This study is to highlight relatively defined data that gives a glimpse at potential high-upside talent. There are many future stars in the minors today who aren't teenagers. And there are teenagers in instructional ball right now who will end up being stars. I chose full-season teenagers because they make up a relatively small portion of the minors -- less than 3% -- and tend to be projectable with high ceilings.
Let's dive into the data, which was compiled on May 6, 2012 from MinorLeagueCentral.com:
Quick Facts
* A total of 90 teenagers are playing on full-season, affiliated baseball teams.
* One is in the big leagues: Bryce Harper.
* By level teenager breakdown: MLB - 1, AAA - 0, AA - 4, A+ - 9, A - 76
* Hitters account for 57 of full-season teenagers, with pitchers making up the other 33.
* Every MLB team but the Dodgers has at least one teenager in full-season ball.
* The Rangers lead all of baseball with nine teenagers.
* On average, organizations have three teenagers playing in full-season ball.
Elite Performers
Hitters
Bryce Harper, RF/CF, MLB (WAS)
Austin Hedges, C, Low-A (SD)
Francisco Lindor, SS, Low-A (CLE)
Manny Machado, SS, Double-A (BAL)
Jurickson Profar, SS, Double-A (TEX)
Miguel Sano, 3B, Low-A (MIN)
Trevor Story, SS/3B, Low-A (COL)
Oscar Taveras, CF/RF, Double-A (STL)
Pitchers
Cody Buckel, RHP, High-A (TEX)
Dylan Bundy, RHP, Low-A (BAL)
Jose Fernandez, RHP, Low-A (MIA)
Joe Ross, RHP, Low-A (SD)
Noah Syndergaard, RHP, Low-A (TOR)
Taijuan Walker, RHP, Double-A (SEA)
Benjamin Wells, RHP, Low-A (CHC)
Scouting Write-Ups
I wrote up five of the top teenage pitching prospects in the minors for Rotoworld.com here. I wrote up 10 of the top teenage hitting prospects in the minors (including video of three) here.
Team Rankings
The rankings below are based on the number of teenagers an organization has in its minors and the performances of those teenagers. Elite performances, as defined in the section below, and the level each teenager is at were given heavy weight.
First Tier
Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers, Washington Nationals
Second Tier
San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Toronto Blue Jays, St. Louis Cardinals
Third Tier
Seattle Mariners, Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, Miami Marlins, Colorado Rockies, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants, Houston Astros, Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago Cubs
Fourth Tier
Los Angeles Angels, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Mets, Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Royals, Tampa Bay Rays, Philadelphia Phillies, Oakland Athletics
Fifth Tier
Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers
Team-by-Team Listings/Performances
To contextualize performance in a very basic, simplistic manor, I scanned some of my favorite metrics and indicated poor, passable, impressive or elite production for each teenager (in parenthesis), compared to his teenage peers. It's numbers-only, back-of-the-envelope type categorization that does not factor in scouting. Every player below is either 18 or 19 years old.
Atlanta Braves (1)
Low-A: Brandon Drury, 1B/3B (Poor)
Arizona Diamondbacks (2)
Low-A: Archie Bradley, P (Impressive), J.R. Bradley, P (Passable)
Baltimore Orioles (7)
Double-A: Manny Machado, SS (Elite)
Low-A: Dylan Bundy, P (Elite), Nick Delmonico, 1B/2B (Impressive), Eduardo Rodriguez, P (Impressive), Zachary Davies, P (Passable), Miguel Chalas, P (Passable) and Gabriel Lino, C (Passable)
Boston Red Sox (5)
High-A: Xander Bogaerts, SS (Impressive)
Low-A: Jose Vinicino, SS (Impressive), Henry Owens, P (Impressive), Jason Garcia, P (Impressive) and Jordan Weems, C (Poor)
Chicago Cubs (4)
High-A: Ronald Torreyes, 2B/SS (Poor)
Low-A: Benjamin Wells, P (Elite), Marco Hernanez, SS (Poor) and Oliver Zapata, RF/LF (Poor)
Chicago White Sox (2)
High-A: Yolmer Sanchez, 2B/SS (Passable)
Low-A: Jefferson Olacio, P (Impressive)
Cincinnati Reds (1)
High-A: Yorman Rodriguez, RF/CF (Poor)
Cleveland Indians (6)
High-A: Tony Wolters, 2B/SS (Poor)
Low-A: Francisco Lindor, SS (Elite), Felix Sterling, P (Impressive), Luigi Rodriguez, CF/OF (Passable), Robel Garcia, 2B (Poor) and Leonardo Castillo, 3B/1B (Poor)
Colorado Rockies (2)
Low-A: Trevor Story, SS/3B (Elite) and Rosell Herrera, 3B/SS (Poor)
Detroit Tigers (1)
Low-A: Danry Vasquez, LF (Poor)
Houston Astros (4)
High-A: Delino DeShields, 2B (Passable) and Dominago Santana, RF (Passable)
Low-A: Evan Grills, P (Passable) and Roberto Pena, C (Poor)
Kansas City Royals (2)
High-A: Cheslor Cuthbert, 3B (Poor)
Low-A: Jorge Bonifacio, RF (Impressive)
Los Angeles Angels (2)
Low-A: Kaleb Cowart, 3B (Impressive), Wendell Soto, SS (Passable)
Los Angeles Dodgers (0)
None
Miami Marlins (2)
Low-A: Jose Fernandez, P (Elite) and Austin Brice, P (Passable)
Milwaukee Brewers (2)
Low-A: Yadiel Rivera, SS (Impressive) and Will West, P, who made his full-season debut on May 21, 2012
Minnesota Twins (1)
Low-A: Miguel Sano, 3B (Elite)
New York Mets (1)
Low-A: Michael Fulmer, P (Impressive)
New York Yankees (7)
Low-A: Jose Campos, P (Impressive), Gary Sanchez, C (Impressive), Angelo Gumbs, 2B (Passable), Anderson Feliz, INF/DH (Passable), Benjamin Gamel, LF (Poor), Dante Bichette, 3B (Poor) and Cito Culver, SS (Poor)
Oakland Athletics (1)
Low-A: Raul Alcantara, P (Passable)
Philadelphia Phillies (2)
Low-A: Maikel Franco, 3B (Passable) and Tyler Greene, SS (Poor)
Pittsburgh Pirates (4)
Low-A: Alen Hanson, SS (Impressive), Jose Osuna, 1B (Passable), Willy Garcia, LF (Passable) and Josh Bell, RF (Poor)
San Diego Padres (6)
Low-A: Austin Hedges, C (Elite), Joe Ross, P (Elite), Matt Whisler, P (Impressive), John Barbato, P (Impressive), Michael Kelly, P (Poor) and Duanel Jones, 3B (Poor)
Seattle Mariners (3)
Double-A: Taijuan Walker, P (Elite)
Low-A: Guillermo Pimentel, LF (Poor) and Alfredo Morales, RF (Poor)
San Francisco Giants (4)
Low-A: Clayton Blackburn, P (Impressive), Kyle Crick, P (Passable), Adalberto Mejia, P (Passable) and Charles Jones, CF (Poor)
St. Louis Cardinals (2)
Double-A: Oscar Taveras, CF/RF (Elite)
Low-A: Tyrell Jenkins, P (Passable)
Tampa Bay Rays (3)
Low-A: Tyler Goeddel, 3B (Passable), Juniel Querecuto, 2B/SS (Passable) and Jake Hager, C (Poor)
Texas Rangers (9)
Double-A: Jurickson Profar, SS (Elite)
High-A: Cody Buckel, P (Elite)
Low-A: Rougned Odor, 2B (Impressive), Hanser Alberto, 3B/SS (Impressive), Jorge Alfaro, C (Passable), Kellin Deglan, C (Passable), Luis Sardinas, SS/2B (Passable), Victor Payano, P (Passable) and Andrew Faulkner, P (Poor)
Toronto Blue Jays (2)
Low-A: Noah Syndergaard, P (Elite) and Aaron Sanchez, P (Impressive)
Washington Nationals (1)
MLB: Bryce Harper, RF/CF (Elite)