While most of the world is focused on Michael Phelps as he attempts to win eight gold medals, I am more interested in seeing how well the US Olympic baseball team will fare in Beijing. Can manager Davey Johnson and a diverse collection of career minor leaguers and top prospects shock the world to take home the Gold?

Well, things did not get off to a great start today. Team USA lost its opening game earlier this morning, falling 8-7 to Korea in a wild game that went back and forth. This was not a good start, as the field of eight will be cut to four after every team plays each other for the first time.

Cuba is the favorite and the opening loss hurts, but Team USA has several young, talented players—Dexter Fowler, Matt LaPorta, Steve Strasburg and Casey Weathers, most notably—and could prove to be a nice surprise.

Fowler is one of the top prospects in the Colorado Rockies’ system, and was enjoying a fine season when he left for China.

LaPorta, who was the highest-profile prospect included in the CC Sabathia deal, has 40-homer potential.

Strasburg, the only amateur on the roster, will take the hill in game two against the Netherlands. The San Diego State phenom is perhaps the favorite to be selected with the number one overall pick in 2009.

Weathers is a potential All-Star closer for Colorado. A first-round pick out of Vanderbilt in the 2007 First-Year Draft—along with college teammate David Price—he has an explosive fastball, which allows hit to dominate when his command is on.

It truly is a shame that this may be the last year for the baseball and softball in the Olympics—though the MLB is trying to prevent that from happening. So, hopefully this group can come out on top.

Here a few more profiles of the aforementioned players and other top prospects on the US team to keep an eye on. These profiles come from an article that I wrote when the US roster was announced back in July.

Brett Anderson: LHP, Oakland Athletics—

Anderson, 20, came over to the Oakland Athletics in the deal that sent Dan Haren to the Arizona Diamondbacks this offseason. The southpaw, one of two Oakland prospects headed to Beijing, threw a scoreless inning in the Futures Game at Yankee Stadium. He has been effective since joining the deep Oakland farm system, going 9-4 with a 4.14 ERA, 80-to-18 K/W ratio and opponents’ batting average of .238 in 13 starts in the California League before getting promoted to Double-A. He is now pitching for Midland in the Texas League, where he is 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA in four starts.

Anderson, selected by the Diamondbacks in the second round of the 2006 First-Year Draft, has shown strong command over a fastball that sits in the low-90s, in addition to a slow curve ball, his strongest offering, and a changeup. He is the son of Oklahoma State head coach Frank Anderson, who has an excellent track record of developing college pitchers.

Click here for a full scouting report on Anderson, courtesy of Melissa Lockard, who ranked him the third-best prospect in the Athletics’ farm system in her pre-season rankings.

Dexter Fowler: OF, Colorado Rockies—

Fowler broke his wrist last year, ending his campaign 65 games into his season in the California League. The speedy outfielder, who has plenty of tools but needs needs to cut down on his strikeouts, has made a full recovery and is enjoying a fine campaign in the Texas League. He is batting .331/.427/.505, for a .933 OPS for the Rockies’ Double-A affiliate, the Tulsa Drillers. The 22-year-old Atlanta native has even flashed some surprising power—he had combined to hit only 14 homers from ’05 through ’07—by hitting nine balls into the seats. He currently ranks second on the circuit in walks, third in on-base percentage, fifth in batting average, sixth in OPS and ninth in stolen bases.

Fowler, who was elected as Mid-Season All-Star by Baseball America, is a potential star who will benefit from playing in Coors Field when he reaches the show. Like many of his teammates on the US roster, he played in the Futures Game at Yankee Stadium.

Matt Laporta: INF, Cleveland Indians—

LaPorta will forever be linked to CC Sabathia. The former University of Florida star was the key prospect involved in the deal that sent Sabathia to the Milwaukee Brewers for three months, the blockbuster deal of the ’08 trade deadline season. LaPorta has the offensive skill set, though, to reach a point where that tidbit becomes just a site note on his player profile page on the Indians’ website.

The seventh overall pick of the 2007 draft after a standout career for the Gators, some scouts compare him to a right-hander version of Travis Hafner. At the time of the deal, he was among Double-A leaders with a .978 OPS, batting .288/.402/.576 with 20 home runs and 66 RBIs in the Southern League. Moving to Cleveland, he may have the opportunity to switch back to the infield, where is expected to play with Team USA. He has the skills to turn into a plus defensive first baseman. The 24-year-old also has strong enough arm strength—he was once clocked at 88 MPH in the Cape Cod League All-Star game a few summers ago—to remain in the outfield, but will hit enough to remain at first base.

In his first 10 games with the Indians’ Double-A affiliate in Akron, he is batting .237/.250/.342/ in a small sample size. Some scouts project him to hit for 30-plus homers in the majors. Although the Brewers were criticized for selecting him, as a college senior, so early back in the ’07 draft, he has truly emerged into a legitimate hitting prospect. Look for him to make his debut in Cleveland when rosters expand in September.

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Stephen Strasburg: RHP, San Diego State—

Strasburg was the only amateur player selected to the US team. He is coming off a dominant season in which he captivated the nation with a 23-strikeout performance against Utah on April 11. The sophomore right-hander was dominant on the mound all spring for the Aztecs, going 8-3 with a 1.57 ERA, 133-to-16 K/W ratio and opponents’ batting average of .181 in 13 starts. The local San Diego product, who turned 20 this week, is a lock to go in the first round in 2009, thanks to a devastating four-seam fastball that has hit 100 MPH on the radar gun.

Taylor Teagarden: C, Texas Rangers—

Teagarden is an excellent defensive catcher with plus arm strength, which will allow him to stick in the majors even if he does not turn into even a league-average hitter. He was drafted out of the University of Texas in 2005, falling to the third round. He then missed a large chunk ’06 season following Tommy John surgery, which hindered his development offensively. He had solid bounce back year in ’07, finishing the season with a line of .294/.357.529 in 115 plate appearances at Double-A. He was tearing up the California League before his promotion, making the jump after posting a 1.054 OPS with 20 homers in 81 games.

In 2008, Teagarden has spent most of the year at Triple-A Oklahoma, where he has struggled at the plate. He is batting only .235/.349/.404 with six homers. While he needs to cut down on his strikeouts—241 strikeouts in 214 career minor league games—the local product is still one of the premier defensive catchers in the minors. In what he referred to as a “whirlwind of a week,” he went from the Futures Game at Yankee Stadium to playing in the Metrodome, where he made his major league debut. In his brief stint with Texas—which also has rookie catcher Max Ramirez—he went 1-for-6, breaking up Minnesota starter Scott Baker's bid for a no-hitter with his first career home run, before getting shipped back down to Triple-A on Monday. The demotion allowed him to be included on the USA roster.

Casey Weathers: RHP, Colorado Rockies—

Weathers is perhaps the highest-profile prospect making the trip to Beijing. The Rockies selected him with the eighth pick of last June's draft out of Vanderbilt University, which produced two first-round pitchers, including number one overall pick David Price. As a senior and a relief prospect, many predicted him to make a fast track to the majors, but he is still pitching in Double-A Tulsa. In 39 appearances with the Drillers, the 23-year-old converted outfielder is 2-1 with a 2.82 ERA and 45-to-24 K/W ratio.