeks' posts and list these five prospects in reverse-order, beginning with number five and working our way to the top prospect in the D-backs system. You're not reading this for the intro, though, so without further rambling, here are the top five prospects in the Arizona Diamondbacks' farm system, as ranked by the SnakePit:

For those who have yet to check out how this list was created, refer back to the preview for all of the details.

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We're into the top-10 of this year's list, and a week away from what is likely to be, admittedly, a rather unsurprising finish to this year's top-30 prospects list.  This week gives us a pause from Pitchermania, which overtook last week's post and will do so again next week, as we see three bats find slots in the 6-10 range of our list.  This week's segment also gives us a good look at how some of the prospects from the highly-acclaimed 2009 draft are progressing, as the three bats that appear in this group were all taken by Tom Allison in that crucial draft.  Of course, that isn't to say that this week's group fails to show off the system's primary strength, as two quality lefty pitching prospects - something Arizona might have more of than any other team in the game - reside in this week's quintet as well.

For those who have yet to check out how this list was created, refer back to the preview for all of the details.

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We're now into the top half of this year's list, and as mentioned in last week's post, this is the portion of the list where we go from the quality depth of the system into the cream of the crop.  As expected with a system that has put in so much effort to build up its pitching depth on the farm, this is also the point in the list where things get extremely pitcher-heavy, as just a third of the top-15 according to bb and me are position players.  Today's group is particularly arm-heavy, with just one bat appearing in this week's five featured prospects.

Today's group also shows how systems can be constructed both from good early- and late-round drafting and scouting, as well as through acquisitions from outside of the organization.  Beginning the group today is a three-way tie for 11th place between a 19th round pick of the D-backs and two acquisitions from Jerry Dipoto's brief stint as Interim GM of the D-backs, followed by a 12th-round pick of Arizona's, and finally a recently-signed second-round find.

For those who have yet to check out how this list was created, refer back to the preview for all of the details.

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We're now three weeks into our unveiling of this year's AZ SnakePit Top-30 prospects list, and into the top-20. Although one might expect the names to get more recognizable as the list progresses, this is actually the first of the three updates we've unveiled thus far to not include a prospect who saw time at the big-league level in 2011.  However, today's quintet includes four prospects who have real chances of making an impact in the big-leagues in 2012, and two of the highest-upside and most tool-heavy bats the system.

As it turns out, though, there is a significant drop-off between the top-15 to this group of prospects - in my opinion - with the top-15 each receiving "grades" of B- or higher from me by John Sickels' system, while the remaining prospects on the list are more in the C+/C tier (prospect #16 is on the fringes of B-/C+).  That's not to say that these five players don't have impressive strengths, but they have more pronounced flaws that keep them from being on the same level as those who will appear on next week's installment of the list.

For those who have yet to check out how this list was created, refer back to the preview for all of the details.

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Another week, another five D-backs prospects to cover as a part of the AZ SnakePit Top-30 Prospects List.  In today's group, we see a mix of projectability and polish, with a pair of high-upside talents book-ending the group and three polished, quick-rising pitchers in-between.  Additionally, one prospect in today's group drew very different opinions from blue bulldog and me, falling outside of my personal top-30 list but landing inside bb's top-15.  Check out the details on where we disagree and the rest of this week's quintet after the break in the second update of the AZ SnakePit Top-30 Prospect List!

For those who have yet to check out how this list was created, refer back to the preview for all of the details.

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As promised in the preview that was up on Wednesday, today marks the first weekly installment of the AZ SnakePit Top-30 Prospects List, beginning with the back end of the system's best young talent.  For those who have yet to check out how this list was created, refer back to the preview for all of the details.  Today's group of prospects shows one of the primary difficulties of trying to evaluate minor-league talent: the relative values of low-ceiling, low-risk prospects vs. high-ceiling, high-risk prospects.  And if that clear, logical explanation of this problem didn't drive home the point, perhaps this awkward, strained metaphor will: a bird in the hand may be worth more than two in the bush if all birds are created equal, but is a pigeon in the hand worth more than two bald eagles in the bush?  Follow after the jump to see what we think.

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Yeah, you try coming up with a better title involving the name "Munson."

Anyways, with a few more games under the belt in the AFL schedule, it's time to take another look at how Arizona's prospects are faring in the AFL with the Salt River Rafters now that each of Arizona's representatives have seen a few games worth of action.

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Amid the frenzy of playoff baseball and D-backs survival, the AFL got underway yesterday, with Arizona's prospects seeing their first action with the Salt River Rafters against the Peoria Javelinas.  Sure, sure, why on earth would we bother paying attention to anything in the minors at a time like this?  Well, consider this: a year ago, Josh Collmenter was pitching in the Arizona Fall League and Paul Goldschmidt's season at Hi-A Visalia was over.  Nights like last night remind me why I love following prospects so much.

Follow after the jump for a quick recap of the performances from D-backs' farmhands in yesterday's action, and a look at some MLB-quality Pitch f/x data for D-backs pitching prospect Charles Brewer, who started the game for the Rafters.

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