With spring training imminent teams have a lot of decisions to make. Even the Yankees, who don't even project to have a rookie starting on the ballfield in 2009, still have an overload of lousy-fielding/power-hitting outfielders/first basemen. Other teams like the Giants, Rockies, Nationals and Athletics have an exciting season coming up. So many of their positions have questions marks and so many of the penciled in players are younger than 25. The following list is one of the most well-prepared prospects and rookies; Those ready to make an immediate impact in the MLB.
Obviously Cameron Maybin, Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer and Brandon Morrow are more than ready to take their place in the top tier at their respective position
1. Matt Wieters, C, Baltimore Orioles- Obviously Wieters gets this spot. He's a Joe Mauer hitter and a Brian McCann catcher. After meeting him, playing some ball and sharing a gatorade, all I can say is I can't find a single flaw in his game OR his personality. He's a guy that would make Billy Bean divorce his wife in favor of this new Valentine. It would surprise me if Wieters didn't hit near .300 in 2009, he isn't J.R. Towles and lets not forget that. 10-15 homers his first season with stellar defense is likely, but 2010 looks more like .310-25-90--after that, the skies is the limit.
2. Carlos Santana, 3B, Cleveland Indians- Its a shame that Santana pulled the Neil Walker/Brandon Inge, his value would have been doubled had he stayed a catcher. Another victim of an organization starving for infielders, Santana has taken it pretty well and has flashed an AROD arm. What worries most is his relatively unimpressive numbers before 2008, but those in 2008 with the Kinston Indians (.352/.452/.590) and with the Inland Empire 66ers (an OPS of 964) shot him up the top 100 list. The Indians have given up on Andy Marte, and Mark DeRosa isn't a talented athlete and is getting ready for the twilight years of an infielder's career. Santana is no sure thing, but by mid season he'll be up in Cleveland and making a hell of an impact.
3. David Price, LHP, Tampa Bay Rays- Don't you hate it when people say "he's a nice guy" just because they can't find ANYTHING better to say about him? Not good looking, not cool, smart or charismatic, Price is that guy that everyone calls "a nice guy." Talking to him was like talking to a three year old with even less of an attention span. He isn't as much of a lock as all of these newfound TB fans think. He's a lefty, true, but his fastball is 91-94, and his slider, although very good, is his only offspeed/other pitch. He'll be very good, but Clayton Kershaw, Joba Chamberlain and Brandon Morrow he is not. James Shields numbers seem lik
e a good bet.4. Elvis Andrus, SS, Texas Rangers- Theres a drop off between Price and Andrus, but even so, Andrus is a very good player. He's no Hanley Ramirez, or even Troy Tulowitzki but what Andrus is, is a 30-40 sb guy with a .280-.300 average and 10 home runs somewhere in him. His range is highly competitive and may be the best in the AL, his glove needs some work, but his baserunning is MLB ready. His bat definitely needs work, a lead-off hitter that strikes out, makes decent but not great contact and has no power usually has trouble surviving as a starter--except for Cesar Izturis... Texas is a nice place for little guys to hit, and Andrus has a B+ ceiling, making him a nice guy to have on your team. He's also absolutely hilarious.
5. Pablo Sandoval, CI/C, San Francisco Giants- Sandoval won't be a catcher in San Fran with Buster Posey and Bengie Molina, and his life at 3B may be short with Villalona coming up within the next four years. A job at 1st base sounds about right, and Sandoval has the bat to hold it down. He's kind of like Sean Casey--a lot of contact, decent power, good fielding and little speed (still more than Casey however). The only aspect of Sandoval's game that makes scouts worry is the fact that he doesn't walk. Still, he doesn't strike out that much either so it doesn't seem like he's going to be overmatched in the soft NL West.
6. Colby Rasmus, OF, St. Louis Cardinals- Rasmus still could be the player that scouts thought he would be in 2007 and 2008. He doesn't make great contact and his build looks a little bit swollen--like he used to catch bees with his hands as a kid. Still the numbers he put up in the Texas League in 2007 were impressive, he hit 29 bombs in less than 500 at bats. Remember though, its the Texas League and Billy Crystal could make the top 100 hitting there too. He can run the bases t a Matt Holliday clip and will be a good fit for St. Louis CF job in 2009.
7. Matt LaPorta, 1B/LF, Cleveland Indians- With Hafner pulling a Robin Ventura and falling apart and Garko never really being any good, LaPorta has a good chance of making the team out of spring training--maybe even securing a starting job. His fielding leaves a lot to be desired and he's slow. But for a guy capable of 35-40 homerun power, LaPorta doesn't strike out all that much--kind of like Mark Texeira. He makes better contact than his AL East counterpart Travis Snider and looks to be ready to make something happen in 2009.
8. Travis Snider, LF, Toronto Blue Jays- Snider and LaPorta look the same too me. Okay, Snider is a little bit of a life-size baby, but they play the same. Both can't field for their life and both can hit a ton. Snider has more power than LaPorta and is a bigger guy. He swings and whiffs a lot, more than LaPorta and less than Brandon Wood. He hit .301/.338/.466 in his major league debut in 2008 and looked completely ready to take on Yankees/Red Sox/Rays pitching. His minor league career numbers, .299/.375/.513 make it pretty clear that this kid has some upside, and so far he doesn't seem to be Gabe Kapler.
9. Mat Gamel, 1B/3B, Milwaukee Brewers- Gamel isn't a physical specimen for guy with that kind of line-drive swing. He's a very good hitter and a decent fielder but he needs to learn to loft the ball. Right now he hits like Lyle Overbay, and for a 3rd basement, especially one replacing Bill Hall, that's not half bad. If he can get some upward tilt to his hack he can transfer his .305/.375/.489 to the MLB. I always like to say that a player's Rk numbers are what he'll put up in the MLB and .327/.375/.497 would be pretty nice.
10. Trevor Cahill, RHP Oakland Athletics- Cahill is another guy that won't blow you away with his stuff, but his control, his plus curve and change and his polish sounds pretty damn nice. Rating Brett Anderson over Cahill makes me hate Keith Law's rankings even more--he tried to be groundbreaking and controversial but ended up with a sub-par end product. Eveno so he's a great writer. Anyway, Anderson looks like Ian Kennedy and Cahill looks like Phil Hughes sans the glass jaw. He's only 21, but lucky for him the A's roster looks like a high school gym class so if he's doesn't make the starting 5 out of spring training, and he should (Dallas Braden is crap), then he'll definitely be there by the All Star Break. I nicknamed him "Tyson" because like Mike, he will fuck you up. Sorry Tyson Ross, you're good too...
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