<<EDITED TO INCLUDE CURRENT RATINGS>>
These forums have helped me immensely, but I'm still a pretty terrible owner. The reward for that is the #1 pick. If I don't get significantly better, I'll have a top 5 pick every year, so the advice I get this year will probably serve me well for years. 

I've got 18M in college scouting, 10M in H.S., and am sorting between four prospects and would appreciate any advice. I have no idea how to develop players, so I lean toward the older guys. Having only played one season, I have no idea how these guys will develop. I'd appreciate any help figuring out how to differentiate between these four guys.


--Projected ratings--
#1-SS age 20
defense: 82/80/80/83
offense: 69 contact 83 power 81vL 78vR 77 eye
health 81 make-up 83

--Current ratings--
#1-SS age 20
defense: 70/72/64/66
offense: 47 contact 72 power 62vL 58vR 66 eye
health 64 make-up 82

--Projected Ratings--
#2 - 2B age 18
defense: 84/100/59/58
offense: 66 contact 67 power  93vL 91vR 82 eye
health 95 make-up 68

--Current Ratings--
#2 - 2B age 18
defense: 63/74/53/44
offense: 38contact 57power 52vL 56vR 61 eye

--Projected Ratings--
#3 - SP age 18
98stam 100control 73vL 91vR 38vel 81gb 90p1 63p2 63p3 38p4
health 66 make-up 64

--Current Ratings--
#3 - SP age 18
70stam 60control 38vL 49vR 29vel 67gb 81p1 54p2 39p3 22p4

--Projected Ratings--
#4 - SP age 20
77stam 65control 67vL 92vR 29vel 40gb 97p1 69p2 72p3 47p4
health 85 make up 65 

--Current Ratings--
#4 - SP age 20
69stam 47control 44vL 64vR 28vel 37gb 81p1 57p2 46p3 32p4

#3 looks nice

could you post their current ratings in those categories too? it's easier to project that way

Yes, especially with only 10M in HS.  Would help project #2 and #3.

Thanks so far everyone. I edited above to include current ratings. These aren't necessarily the top 4 guys ... but from my completely amateur opinion the four guys that looked most appealing overall. FWIW, their overall ratings are:

#1 67/88
#2 53/93
#3 53/86
#4 56/76

Punt...

#1 is easily the best, imo, although you'll probably end up playing him at 2B because he probably will not qualify defensively at SS, and that's fine because he can really really hit and he would field 2B very well. Guys #2 and #3's projected ratings are inflated by inferior scouting. They're good players but not as good as they're telling you they are (#3 will never get to 91 vR, for example, probably won't even get to 81 vR). Also, don't worry too much about health and make-up for draft ranking purposes

#3 won't hit those projections.  What you have to guess at is how close he will get.  I'm having trouble deciding between the 2, mostly because I don't have much experience drafting players with a scouting budget of just 10M.  Maybe someone with experience can chime in there.  My gut says if you're taking a pitcher, go with #3, but again, he's not getting those ratings.

#1 is better than #2 if you're looking for a hitter.  He probably won't reach SS numbers, although players have outperformed their projections before with good coaching.  He'll be an all-star 2nd baseman.

Also, while health and makeup aren't as necessary to look at as most ratings, don't **** on them either.  Health ratings under 40-50 or so and makeup ratings under 30-40 should get your attention in a bad way.

#1  He should make it as a 2B or 3B defensively.   His current hitting ratings would make him a decent BL benchwarmer now so, if nothing else, you know he's going to be a BL player if he develops just a little bit.

I dismiss #2 and #3 because of the 10m in scouting.   That's a waste is you're putting 18m into college.

Just from the eyeball test, #4 doesn't look right.  18/23/28/18 for C/L/R/P1 improvement for a 20 y/o.    Seems awful high for splits.   So I'm giving him 60 control and 70/80 splits.   That's plenty good enough but you didn't list DUR.    If it's not 25 or so, 70ish stamina doesn't make him a #1 pick.

4 doesn't belong in this discussion.  #1 is a safer bet than 2 or 3 because of your scouting budget.

When you're truly terrible, it's not a waste to go heavy into both HS and COL, because you don't want to not see the only stud in a particular draft if you're drafting very high.  That said, $10M is an awkward number; if you took over a bad team and you're a new owner, probably worth it to go really high on both for a few seasons, and then drop one of them as quickly as possible to zero once you and your team get good.

Nothing like giving free scouting to the other teams picking in the top 5 with COL/HS budgets lower than your team

Compared to the AAAA team I run out every day, this free scouting isn't much of a favor.

Thanks for the advice, folks.