Blast from the Past: Top Prospects of 1999.

by John Sickels on Mar 28, 2026 12:58 PM EST in News

Do you remember me?
The way it used to be?

The Best Prospects of 1999

J.D. Drew, Grade A. Excellent when healthy.
Eric Chavez, Grade A. Excellent, best years are ahead.
Rick Ankiel, Grade A. Steve Blass for the 21st Century. Pictured above.
Troy Glaus, Grade A. Very effective power hitter.
Brad Penny, Grade A. Solid starting pitcher when healthy.
Michael Barrett, Grade A-. Erratic. Sometimes very good.
Nick Johnson, Grade A-. Flashes of success, but serious health problems.
Ruben Mateo, Grade A-. Ruined by broken leg, poor plate discipline.
Calvin Pickering, Grade A-. Almost ate his way out of baseball, but rebounded in '04 and still has a chance to succeed.
Bruce Chen, Grade A-. Some success, but inconsistent, gets traded a lot.
Carlos Beltran, Grade A-. Outstanding player.
Gabe Kapler, Grade A-. Good 2000 season, otherwise inconsistent.
Matt Clement, Grade A-. Solid starting pitcher, I think his best is yet to come.
Lance Berkman, Grade A-. Excellent hitter, future MVP.
Pablo Ozuna, Grade A-. Busted in Age-Gate.
Juan Encarnacion, Grade A-. Adequate player.
Jeremy Giambi, Grade A-. Injuries, steroids, bad defense.
Alex Escobar, Grade B+. Injuries, bad plate discipline.
Ryan Anderson, Grade B+. Ruined by bad shoulder.
Matt Riley, Grade B+. Injury problems, healthy now but still finding his control.
Joe Lawrence, Grade B+. Ruined by injuries, defensive problems.
Octavio Dotel, Grade B+. Very effective reliever and closer.
John Patterson, Grade B+. Flashes of success, along with injury problems. Still has a chance to be good.
Russ Branyan, Grade B+. Ultimate all-or-nothing hitter.
Carlos Febles, Grade B+. Injuries, plus Brent Gates-like offensive stagnation.
Alex Gonzalez the Marlin, Grade B+. Decent player if erratic.
Dernell Stenson, Grade B+. Murdered in 2003 Arizona Fall League.
Braden Looper, Grade B+. Developed into a pretty good closer.
Roy Halladay, Grade B+. Excellent when healthy.
Freddy Garcia, Grade B+. Can dominate when his control is on.
Pat Burrell, Grade B+. Solid power guy, not a complete hitter.
George Lombard, Grade B+. Tools guy did not develop.
Pete Bergeron, Grade B+. Poster boy for Expos Ennui.
Jason Grilli, Grade B+. Ruined by injuries.
A.J. Burnett, Grade B+. Dominates when healthy.
Richie Sexson, Grade B+. Impressive power hitter 1999-2003.
Enrique Wilson, Grade B+. Age Gate.
Angel Pena, Grade B+. Young Catcher Stagnation Syndrome, got fat.
Ramon Hernandez, Grade B+. Good solid regular catcher.
Ryan Bradley, Grade B+. Injuries, control problems.
Gil Meche, Grade B+. Has worked hard to come back from slagged arm.
Carlos Lee, Grade B+. Steady, consistent, productive hitter.
Milton Bradley, Grade B+. Very good player despite controversies.
Mitch Meluskey, Grade B+. Excellent 2000 season, but ruined by injuries.
Mike Cuddyer, Grade B+. Finally gets to play regularly in '05, should be productive.
Chad Hermansen, Grade B+. Tools goof flameout due to poor strike zone judgment.
Daryle Ward, Grade B+. Some success, old player skills do not age well.
Odalis Perez, Grade B+. Does good work when on the mound.
Trot Nixon, Grade B+. Overcame back problems, solid player.
Ricky Ledee, Grade B+. Role player bat on the bench.

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Comments

Off topic

Sorry this is off topic John, but I didn't know where else to ask this question. The Astros acquired Humberto Quintero today from the Padres for Tim Redding. What kind of major league player do you think Quintero is going to become? His defense looks great (in the 4 or 5 times I've seen him, at least), but what do you think of his bat? Thank you in advance for your response. Your site is great, I read it every day.

by fernandomania on Mar 28, 2026 1:20 PM EST 0 recs

bat

His bat looks pretty weak to me. Track record of hitting anywhere between .230 and .320, but with no power and a very low walk rate. He is completely dependent on his batting average to sustain his offense. That's OK if he's hitting .300 (albeit an empty .300), but he's more probably a .240 hitter at the major league level....like .240/.290/.340, very weak.

by John Sickels on Mar 28, 2026 1:22 PM EST 0 recs

Question

John,

"Young Catcher Stagnation Syndrome"

I've seen you use this phrase in several of these lists, but I'm not sure what it refers to. Can you explain?

And as for number 10, Bruce Chen, I think someone should start a Mike Morgan-watch on him. Morgan played for 12 teams in 22 seasons. I believe Chen has played for 8 teams in 7 seasons.

by calig23 on Mar 28, 2026 1:29 PM EST 0 recs

YCSS

Young Catcher Stagnation Syndrome is when a young catcher who shows great promise early in his career does not develop as expected offensively, even without an obvious debilitating injury. The theory is that the wear-and-tear of catching wears young catchers down and prevents them from developing along a normal growth curve. Classic example would be Pat Cline, a Cubs prospect several years ago who looked awesome at one point but never got better. Other examples would be Javier Valentin and Steve Lomasney.

by John Sickels on Mar 28, 2026 1:33 PM EST 0 recs

This is a good list.

Of the ones you've posted so far, this is probably the most impressive.

But then again, I'm pretty lenient on guys like Ankiel. I consider Ankiel a star as far as prospect lists are considered, since what happened to him was absolutely unforeseeable.

A full 25 of these by my count are starters on their teams today, which is a pretty good hit rate at 50%...

by bibigon on Mar 28, 2026 1:56 PM EST 0 recs

wow

What a list. 1999 was loaded.

Surprised to see Giambi rated that highly. Is defense more important in your grades these days?

by bootsy on Mar 28, 2026 3:20 PM EST 0 recs

d

Yeah, I think I rate defense more importantly than I did back then. Although even at the time I didn't think he was as bad a fielder as everyone said. . .when I saw him in the minors he actually looked OK out there at times. Then he bulked up too much and lost what range he had.

by John Sickels on Mar 28, 2026 4:17 PM EST up 0 recs

Pablo Ozuna

It looks like Ozuna is on track to make the White Sox's opening day roster (as a back up). His spring #s have been very good, he is hitting .511 (.638 slug) with 2 SOs but 0 walks in 47 at bats. I've seen him playing 2b, ss and 3b this spring. Perhaps he could see some playing time if Crede continues to disappoint.

by shaftr on Mar 28, 2026 3:31 PM EST 0 recs

#8

Ahh Ruben Mateo...now that takes me back. I remember him because he was the touted guy from Baseball Tonight. Was that what you'd call that injury, a broken leg? I thought it was some sort of ligament tear or something; he ran through first base and hyperextended his knee. Grisly scene, really. Never heard much about him after that--he was on the Reds depth chart a couple of years ago, but with none of that prospect talk.

John, was his upside all tools based or did the injury just seem to ruin him?

"They have to be excited right now, they're ACTUALLY beating the Yankees!" - Al Trautwig, YES Network

by chunkylover22 on Mar 28, 2026 4:13 PM EST 0 recs

mateo

Before the injury, he had very good performance to go with his tools. He hasn't been the same since, I'm told that he plays tentatively now like he's afraid to get hurt again.

by John Sickels on Mar 28, 2026 4:16 PM EST up 0 recs

Rotten luck, I guess

It was a pretty freaky injury--just stretching out to first base and, pop. If I remember correctly, someone from Rangers' management thought baseball should replace first base with something more...ergonomic as a result.

As far as the tentativeness goes, I remember a similar reaction after Andy Pettite got hit in the face with a line drive from Cal Ripken. Once he came back he would sometimes not follow through on his pitches--he'd just pull up short and that threw his control off a good bit. Eventually he realized he was doing it and overcame the new habit. But he was already a veteran pitcher, not a 21 year old prospect.

"They have to be excited right now, they're ACTUALLY beating the Yankees!" - Al Trautwig, YES Network

by chunkylover22 on Mar 28, 2026 4:37 PM EST up 0 recs