We break down the top five prospects for each organization for 2010, taking into consideration: games, at-bats, innings and major-league service time. We expect these players to have rookie status remaining heading into next year.
According to MLB rules: "A player shall be considered a rookie unless, during a previous season or seasons, he has (a) exceeded 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the major leagues; or (b) accumulated more than 45 days on the active roster of a major league club or clubs during the period of 25-player limit (excluding time in the military service and time on the disabled list)."
Note: Statistics are those at each stop in the minors this season and age represents how old they will be on opening day 2010.
Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies have been the class of the NL the past two seasons and the farm system has had plenty to do with it. Not necessarily because they go to the well with rookies -- although J.A. Happ was pretty darn good -- but mostly due to the midseason acquisitions like Cliff Lee and Joe Blanton. There is plenty more talent to pick from, including a trio of elite prospects that could either arrive this season or net them another horse for a potential NL three-peat.
1. Kyle Drabek, SP, 22
Drabek, the son of the former Pirates ace, enjoyed a breakthrough in his comeback from Tommy John elbow surgery. He went 12-3 with a 3.19 ERA, .239 batting-average against and 150 strikeouts to 50 walks in 158 innings between high Class A and Double-A last season. Drabek will need time in the high minors, especially since the Phillies' rotation is plenty deep, but he could be an instant success as a starter on a top contender by midseason. Consider stashing him in any format until it becomes official he will open the year in the minors.
2. Michael Taylor, OF, 24
Taylor has put together two strong seasons back-to-back, hitting .320 with 20 homers, 84 RBI, 74 runs, 21 steals, a .395 on-base percentage and a .549 slugging percentage in a combined 428 at-bats between Double- and Triple-A. It puts him on the verge of helping the Phillies in 2010, but the question is how? An outfield of Jayson Werth, Raul Ibanez and Shane Victorino is already stacked. Taylor could be trade bait or a fourth outfielder initially, which would make him a nice buy late in deeper NL-only leagues on Draft Day. He could be a Fantasy star by the age of 27, though.
3. Domonic Brown, OF, 22
Baseball America and MiLB.com both like Brown as the Phillies' No. 1 prospect, but to us his numbers are not quite as impressive as Taylor's and he won't be as instant of a hit as Drabek could be in 2010. Brown does have age in his favor, though. He went a combined .299-14-64-65-23 (.377-.504) in 395 at-bats from low Class A to Double-A, which belie those Darryl Strawberry comparisons for years among scouts (mostly because of his tall, lanky frame). Brown is a serious prospect with plenty of room to grow, so consider him a must-stashee in all long-term keeper leagues. He would need a real big spring and first half to be more than a September call-up this season, though.
4. Travis D'Arnaud, C, 21
The Phillies were able to deal a major league ready catcher prospect in Lou Marson before the trade deadline because they have D'Arnaud working his way up from the lower levels. D'Arnaud went .255-13-71-71-8 (.319-.419) in low Class A and figures to be a long-term solution at the backstop position for the Phillies as soon as mid-2011. Consider stashing him in keeper leagues this season, but we don't expect to see him in the majors before September at best.
5. Joe Savery, SP, 24
There is an odd distaste for Savery in scouting circles, like so many former Rice Owl pitchers before him. We are not inclined to give up on the 6-foot-3, 215-pound left-hander, though. He went a combined 16-6 with a 4.40 ERA and a .268 BAA in 151 1/3 innings between Double- and Triple-A. Sure, he doesn't strike out many batters (96) and he walks a few too many (77), but name a left-handed pitching prospect that doesn't have those strikes against him. Savery can be a back-end of the rotation winner and is still a prospect worth stashing in deeper long-term keeper leagues.
Best of the rest: Trevor May, SP; Antonio Bastardo, SP; Andrew J. Carpenter, RP; Anthony Gose, OF; Sebastian Valle, C; Anthony Hewitt, 3B; Jarred Cosart, SP; Jonathan Singleton, 1B; Jonathan Villar, SS; Domingo Santana, OF; Freddy Galvis, SS; Drew Naylor, SP; Leandro Castro, OF; Zach Collier, OF; B.J. Rosenberg, RP; Kelly Dugan, OF; Kyrell Hudson, OF; Adam Buschini, 2B; Matt Way, SP; Vance Worley, SP; Edgar Garcia, SP; Travis Mattair, 3B; Mike Stutes, SP; Julian Sampson, SP; Sergio Escalona, RP; Pat Overholt, SP; Mike Cisco, SP; and Quintin Berry, OF.
2009 rookies to exhaust eligibility: Happ, SP; and John Mayberry, OF.
Last year's top five here: Carlos Carrasco (traded to Cleveland for Cliff Lee), SP; Savery, SP; Happ, SP; Taylor, OF; and Drabek, SP.
You can e-mail Emack your prospect questions to DMFantasyBaseball@cbs.com. Be sure to put Prospects in the subject field. Please include your full name, hometown and state. Be aware, due to the large volume of submissions received, we cannot guarantee personal responses to all questions.
