All Levels: MLB / AAA / AA / A+ / A
| Low-A | ||||||||
| Rk. | Player | Pos | Age | DOB | Org | Lg | TBF/PA | OPS/FIP |
| 1 | Michael Almanzar | 3B | 18.0 | 12/2/1990 | BOS | SAL | 147 | .672 |
| 2 | Angel Villalona | 1B | 18.3 | 8/13/1990 | SFG | SAL | 502 | .785 |
| 3 | Joseph Ortiz | RP | 18.3 | 8/13/1990 | TEX | MWL | 137 | 4.32 |
| 4 | Oscar Tejeda | SS | 18.9 | 12/12/1989 | BOS | SAL | 396 | .613 |
| 5 | Jesus Montero | C | 19.0 | 11/28/1989 | NYY | SAL | 569 | .848 |
| 6 | Freddy Galvis | SS | 19.0 | 11/14/1989 | PHI | SAL | 520 | .687 |
| 7 | Michael Stanton | RF | 19.0 | 11/8/1989 | FLA | SAL | 540 | .947 |
| 8 | Engel Beltre | CF | 19.1 | 11/1/1989 | TEX | MWL | 595 | .693 |
| 9 | Kyle Lotzkar | SP | 19.1 | 10/24/1989 | CIN | MWL | 169 | 3.48 |
| 10 | Francisco Pena | C | 19.1 | 10/12/1989 | NYM | SAL | 422 | .640 |
| 11 | Richard Castillo | SP | 19.1 | 10/11/1989 | STL | MWL | 313 | 3.53 |
| 12 | Jairo Heredia | SP | 19.1 | 10/8/1989 | NYY | SAL | 452 | 4.11 |
| 13 | Frederick Freeman | 1B | 19.2 | 9/12/1989 | ATL | SAL | 537 | .911 |
| 14 | Tim Collins | RP | 19.2 | 8/29/1989 | TOR | MWL | 267 | 2.58 |
| 15 | Matt Dominguez | 3B | 19.2 | 8/28/1989 | FLA | SAL | 381 | .863 |
| 16 | Jason Heyward | RF | 19.3 | 8/9/1989 | ATL | SAL | 505 | .833 |
| 17 | Madison Bumgarner | SP | 19.3 | 8/1/1989 | SFG | SAL | 524 | 2.99 |
| 18 | Abraham Almonte | CF | 19.4 | 6/27/1989 | NYY | SAL | 495 | .728 |
| 19 | Cristian Santana | LF | 19.4 | 6/18/1989 | TEX | MWL | 359 | .696 |
| 20 | Gian Guzman | 2B | 19.5 | 5/26/1989 | CHC | MWL | 100 | .812 |
| 21 | Trevor Reckling | SP | 19.5 | 5/22/1989 | LAA | MWL | 643 | 3.69 |
| 22 | Domnit Bolivar | 3B | 19.5 | 5/12/1989 | STL | MWL | 361 | .691 |
| 23 | Michael McDade | 1B | 19.5 | 5/8/1989 | TOR | MWL | 230 | .581 |
| 24 | Jose Alvarez | SP | 19.5 | 5/6/1989 | BOS | SAL | 467 | 4.21 |
| 25 | Nick Noonan | 2B | 19.5 | 5/4/1989 | SFG | SAL | 531 | .746 |
| 26 | Maikel Cleto | SP | 19.6 | 5/1/1989 | NYM | SAL | 577 | 4.42 |
| 27 | Kevin Ahrens | 3B | 19.6 | 4/26/1989 | TOR | MWL | 513 | .658 |
| 28 | Charlie Culberson | SS | 19.6 | 4/10/1989 | SFG | SAL | 309 | .675 |
| 29 | Matthew Mitchell | SP | 19.6 | 3/31/1989 | KCR | MWL | 486 | 4.01 |
| 30 | Dae-Eun Rhee | SP | 19.7 | 3/23/1989 | CHC | MWL | 161 | 3.75 |
| * 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 | ||||||||
This list likely contains a wealth of names that even serious prospect fans aren't familiar with. So how about we start with a trio of names that we are familiar with: 2007 Top 10 overall picks Mike Moustakas, Josh Vitters, and Jarrod Parker.
A little over half of this list is international talents -- guys who, with exceptions like Angel Villalona, Jesus Montero, and Engel Beltre, still haven't spent much time in regular-season ball. The rest is largely 2007 Top 50 overall picks. But Madison Bumgarner is the only 2007 Top 10 overall pick listed. Why?
Mike Moustakas had a solid pro debut. None of his numbers are too impressive, but he was respectable across the board (.343 wOBA.196 IsoP, 15.7% K, 7.8% BB). He is, however, 20.1 years old. Even if he played all of 2008 in High-A, he wouldn't have been one of the five youngest players at the level. So while Moustakas showed that he was far from overmatched during his full-season debut, he was roughly six months older than the youngest 5.0% of the league. What kind of significance does this really have, though? Probably not much. Parker is basically in the same boat as Moustakas, as he is only two and one-half months younger than Moustakas.
Vitters is a different case. The 3rd overall pick of the 2007 Draft, Vitters, the second-youngest player taken in the first round that year, is over 11 months younger than Moustakas. But unlike Moustakas, Vitters spent very little time in full-season ball during his full-season debut. Did he still have some maturing to do before the Cubs figured he was ready for the league? Perhaps.
Note that Matt Dominguez was the youngest player taken in the first round of the 2007 Draft. Dominguez, who greatly benefited from playing his home games at hitter-friendly Greensboro, had a similar wOBA as well as power and walk numbers as Moustakas last year. His strikeout rate was a bit higher and unlike Moustakas, he's already proving to be a well-below-average runner.
Sean Halloran can be reached via spiritual channeling during lunar eclipses. Adam Foster can be reached at adamf@projectprospect.com.