FanPost

2010 potential rookies of the year

NL: Gerald "Buster" Posey, Catcher, San Francisco Giants- We know the story of Gerald. Brian Sabean decided it would be a good idea not to let Mr. Posey shine by signing Molina to a one year deal, but Posey could still conceivably come up by May after he absolutely murders AAA pitching down in Fresno. He has the career potential to be the next Joe Mauer. He has always maintained superior defense as shown by his .992 fielding pct., plus in the the course of a year and a half of minor league seasons, in 459 at bats, Buster has hit .327, 18 home runs, 86 RBI, and 94 runs. He is also able to take a walk, sporting a .421 OBP. In my mind, he is the front runner for the NL award.

Alcides Escobar, Shortstop, Milwaukee Brewers- Escobar's big edge over Posey is that he will likely get more playing time. That's it. Posey is, and will be a superior player in every way except for speed, but then shortstops are supposed to be faster than catchers, so even that isn't too significant. Extra playing time is likely the only way he'll be able to grab the ROY award from Posey now that J.J. Hardy has been traded away to the Brewers.

Madison Bumgarner, Starting pitcher, San Francisco Giants- The thing with Madison is that he has like 2 good pitches: his 94 mph fastball and his 81 mph change. That's it. At times his change looks like a curve, but that's about as close as he gets to having a breaking pitch. Starting pitchers almost always have at least 3 pitches, and unless Madison is dialing up his heat to 100 consistently, or just throws the best change in baseball, he's going to be very predictable. Once he adds another reliable pitch, however, it's going to be a whole different ball game.

Stephen Strasburg, Starting Pitcher, Washington Nationals- Dang. I forgot the Nats were in the NL. Scratch that- I forgot they even existed. True, it's a lot harder for some reason for pitchers to get voted ROY, but this is Stephen Strasburg, so you never know. I still think that if Posey were the Opening Day starter he could post some ROY quality, but Strasburg is likely going to start as the Nationals 5th starter in order to "ease him in" to the majors- I say this in quotes because he hasn't had any minor league seasoning at all. Forget everything I just said about Posey being Rookie of the Year or whatever. Mr. 100 mph will be, barring injury, the 2010 NL ROY.

Jason Heyward, Outfield, Atlanta Braves- Some people compare Heyward to the man whom which this blog is named after: Willie McCovey. Sure looks like he's going to be the next great one, too. He was the 2nd best minor leaguer last year after only Buster Posey, with a .323 average and fourth with a .388 on-base percentag. His .871 OPS was sixth-best in the league. He batted well over .300 (and had an OPS over .830) in every month except July.

AL: Desmond Jennings, OF, Rays- What more can I say about Jennings? He will probably follow a long line of grat outfielders: Baldelli, Crawford, Upton, Josh Hamilton (didn't do much for Rays because of love of drugs, but he has proven to be a stud for the Rangers, Delmon Young (traded to Minnesota for Garza and Bartlett). His minor league stats say it all: .318 avg, .401 OBP, .487 SLG, and .888 OPS last year in the minors.

Brett Wallace, 3B/DH, Toronto Blue Jays: Traded by the Cardinals for Matt Holliday this year, and then to the Blue Jays for Michael Taylor, his numbers got better on a new team. He hit .293 with 20 home runs this season after hitting .337 last year in the minors. He strikes out a lot, and doesn't really have a natural position, but he can absolutely rake. He projects to become a much better Billy Butler. Should have the potential to hit .300 with 35 homers every year.

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