I know Roger Clemens is back, and some of the older players are doing very well. But in a few years, The Big Unit will be gone, so will Barry Bonds, and Ken Griffey Jr.
Who will carry on? I'll give you just a few names that will be great for a long time:
Joe Mauer, Twins: He's the best hitting young catcher in the show. He's 23 years old and leading the A.L. in hitting right now, hitting .368 in 66 games played. Mauer may never be a great power threat, but he's already one of the toughest outs in the bigs. He has an OBP of .438, has only struck out 27 times in 247 at bats with 33 walks. That's awesome
Matt Holliday, Rockies: How about this 6-4, 26-year-old hammer? He's second in the NL in hitting at .353, has smacked 15 homers and driven in 54 runs. His batting average on the road is at .326 and he's got one less home run on the road than at Coors Field. So don't say it's just because of the thin air....
Ryan Howard, Phillies: The 2005 NL rookie of the year from 2005 is not having a sophomore slump, he's killing the ball. He's getting better and better every day. Hitting .291 with 25 jacks and 66 RBIs, when he gets a little more patient up there his .OBP and batting avg. will go way up. This kid is a Monster.
Alex Rios, Blue Jays: All this 25 year old has done so far is hit .323 with 15 homers and 51 RBI. He's on a pace to triple his output from 2005. The knock on him was potential. Not anymore, he's arrived.
Others to watch: Oakland's 25-year-old left fielder, Nick Swisher, looks everything like Jason Giambi when he was an Athletic: Great eye, great power, and one hell of a clutch bat. He's hitting .286 with 19 long balls and 49 RBIs, with an OBP of .402. Swisher is like Adam Dunn of the Reds, who has 63 strikeouts and 50 walks. When the K's go down, the average and OBP will jump up even farther. I saved the best for last right now: Mets third baseman David Wright. He is a star right now. He's hitting .336 with 18 HRs and 64 RBIs. His OBP is .402 and he's only made eight errors in 70 games. When you talk about big plays, his name always comes up. Wright should be the starting third baseman on the NL All-Star team for years to come.
The future is now and that's just a few names. I've got a lot more for you coming soon.
I have to disagree with a lot of what I see here. One has to take into factor the teams that these guys play for. I'm assuming that you mean the IT guys, the Bonds, Griffeys, and McGwires of the next generation. For every surefire David Wright and Ryan Howard, there's an Alex Rios and Matt Holliday who will perform well but will never become the IT guys. Names like Bobby Abreu and pre-injury Garret Anderson come to mind. I think that the players of this generations will be the likes of David Wright, Miguel Cabrera, Carl Crawford, and Jose Reyes...even though they're all already solidly on the scene.
I think you may have forgotten the hottest player in the bigs right now. JOSE REYES! He's hitting for power and average, walking more, stealing bases, playing great defense and being an amazin' catalyst for the Mets. Not to mention he's probably the most exciting player in Major League Baseball.
I agree with you about Howard and Mauer, especially if Mauer maintains that incredible batting average, and if Howard, as you said, works the strike zone better.
Adam Dunn would be great if he made contact on a more consistent basis. I just see him hitting .240 every season with 40 HR and 100 RBI, which is not bad, but it could be much, much better.
Wright, too, will be incredible. I see him as being a super-Scott Rolen: great defense, even better offense. Not to mention he could become the leader of the clubhouse once the seasoned veterans (Martinez, Glavine, Floyd) leave or retire.
I am with you 100% on Howard and Wright, possibly even Mauer.
The others I just see as great fantasy baseball players right now. I am fortunate to have Rios and Swisher on more than one team.
I agree with what the others said, that if you are talking about the TOP guys like Bonds and Griffey, they have to be more than a one or two year standout player.
Zxyu00-Big props on pointing out Carl Crawford. He was the first name that came to mind of all the names I did not see in Rob's post. He is right up there with Howard and Wright as a legitimate long time superstar. I can go with Miguel Cabrera too.
I agree with all of those names but where are the pitchers that will be after Clemons, R Johnson, and Schilling? How about Bonderman of Detroit: 3.65 ERA and projected at 15 wins. He's just one of the many future names. Here are a few stars; J.Santana(MIN), C.Zambrano(CHC), B. Webb(ARZ), and a very young S. Kazmir(TB) these are pitchers who are the current and future of Baseball's young stars
David Wright is amazing, but you shouldn't knock Scott Rolen as quickly as you might have. He had one bad season due to injury, and his homer production isn't yet what it used to be, but it will get there. and you can add a better future batting average than he's had in the past, and triple digit rbi's every year. He's the best defensinve 3rd baseman in the history of the game, and he should be the standard to compare at third (including the all star game) for many years to come. I know he's not playing in N.Y., but he shouldn't have lost his place as the best 3rd baseman in the national league if not the majors, due to one injured season. Don't forget about Rolen. he truely is amazing. watch for his final numbers I bet they'll be: .330+ 100+ rbi's about 100 runs and his homer total will be a sub-par 20-22. Wright is as good right now offensively, but there is no way he is as good defensively, no matter how good. Rolen get's to balls that defy reason and he has a 95 mph arm at third base, he usually commits what errors he makes, trying to make the impossible plays, occasoinally getting shafted by the opposing teams scorer. (i.e. error instead of hit). Wright is very good too, but Rolen also has the track record. and he just turned 31 this year.
How about my Dodger Boys???? I think the boys in blue have a few kids who will be around for awhile making huge contributions to the game like Matt Kemp and company.
Everyone is forgetting Curtis Granderson... he doesn't count as a rookie because he played a couple to many games last year, but this guy is the real deal. On pace to hit .300 with 22 hr's, 90 rbi's, 100 r's, 10 sb's, and have a .380 obp. And the best part... no errors, while still being able to chase down alot of balls in spacious Comerica Park. Then I could go on about how well he hits with runners in scoring position, he is hitting .400, yes I said it .400 with RISP. His only downside is that he strikes out to much, but I think that number is misleading. He takes alot of pitches trying to draw walks, and sometimes that puts him in a bad hitters count. This guy is the next big thing people, just wait and see.
Last edited by brsebald419 on June 27th at 1:25 PM.
GREAT names mentioned above. Of course I'm biased, but the resurgency of the Detroit Tigers is due to the mix of proven veterans with young talent (Leyland doesn't hurt, either). Bonderman, Zumaya, Rodney, Verlander, Granderson, Shelton - my gosh, these young guys are fun to watch (along with Mags, Pudge, Inge and Rogers). Finally, it's fun to be a Tiger fan again.
Alex Rios is definetly something else. You mentioned some good ones, I've got a few more to add. John Papelbon, Francisco Liriano, Jose Lopez, and don't sleep on Omar Infante in the future. Also, Sean Marshall, maybe a Cub with a future.
Another player i think deserves to be on this list is Carl Crawford of Tampa Bay. I know he doesn't exactly play for one of the more prolific teams in baseball, but, this kid can flat out hit and run. whenever he gets on base he completely change the tempo of the game.
How about Liriano of the Twins, or Kazmir from the Devil Dogs ? I noticed a lot of hitters in your entry, but not a lot of pitchers. For young hitters, gotta agree on Dunn and Wright. Big fan of Utley, Weeks, Fielder, and Wily Mo Pena- think they will all continue to crush long into their respected careers.
P.S. - how could I forget, Papelbon, Lester, and the Yankees number one pitching prospect, Philip Hughes. I like the kid in Seattle too, the young pitcher, Felix Hernandez...
Lets not overlook some of the arm's in Detroit. Verlander, Zumaya, Bonderman, Maroth, These guys could dominate for a while. Cole this be neh next Maddox, Smoltz, and Glavine???
u can't forget the guys in boston with jonathan Papelbon and Jonathan Lester who is 3-0 and had a ten strike out game and papelbon has only blown 1 save
Since there aren't too many comments, maybe you'll get to read this one. How on earth can you leave Lance Berkman off of your list? Not too young, not too old, and a funny, classy guy. Lance Berkman could easily be the face of baseball.
Well if the American League team is soooo strong that's because the American League fans put them there. Why can't the National League fans do the same? Are only the National League managers capable and not the fans?????? That's pretty sad.
Rob Dibble was named a full-time co-host of BEST DAMN SPORTS SHOW PERIOD in April 2005. The outspoken, all-star reliever is a perfect fit for the most irreverent sports show on television.
Dibble, who is best known as one of the Reds' hard throwing "Nasty Boys," along with Norm Charlton and Randy Myers, won a World Series with the Reds in 1990.
