Youngest Players by Level: Double-A

October 27, 2008

                               All Levels: MLB / AAA / AA / A+ / A

Double-A
Rk. Player Pos Age DOB Org Lg TBF/PA OPS/FIP
1 Fernando Martinez CF 20.0 10/10/1988 NYM EAS 387 .739
2 Elvis Andrus SS 20.1 8/26/1988 TEX TEX 534 .676
3 Jose Tabata RF 20.2 8/12/1988 PIT EAS 426 .729
4 Neftali Feliz SP 20.4 5/2/1988 TEX TEX 185 4.03
5 Christopher Tillman SP 20.5 4/15/1988 BAL EAS 580 3.67
6 Clayton Kershaw SP 20.6 3/19/1988 LAD SOU 241 3.68
7 Trevor Cahill SP 20.6 3/1/1988 OAK TEX 151 3.68
8 Travis Snider RF 20.7 2/2/1988 TOR EAS 362 .816
9 Brett Anderson SP 20.7 2/1/1988 OAK TEX 125 2.69
10 Donovan Solano SS 20.8 12/17/1987 STL TEX 120 .659
11 Adrian Cardenas SS 21.0 10/10/1987 OAK TEX 104 .739
12 Lars Anderson 1B 21.0 9/25/1987 BOS EAS 164 .880
13 Edgar Garcia SP 21.1 9/20/1987 PHI EAS 270 5.05
14 Gregory Halman CF 21.1 8/26/1987 SEA SOU 257 .806
15 Daryl Jones LF 21.3 6/25/1987 STL TEX 154 .871
16 Alexandre Periard SP 21.3 6/15/1987 MIL SOU 168 4.90
17 Michael Brantley CF 21.4 5/15/1987 MIL SOU 482 .767
18 Gerardo Parra CF 21.4 5/6/1987 ARI SOU 304 .800
19 Ivan DeJesus SS 21.4 5/1/1987 LAD SOU 562 .811
20 Welington Castillo C 21.5 4/24/1987 CHC SOU 221 .720
21 Jeremy Hellickson SP 21.5 4/8/1987 TB SOU 308 3.13
22 Cameron Maybin CF 21.5 4/4/1987 FLA SOU 459 .796
23 Shairon Martis SP 21.5 3/30/1987 WAS EAS 317 4.07
24 Carlos Carrasco SP 21.6 3/21/1987 PHI EAS 485 3.61
25 Daniel Cortes SP 21.6 3/4/1987 KC TEX 497 4.32
26 Aaron Thompson SP 21.6 2/28/1987 FLA SOU 381 4.81
27 Henry Alberto Rodriguez SP 21.6 2/25/1987 OAK TEX 215 5.34
28 Josh Reddick CF 21.6 2/19/1987 BOS EAS 133 .821
29 Argenis Diaz SS 21.7 2/12/1987 BOS EAS 153 .794
30 Will Inman SP 21.7 2/6/1987 SD TEX 567 4.29
31 Travis Wood SP 21.7 2/6/1987 CIN SOU 380 4.92
* TBF and PA are taken exclusively from 2008        
** Minimum of 30.0 IP or 100 PA             
*** OPS and FIP are park and luck adjusted '08 statistics from minorleaguesplits.com

 

A teenager up until a week ago, Fernando Martinez was the youngest player in the upper minors for the second year in a row. But Elvis Andrus and Jose Tabata, who have both had development paths similar to Martinez, are just behind him. After that, a series of young pitchers who all have top-of-the-rotation potential in Neftali Feliz, Chris Tillman, Clayton Kershaw, and Trevor Cahill take over the list.

Of the youngsters who were in Double-A in June of 2007, only one really took off and claimed a starting job for the bulk of 2008: Justin Upton -- Collin Balester also begin to etch out a big league career. If anyone is poised to make a Upton-esque impact in 2009, it's Kershaw, who already has 107.2 innings of MLB experience. After that, Travis Snider and any of the other three pitchers named above could log a decent amount of time on big league rosters.

None of the 16 hitters listed below really dominated Double-A, though Lars Anderson (.316/.346/.526, 164 PA) and Daryl Jones (.290/.404/.500, 154 PA) both put up impressive lines in limited samples. On the pitching side, Brett Anderson owned Double-A, posting a 30.4% strikeout rate to go along with a 57% ground ball rate and 7.2% walk rate, a showing that will likely catapult him into the top 10 overall of most 2009 prospect lists.

Along with Anderson and Cahill, Adrian Cardenas and Henry Alberto Rodriguez represent the Athletics' young core below. The Red Sox are the only other team with more than two players on this list.

 

Sean Halloran can be reached via spiritual channeling during lunar eclipses. Adam Foster can be reached at adamf@projectprospect.com.