Baseball By Paul

Only 4 days until live game action…

• 30: Desmond Jennings
• 29: Carlos Santana
• 28: Hanley Ramirez
• 27: Yonder Alonso
• 26: Pablo Sandoval
• 25: Kyle Seager
• 24: Jose Bautista
• 23: Todd Frazier
• 22: Adrian Beltre
• 21: Jason Heyward
• 20: Anthony Rizzo
• 19: Adam Jones
• 18: Allen Craig
• 17: Alex Gordon
• 16: Mike Napoli
• 15: Ryan Doumit
• 14: Jeff Keppinger
• 13: Victor Martinez
• 12: Chris Carter
• 11: Denard Span
• 10: Norichika Aoki
• 9: Drew Stubbs Stance
• 8: SP Contracts
• 7: Angels Lineup
• 6: MLB Soccer Jerseys
• 5: Aroldis in the Rotation

Minor League Guy

In the age of the internet where seemingly any information can be found, the Cardinals broadcast scrambled to identify a farmhand during a Grapefruit League game against the Mets. Instead of scrapping the opportunity for a graphic, the team in the truck went with their gut and the result was awkwardly hilarious:

Of course, many of us baseball diehards knew ol’ Minor League Guy to be Oscar Taveras, the team’s second-best prospect according to Baseball Prospectus. Flash forward about a year and the broadcast team shouldn’t have any trouble identifying Taveras in a Grapefruit League game. First of all, he should be in the game well before the ninth inning, but more importantly he is now baseball’s second-best prospect or at least no worse than third-best.

He was even labeled properly in this picture with teammate Jon Jay in an article discussing his excellence.

Like last year, there is a triumvirate of guys – once again two hitters and a pitcher – and the order will vary from outlet to outlet and person to person. Last year it was Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, and Matt Moore; this year it’s Taveras, Jurickson Profar, and Dylan Bundy.

MLB.com

ESPN’s Keith Law

John Sickels (split lists hitters; pitchers)

And that is just from the early lists. Baseball Prospectus and Baseball America will have their top 100s out soon and I’d be surprised if they disagreed on the trio.

Though it was probably a bummer to get labeled as simply “Minor League Guy” on television, it looks like Taveras will have the last laugh as he now stands atop, or at least nears the top of baseball’s prospect heap. Imagine if he pans out on the Vladimir Guerrero comp that some have thrown on him, maybe he’ll end up being labeled as “Hall of Fame Guy” on a broadcast 20 years down the line.