The following is an excerpt from Sunday's Top 100 Prospects special on MLB Network, in which MLB Pipeline's Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo discuss Blue Jays top prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. with the Network's Greg Amsinger and Harold Reynolds. To listen to the show in its entirety, go to the MLB Pipeline Podcast page.
Amsinger: I like the humility. That you guys do sometimes, you know, make mistakes. But most of the time, you guys nail it. Like Jim Callis, before the season started, said this about Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Watch:
Clip from MLB Network's preseason Top 100 Prospects show:
Amsinger: Who do we think could make that big jump that we've seen other guys make in years past on the list for next year?
Callis: I'm gonna say Vladimir Guerrero Jr. He could be No. 1 on this list a year from now. He's that good at the plate. He's got bat speed, strength, plate discipline, pitch recognition, good approach, uses the whole field. Great year last year. Pro debut at age 17 against a lot older players in the Appy League. He's gonna go to full-season ball this year. He could be No. 1 on this list a year from now.
Amsinger: That looked just like his dad.
Return to live show:
Amsinger: I mean, well done. Well done, Jim Callis. I mean, he's not No. 1, but he's pretty close.
Callis: Well, I said a year from now, and it hasn't been 12 months since we ...
(crosstalk)
• Callis, Mayo on two-way prospects McKay, Greene
Reynolds: From Gore to Guerrero.
Callis: That's right, I love the guys that I love, but everything I said about him in there is true. Plus he goes to low-A this year at age 18 and it isn't even a challenge for him. He's already at high-A. The similarities between him and his dad are incredible, and he's got more plate discipline. His dad would swing at everything, this guy as you mentioned Greg, has more walks and strikeouts. I'll double down on the hyperbole, are you ready? Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Vladimir Guerrero Sr., the first father-son combination to make the Hall of Fame.
(exclamations)
Callis: So we can run that tape in 2045.
Amsinger: How old is this kid? Is he 18? You're calling him a Hall of Famer?!
Mayo: Jim's got the plaque ready.
Reynolds: I got to ask you something. Most 19-year-olds guys, we're seeing this theme. They get to the big leagues at 19. You've got him on the Hall of Fame track, will he be in the big leagues at age 19?
Callis: I'll say 20. I don't know if there's reason really to rush him next year. I don't think he'll be a third baseman long-term, I think he's more of an outfielder or first baseman. But that bat is really going to play.
Amsinger: So you're saying along with his father next year, he can also start working on his Hall of Fame speech?
Callis: That's right. Maybe he can introduce his dad and that will be practice for his speech in 2045.
Amsinger: That was a statement from Jim Callis.