I don't know. I disagree with BA a lot of the time. Like, with nearly all of those rankings. I can't say that I know enough about all systems to actually eyeball rankings like this but these numbers don't seem right. At all.

These are just guesses on my part, but:

Brown - To me, he profiles more like a Mark Grace type - supposedly above-average defense at 1B (when healthy,) probably will hit anywhere from .280-.320 with around 15-20 HRs, and if the 2Bs power (31 so far in 387 ABs) turn into HRs, 25-30 HRs wouldn't be out of the question.  In addition, he has comparable plate discipline to Grace (45 BB/40 K in 387 ABs) - that's not a bad prospect at all, as I'd think a lot of organizations would want a hitting prospect like that in their organization, especially since he's only 23 and looks to be pretty much ready for AAA right now (has an over .900 OPS at AA.)

Now, perhaps you're thinking more of him as a LFer, and I agree that his defense probably wouldn't be more than average and his offensive production wouldn't distinguish him among many OF prospects.  However, the ranking was of him as a 1B, not as a LFer.  And, just off the top of my head, I can't think of too many premier 1B prospects in the Minors - Cincinnati's Joey Votto is one of the few to come to mind, so that too likely helped Brown's ranking.  I'd certainly take Brown over Yankees' 1B prospect Eric Duncan, who while being young at each level, really has not impressed at any level (really reminds me a lot of Marte, who isn't living up to his potential either at this point.)

C McBride - .280+ (what's he been at most of the year; currently at .278) isn't anything to sneeze at, especially since catching prospects usually tend to wear down as the season goes on.  His OPS is .764, certainly decent enough for a C.  I also suspect that McBride is concentrating more on his defense; the Indians seem pretty sure he'll hit - it's just a question of whether his good catching tools will allow him to be a premier defender at the ML level.  Right now, he's had much trouble with PBs (somewhere around 20, I think,) so I think the defense is the main issue at this point, not his offense.  

Plus, again, how many premier catching prospects are there in the Minors?  Again, I can't think of too many off the top of my head (Saltalamacchia and Clement were two of the very few elite catching prospects both offensively and defensively,) but this likely also helped McBride's ranking.

Same thing likely with Barton; there are few Justin Uptons in the Minors, and even though Barton is 25, has always gotten high praise for being essentially a potential 5-tool player, and those types of prospects aren't very prevalent in the Minors.  Keep in mind that Barton was included in the CF list, and there aren't too many Minor League OFers who profile as CFers AND have Barton's tools.

And, Barton's AA performance of .314/.416/.440 wasn't weak for a CFer either, which also likely helped Barton reach the Top 10, despite being 25-YO.

These are just my opinions of how they came to these rankings.  While I think they are debatable, I don't think they're that much off the mark, especially when you consider the limited elite prospects at each position that are clearly better than guys like Brown, McBride, and Barton.

Just my 2 cents.  :-)

Hans got exactly what I was pointing at.  :-)

No offense, homelytourist and Andrew, I think you two are getting confused because you are having trouble looking past Grace's HOF credentials; don't focus on Grace being a HOFer; look at the skills Grace brought, even in the Minors, and look at what Brown brings, and tell me if you don't see similarities.

I used Grace because he had similar skills and just about everybody knows who he was and how he played - that's why I used him as a comparison.  Using a no-name Minor Leaguer or some average regular wouldn't have been as useful a comparison because most people are familiar with Grace.  How about Sean Casey, another non-prototypical 1B in the same mold as Grace and similar to what I see Brown becoming?  Is that a better comparison for you, since Casey isn't a HOFer, but offers comparable skills?

I'm sorry if it confused you, but really, I don't think the comparison is a bad one.  I'm not saying Brown will be a HOFer; I'm saying I can see Brown being that type of non-prototypical 1B - one who hits for a .300+ BA, lesser power than you expect from a 1B, good plate discipline, and solid to good defense at 1B.

Just my 2 cents - no offense.  :-)

I'm not sure I follow - why?  Because those two have demonstrated those skills at the ML level and Brown hasn't?  

Please elaborate - thanks!