Phillies Prospects: Evaluating Who Could Be Selected in Rule 5 Draft
By John Town
Shortstop Malquin Canelo
Malquin Canelo may be the most intriguing Top 30 Phillies prospect available in the Rule 5 draft as he could become quite versatile defensively.
Canelo, my No. 29 prospect, spent all of 2016 with High-A Clearwater and was rather unimpressive at the plate. He posted a well below-average .624 OPS in 124 games with the Threshers in 2016. Canelo flashed some offensive potential in 2015 with Lakewood when he hit for a .311/.364/.466 line in 63 games with the BlueClaws to start off the year.
Where Canelo shines is on defense as a plus all-around defender at shortstop. Some say he is the best defensive shortstop of anyone in the system, including No. 1 prospect J.P. Crawford. Dan Farnsworth of Fangraphs said Canelo is “a definite shortstop at the next level.”
It isn’t a stretch to say that a plus defender like Canelo could very well be an above-average defender at other positions in the infield as well. A team in need of a utility infielder could view Canelo as a project if they see upside in his offense somewhere.
Like many other players, Canelo’s lack of experience above Class-A ball could keep him safe from the Rule 5 draft.