Monday, November 17, 2008

Top 25 Under 29

Via The Baseball Analysts/Rich Lederer, here are Bill James' Top 25 players under the age of 29 (The rankings are based on "proven major league talents, not prospects or young players who are not yet proven as major league players.")

  1. Prince Fielder, Milwaukee Brewers first baseman, age 24  
  2. Hanley Ramirez, Florida Marlins shortstop, age 24 
  3. Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants pitcher, age 24 
  4. David Wright, New York Mets third baseman, age 25 
  5. Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers left fielder, age 24 
  6. Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox second baseman, age 24 
  7. Matt Kemp, Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder, age 23 
  8. Francisco Rodriguez, Los Angeles Angels pitcher, age 26 
  9. Jose Reyes, New York Mets shortstop, age 25
  10. Nick Markakis, Baltimore Orioles right fielder, age 24
  11. Joakim Soria, Kansas City Royals pitcher, age 24
  12. Ryan Zimmerman, Washington Nationals third baseman, age 23
  13. Cole Hamels, Philadelphia Phillies pitcher, age 24
  14. Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies shortstop, age 23
  15. Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners pitcher, age 22
  16. Jon Lester, Boston Red Sox pitcher, age 24
  17. Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays third baseman, age 22
  18. John Danks, Chicago White Sox pitcher, age 23
  19. Adrian Gonzalez, San Diego Padres first baseman, age 26
  20. James Loney, Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman, age 24
  21. Stephen Drew, Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop, age 25
  22. Brian McCann, Atlanta Braves catcher, age 24
  23. Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers first baseman, age 25
  24. Grady Sizemore, Cleveland Indians center fielder, age 25
  25. Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds first baseman, age 24
Bill James is the Godfather of the Stats and I don't have a copy of the book to dig in further, but some of these surprised me. Grady at #24? Longoria at #17?!? And Joakim Soria way up at #11, ahead of Hamels, Felix, Lester?

4 comments:

tHeMARksMiTh said...

I was thinking the exact same thing. Why is Loney ahead of McCann? Adrian Gonzalez at 19? I'm completely baffled by this entire thing. Maybe he has some reasons for it, but I'm baffled. Just baffled.

Mike @ weretheteamtobeat.com said...

Is anyone else a little surprised by Prince Fielder way up top? I would have guessed any other the other guys in the top 5 in Ramirez, Lincecum, Wright or Braun.

dinologic (Dean D) said...

Someone needs to print this list and paste it to Robbie Cano's locker. He could be on this list.

Jason @ IIATMS said...

If anyone gets the book, let me know the process behind the ranking. I don't see how Cano could be off that list, either.