The Top of the Heap

There are hundreds of prospects every year that have a good shot at the majors but only a few turn into Chris Davis or Ryan Braun, the rest turn into Ed Yarnell and Wilson Betemit. It has been a long time since the Yanks put together a decent farm system, and even after losing their three best pitchers, they still have plenty of life...

1. Madison Bumgarner, LHP, (A), San Francisco Giants- Bumgarner is a perfect pitcher. He doesn't need more than a pitch to get buy, throwing only a four seamer and the occasional 12-6 curve. His fastball is clocked between 94-97 and the kid is still only 19. In my opinion Bumgarner is the best pitching prospect in baseball in the body of Tim Lincecum and will do a nice job rounding out a young and powerful staff within the next few years. I'd call him up sooner but there's too many rules stopping young pitchers from blowing their arms out in the bigs...

2. Matt Wieters, C, Baltimore Orioles, (A)- It would be a crime for Wieters to not make this list. He won a batting title in AA last year and hit .365 with 12 homers in only 208 at bats. He's a perfect catcher, kind of like Mauer but with more power. He calls a good game, is smart, strong and actually, very witty when you meet him.

3. Justin Smoak, 1B, Texas Rangers, (A)- Smoak is the carbon copy of Mark Texeira. In the midwest league the kid had an .873 OPS through 50 at bats. Straight out of college, Smoak will need some time to marinate, but he could easily break through the MLB barrier within the next year. He has lots of power, makes good contact and plays good D'. Could you ask for anything more?

4. Gordon Beckham, SS, Chicago White Sox, (A-)- Beckham gets ranked this high because he's a shortstop and a damn good one. His .865 OPS in Kansas City caught my eye, and although his footwork needs improvement he has the arm to play short into his 30's. With Alexei Ramirez, the Sox might want to push Beckham to have a nice tandem up the midde, but he needs more time in the minors as well. He's shown a LOT more than the other Beckham already...

5. Brett Wallace, 3B/1B, St. Louis Cardinals, (A-)- Wallace needs to work on his shotty D', but his bat is already the best in the minors. He is a career .337 hitter with a 1.109 OPS in the minors and his .427 OBP looks pretty good too. Even though he looks like Josh Beckett he's a strong kid, and doesn't bite his nails furiously like Beckett does. When in the majors, as early as next season, he'll be in contention for a batting title.

6. Buster Posey, C, San Francisco Giants, (A-)- Posey is Joe Mauer. BP has a very good bat and has a career .341 batting average in the minors and has 1.044 OPS to go along with it. He's another guy that could easily take home a batting title some day. Mauer is in the AL, but Posey has a shot to transfer Mauer's skills to the NL West and keep them there for a long time. He has a good arm, catches well, hits well and has developing line-drive power. He's sick.

7. Jesus Montero, C, New York Yankees, (A-)- At this point Montero is still a raw 19 year old. He has the most power of any player still in the minors including Brandon Wood. His power is ranked a perfect 80 on the scouting scale and his rocket arm is a plus as well. The Yankees are doing their best to cultivate him, but with Posada's shoulder and Molina aging, Montero and Romine better get to the MLB quick and put out the fire.

8. Colby Rasmus, CF, St. Louis Cardinals, (A-)- Rasmus slipped up last year watching his batting average drop to the .250's for the first time in his career. Outside of that, Rasmus is near perfect. He's a left who has alreadty racked up 64 home runs in the minors and his 74 stolen bases make him look like a 30-20 guy. He may have a lower ceiling because of his already packed/swollen body, but whatever ceiling he gets too will be good enough to make him an All Star.

9. Jose Ceda, CL, Florida Marlins, (A-)- Like Montero, Ceda is raw and young. The Marlins snatched his little Dominican ass up from the Cubs, giving only Kevin Gregg up. Ceda has pitched 180 innings in the minors and struck out 227 during that span. His 2.08 ERA sparkled in 2008 and he clearly has the potential to close for the Marlins. He throws hard, has developing control and strikes out guys by the handful.

10. Pablo Sandoval, C, San Francisco Giants, (A-)- I still have to consider Sandoval a prospect because unlike Maybin he doesn't have a regular job in the majors...yet. His bat is super-dooper kiss my pooper good and he would've nearly won the batting title last year with a full season of at bats. The guy and his .337 and .549 slugging percentage were obviously first on the ShitBoxes, and its an added plus that he can play so many different positions on the diamond-- catcher, 1B, 3B, LF, RF... Before 2008 he wasn't on the radar, but now that he's put up numbers like these, he'll be starting for the Giants for sure in 2009.