With a special word of thanks to Adam and Brett for allowing us to promote our work in a community as powerful as Lone Star Ball's, I'm proud to present BTiA's Top 25 Prospect Rankings as compiled by Jason Parks and myself:

http://rangers.mvn.com/2008/10/the-btia-top-25-prospect-ranki.html

Our special twist? Since the separation between the top three prospects in the system is so minimal, we opted to select three #1 prospects -- ordered from #1A to #1C, though you can certainly look at them as being ordered from #1 to #3 if you so desire -- and standing tall at the very top is none other than DeLand, Florida's own Michael Main.

Jason's assessment of Main, whom he observed in the Fall Instructional League several weeks ago:

Main is the perfect storm of pitching prospects. He has the pure stuff to pitch at the very top of a Major League rotation. His fluid mechanics allow him to uncork a low-to-mid 90s heater with life, to go along with a tight curveball that will occasionally have 11-to-5 movement when he doesn't stay on top of it. His change-up is still developing, but it has above-average potential and is already thrown with good arm speed. He is perhaps the most gifted natural athlete of any player in the Rangers' minor league system, and he has the mental make-up to actually reach the bar set by his physical gifts.

How can I possibly rank Main above two of the top pitching prospects in the minors who are both coming off transcendent seasons that saw them rise from Low A and finish in AA? One word: Promise.

Thoughts, comments, praise and hate mail are most appreciated. Fire away.