Draft Preview: Top 100 rookies

By Eric Mack
Senior Fantasy Writer

Check your local newsstands for the second annual CBS SportsLine.com Fantasy Baseball 2005 Owners Manual and Draft Guide. We provide draft strategies, position rankings, cheat sheets and over 850 Fantasy player profiles in this blockbuster issue.

Success is the culmination of talent, preparation and opportunity. That is also how a top prospect becomes rookie of the year, and more important, a great Fantasy Baseball sleeper.

While a top prospect is a talented player who is not necessarily major-league ready, the CBS SportsLine.com Top 100 rookies below are ranked according to their projected contribution to Fantasy teams in 2005.

For instance, the Devil Rays' Delmon Young might be the very best prospect in baseball. He has even been called the next "Albert Belle" by scouts. But he is ranked just 41st on this list because he won't arrive in the major leagues until late in the year, if at all.

All-Prospect Team (long-term keepers)
Pos	Prospect	Franchise
C	Daric Barton	Athletics
1B	Prince Fielder	Brewers
2B	Rickie Weeks	Brewers
3B	Ian Stewart	Rockies
SS	Joel Guzman	Dodgers
OF	Delmon Young	Devil Rays
OF	Lastings Milledge	Mets
OF	Jeff Francoeur	Braves
LHP	Cole Hamels	Phillies
RHP	Felix Hernandez	Mariners
RP	Huston Street	Athletics

This is certainly not a top prospects list. It is merely a list of potential rookie breakthrough candidates. All the players below are eligible for major-league rookie of the year honors, and they are certainly the favorites.

Most of the top 10 will get selected on Draft Day, while most of the top 35 will be usable in leagues at some point early this season. The rest are given as a guide (based on their projected major-league readiness) because they might surge to prominence and start producing Fantasy-usable stats.

Florida Marlins Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera and New York Met David Wright are the reasons this list was compiled the way it was. Each made a second-half splash from seemingly out of nowhere -- High Class A even -- the past two years. This list will help you project where those gem rookie finds might eventually come from, once talent meets preparation meets opportunity.

Rankings updated March 22, 6 p.m. ET; changes are noted as +/-. Age is what they will be on opening day 2005.

CBS SportsLine.com's Top 100 rookies
Rk	Player	Age	Franchise	Pos	'04 high	'05 start
1	Dallas McPherson	24	Angels	3B	Majors	Majors
2	Nick Swisher	24	Athletics	OF	Majors	Majors
3	Jeremy Reed	23	Mariners	OF	Majors	Majors
4	Scott Kazmir	21	Devil Rays	LHP	Majors	Majors
5	Garrett Atkins+	25	Rockies	3B	Majors	Majors
6	J.D. Closser-	25	Rockies	C	Majors	Majors
7	Jason Bartlett	25	Twins	SS	Majors	Majors
8	Chin-Hui Tsao+	23	Rockies	RHP	Majors	Majors
9	Chris Snyder	24	D-Backs	C	Majors	Majors
10	Clint Barmes	26	Rockies	SS	Majors	Majors
11	Russ Adams	24	Blue Jays	SS	Majors	Majors
12	Mark Teahen+	23	Royals	3B	Triple-A	Majors
13	Jeff Francis	24	Rockies	LHP	Majors	Majors
14	Gavin Floyd	22	Phillies	RHP	Majors	Majors
15	Chris Young	25	Rangers	RHP	Majors	Majors
16	Casey Kotchman	22	Angels	1B	Majors	Majors
17	Tadahito Iguchi	30	White Sox	2B	Japan	Majors
18	Gabe Gross+	25	Blue Jays	OF	Majors	Majors
19	Denny Bautista+	23	Royals	RHP	Majors	Majors
20	J.J. Hardy	22	Brewers	SS	Triple-A	Majors
21	Chris Burke-	25	Astros	2B	Majors	Majors
22	Brad Hawpe	25	Rockies	OF	Majors	Majors
23	Koyie Hill	26	D-Backs	C	Majors	Majors
24	Joe Blanton+	24	Athletics	RHP	Majors	Majors
25	Brad Halsey+	24	D-Backs	LHP	Majors	Majors
26	Gustavo Chacin+	24	Blue Jays	LHP	Majors	Majors
27	Ryan Langerhans	25	Braves	OF	Triple-A	Majors
28	Adrian Gonzalez	22	Rangers	1B	Majors	Majors
29	Zach Duke+	21	Pirates	LHP	Double-A	Triple-A
30	Dan Meyer-	23	Athletics	LHP	Majors	Triple-A
31	Dan Johnson-	25	Athletics	1B	Triple-A	Triple-A
32	Felix Hernandez	18	Mariners	RHP	Double-A	Triple-A
33	Jose Capellan	24	Brewers	RHP	Majors	Majors
34	Ryan Howard	25	Phillies	1B	Majors	Majors
35	Huston Street	21	Athletics	RHP	Triple-A	Majors
36	Brandon League	22	Blue Jays	RHP	Majors	Majors
37	Victor Diaz	23	Mets	OF	Majors	Majors
38	Jason DuBois+	26	Cubs	OF	Majors	Majors
39	Ben Hendrickson	24	Brewers	RHP	Majors	Majors
40	Edwin Jackson+	21	Dodgers	RHP	Majors	Triple-A
41	Willy Taveras	23	Astros	OF	Majors	Majors
42	Guillermo Quiroz	23	Blue Jays	C	Majors	Triple-A
43	Joey Gathright-	23	Devil Rays	OF	Majors	Triple-A
44	Juan Dominguez-	24	Rangers	RHP	Majors	Triple-A
45	Kendry Morales-	21	Angels	OF	Cuba	Triple-A
46	Dioner Navarro	21	Dodgers	C	Majors	Triple-A
47	Delmon Young	19	Devil Rays	OF	Low Class A	High Class A
48	Prince Fielder	20	Brewers	1B	Double-A	Triple-A
49	Ian Stewart	19	Rockies	3B	Low Class A	High Class A
50	Lastings Milledge	19	Mets	OF	High Class A	High Class A
51	Jeremy Hermida	21	Marlins	OF	High Class A	Double-A
52	Brendon McCarthy+	21	White Sox	RHP	Double-A	Triple-A
53	Chad Billingsley	20	Dodgers	RHP	Double-A	Double-A
54	Kyle Davies	21	Braves	RHP	Triple-A	Triple-A
55	Michael Restovich-	26	Twins	OF	Majors	Majors
56	Jeff Francoeur-	21	Braves	OF	Double-A	Double-A
57	Rickie Weeks	22	Brewers	2B	Double-A	Triple-A
58	Hanley Ramirez	21	Red Sox	SS	Double-A	Triple-A
59	Joel Guzman	20	Dodgers	SS	Double-A	Double-A
60	Edwin Encarnacion	22	Reds	3B	Double-A	Triple-A
61	Andy Marte	21	Braves	3B	Double-A	Triple-A
62	Ezequiel Astacio+	25	Astros	RHP	Double-A	Triple-A
63	J.D. Durbin	23	Twins	RHP	Majors	Triple-A
64	Jesse Crain	23	Twins	RHP	Majors	Majors
65	Ryan Garko+	24	Indians	C	Triple-A	Triple-A
66	Justin Huber-	22	Royals	C	Triple-A	Triple-A
67	Josh Willingham-	26	Marlins	C	Majors	Triple-A
68	Ryan Church	26	Nationals	OF	Majors	Triple-A
69	Robinson Cano	22	Yankees	2B	Triple-A	Triple-A
70	Angel Guzman	23	Cubs	RHP	Double-A	Double-A
71	Michael Aubrey	22	Indians	1B	Double-A	Double-A
72	Carlos Quentin	22	D-Backs	OF	Double-A	Triple-A
73	Josh Barfield	22	Padres	2B	Double-A	Triple-A
74	Aaron Hill	23	Blue Jays	SS	Double-A	Triple-A
75	Matt Cain+	20	Giants	RHP	Double-A	Double-A
76	Delwyn Young	22	Dodgers	2B	High Class A	Double-A
77	Conor Jackson	22	D-Backs	OF	Double-A	Triple-A
78	Jamie D'Antona	22	D-Backs	3B	Double-A	Double-A
79	Ervin Santana	22	Angels	RHP	Double-A	Double-A
80	Yusmeiro Petit	20	Mets	RHP	Double-A	Double-A
81	Corey Hart	23	Brewers	OF	Majors	Majors
82	Terry Tiffee	25	Twins	3B	Majors	Triple-A
83	Erick Aybar	21	Angels	SS	High Class A	Double-A
84	Cole Hamels	21	Phillies	LHP	High Class A	Double-A
85	Kelly Shoppach	24	Red Sox	C	Triple-A	Triple-A
86	Ryan Speier	25	Rockies	RHP	Double-A	Triple-A
87	Brad Baker	24	Padres	RHP	Triple-A	Triple-A
88	Curtis Granderson	24	Tigers	OF	Majors	Triple-A
89	Larry Broadway	24	Nationals	1B	Double-A	Triple-A
90	Merkin Valdez	23	Giants	RHP	Majors	Triple-A
91	Adam Miller	20	Indians	RHP	High Class A	Double-A
92	Todd Linden	24	Giants	OF	Majors	Triple-A
93	Jason Repko	24	Dodgers	OF	Triple-A	Triple-A
94	Jason Stokes	23	Marlins	1B	Double-A	Triple-A
95	Luke Scott	27	Astros	OF	Double-A	Triple-A
96	Ian Snell	23	Pirates	RHP	Majors	Triple-A
97	Shin-Soo Choo	22	Mariners	OF	Double-A	Triple-A
98	Ryan Raburn	23	Tigers	2B	Majors	Triple-A
99	Justin Germano	22	Padres	RHP	Majors	Triple-A
100	Josh Fields	23	White Sox	3B	High Class A	Double-A
HM	John Maine-	23	Orioles	RHP	Majors	Triple-A
HM	Brendan Harris-	24	Nationals	3B	Majors	Triple-A
HM	Greg Miller	20	Dodgers	LHP	Injured	Double-A
HM	Jason Botts	24	Rangers	1B	Double-A	Triple-A
HM	Mike Hinckley-	22	Nationals	LHP	Double-A	Double-A

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