He came out of nowhere last year.

would probably agree on Daniel Murphy, though he still has a lot to prove. A lot of people were down on Pelfrey too before he broke out, and Maine was acquired from BAL after his prospect status had fallen by the wayside. His breakout was a nice surprise back in 2006 as well. And of course we all know the story of Jose Reyes going from a .300 OBP in 2005 to a .350 in 2006 and never looking back.

Hanley Ramirez, for being mediocre in the minors, to being rushed to the majors, and raking immediately. Didn’t see that one coming.

Also Denard Span, Thought he was a 5th OF type, ended up being a viable starter.

I was much of the same opinion as John, where I thought his finesse style wouldn’t hold up in the majors. After seeing him in Montgomery in 2006, I came away very underwhelmed. However, it seems he’s done quite well for himself, even with that upper-80s fastball.

I was always surprised that Lowe became such a durable starter after years in the bullpen.

I thought Dan Haren would be a stud, the way he pitched in the playoffs in ’04, but he never really made any prospect lists and the talk of the Mulder deal was Daric Barton.

I remember when the Padres drafted him in the 9th round in 2006. He simply destroyed SS-A ball that summer and really hasn’t looked back. Despite skipping AA and struggling for the first couple months in AAA, he rebounded to hit 307/.361/.550 for Memphis last year. His career minor league line is .307/.385/.527…

I talked to someone who worked for the Lake Elsinore Storm while he played there who said he was better defensively than Chase Headley…

I fear he’ll get stuck/miscast as a 4-A guy, but I think if given a shot, he’ll produce.

he more or less came out of nowhere. Not sure he was on a lot of people’s radar screens.

It was just one year so far but no one really saw that coming.

The guy who was out of baseball for four years, his highest level being AA, to comeback in his second full season to hit 32 home runs and 120 rbi. Josh Hamilton.

Nothing in his minor league career (or first stint with the Mariners) suggested he would be this good for this length of time.

If what he did, did not surprise you then nothing has

37 home runs in 401 at-bats, batting .314 and collecting 104 walks compared to only 67 strikeouts before being called up. Then in 21 ABs in the majors: .286 1HR, 3BB, 2K.
His prior minor league performance didn’t suggest this. Is this guy for real? Or just an out-of-nowhere streak that’s way above his actual ability (is that even possible)?

I thought he would end up being just another big arm that never put it all together at the major league level.

took him a while to get a legit shot

Wow (even though his numbers are inflated by his home park and people usually don’t pay enough attention to his defense)

Even though he was young his first few seasons, I saw his inability to draw a walk as a HUGE problem and figured he would always be a high-average, meh-power guy with no plate discipline. Then, somehow, he doubled his walk totals from ‘05 to ’06 (after walking FIVE TIMES in 220 ABs in 2004) without his K rate going up. He’s averaged 65 walks over the past three seasons, and is now one of the best all-around shortstops in baseball. I never would’ve guessed he’d be so good offensively (so soon, anyway) after his 2003-05 seasons.

How much hype did Granderson get when coming up through the Detroit system? Was he ever ranked that highly?

No one predicted any kind of major league production out of these two guys when they were prospects. I don’t think they were on any kind of prospect list and they turned out to be above average producers. Granted, Cano had a down year last year, but that shouldn’t take away from his first several years. And Wang won 19 games two years in a row before getting hurt last season.

Joakim Soria is a good one Rule 5 Pick - is now a top 5 closer in baseball
I say Gabby Sanchez of Florida will surprise us all a little bit this year.
Denard Span didn’t surprise me tooo much last year, But I’m a diehard Twins fan so I know more than most about him.

Journeyman minor leaguer for most of his career until Beane picks him up, and now he’s an Adam Dunn type player? That’s pretty awesome.

Hardy was never known for the bat coming up but he was very young. Now he’s a top 5 shortstop in baseball. I don’t think anyone expected that. I wonder if it was better or worse for him to have freak injuries for a few years early on?

McLouth too. Maybe I missed some signs but in the low minors there did not look like a path to this years output.

has a rather non-descript minor-league career, then ends up popping 15 HRs and playing solid D in his rookie year with the Rangers.

Brad Ziegler also had a nice year.

I thought of a different Jesse for the Jays- Jesse Litsch. He even surprised the GM.