Top Prospects of 2002

Top Prospects of 2002

1. Hank Blalock, 3B: 78 career win shares
   
2. Josh Beckett, RHP: 73 career win shares
   
3. Sean Burroughs, 3B: 38 career win shares
   
4. Carlos Pena, 1B: 71 career win shares
   
5. Wilson Betemit, SS: 22 career win shares
   
6. Dennis Tankersley, RHP: Ruined by control problems
   
7. Mark Teixeira, 3B: 104 career win shares
   
8. Juan Cruz, RHP: 24 career win shares
   
9. Mark Prior, RHP: 48 career win shares
   
10. Nick Johnson, 1B: 80 career win shares
    
11. Mike Cuddyer, 3B: 60 career win shares
    
12. Austin Kearns, OF: 84 career win shares
    
13. Angel Berroa, SS: 40 career win shares, Age-Gate and plate discipline big problems
    
14. Jake Peavy, RHP: 78 career win shares
    
15. Kelly Johnson, SS: 28 career win shares
    
16. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B: 46 career win shares
    
17. Hee Seop Choi, 1B: 26 career win shares
    
18. Gabe Gross, OF: 19 career win shares, a useful role player and I think he still has a breakout season in him
    
19. Brandon Claussen, LHP: 6 career win shares, hampered by injuries
    
20. Boof Bonser, RHP: 11 career win shares
    
21. Joe Borchard, OF: Tools bust
    
22. Jayson Werth, C: 38 career win shares
    
23. Ben Broussard, 1B: 52 career win shares
    
24. Joe Mauer, C: 82 career win shares
    
25. Rafael Soriano, RHP: 24 career win shares
    
26. Jeff Heaverlo, RHP: Ruined by injuries
    
27. Corwin Malone, LHP: Ruined by injuries and control problems
    
28. Brandon Phillips, SS: 37 career win shares
    
29. Miguel Cabrera, SS: 127 career win shares
    
30. Chin-Feng Chen, OF: Triple-A slugger
    
31. Dewon Brazelton, RHP: 2 win shares, lack of breaking ball major problem
    
32. Drew Henson, 3B: Tools Bust
    
33. Kenny Baugh, RHP: Ruined by injuries
    
34. Justin Morneau, 1B: 65 career win shares
    
35. John Buck, C: 31 career win shares
    
36. Chris Burke, SS: 21 career win shares
    
37. Jimmy Journell, RHP: Ruined by injuries
    
38. Xavier Nady, 1B: 40 career win shares
    
39. Adam Wainwright, RHP: 24 career win shares
    
40. Chris Snelling, OF: 3 win shares; injuries a huge factor
    
41. Morgan Ensberg, 3B: 74 career win shares
    
42. Carlos Hernandez, LHP: decent year in 2002, then injuries
    
43. Brad Thomas, LHP: Control problems and injuries
    
44. Aaron Heilman, RHP: 26 career win shares
    
45. Jose Reyes, SS: 87 career win shares
    
46. Marlon Byrd, OF: 44 career win shares
    
47. Seung Song, RHP: Did OK in Triple-A but stuff declined and he never got a chance in the majors
    
48. John-Ford Griffin, OF: Triple-A slugger
    
49. Kurt Ainsworth, RHP: Pitched well in the majors in '02 and '03, then blew out his arm
    
50. Abraham Nunez, OF: Age-Gate

As you can see, we're at the point now where the youngest players on this list are still building their careers and we have to see how things add up further down the road. The biggest failures are obvious, though.

Injury casualties remain an issue with the pitchers. Tankersley was a huge disappointment, due to command problems but there were also problems with his work ethic and personality according to many observers. Berroa was an Age-Gate guy who was never as good as he appeared when this list was made, being two years older than we knew at the time. He did win ROY but never built on it and his weaknesses eventually caught up with him.

One thing that always bugged me was ranking Juan Cruz one notch ahead of Mark Prior. I did that because Prior hadn't pitched professionally yet while Cruz had already shown he could do well in the majors. It's looked stupid for a few years, but it's entirely possible that Cruz may end up having the longer career, if not as impressive at the peak of course.