Top OF: Best Outfield Prospects for 2012
Baseball's Biggest, Strongest, Fastest
Chicago's Brett Jackson is well poised to be a poster boy for the next generation of outfielders.
Outfielders don't get enough love. They're responsible for the biggest parts of the field and need to make the longest and most difficult throws, all while dealing with blinding sun and unruly fans as they try to calculate the flight a ball that's only the size of a pin-head when it starts zooming toward them from three hundred feet away. And so how do we judge the best outfielders? By their bats, of course.
Assuming any outfielder can master enough of the defensive game to play major league baseball is a pretty big assumption, but it's one that has to be made when evaluating prospect fielders. The best outfield prospects will invariably be the best offensive weapons, able to complement batting skills with enough power or speed to carry a lineup. The very best outfielders, of course, combine all three.
Here's a look at some of those best, all pushing up at the floor of MLB right now, including a top two who seem destined for superstardom in the very near future.
The usual disclaimer: Scouting Book's Prospect Rankings change very often, to reflect the latest and most promising prospects and situations. These listings recalculate every day as we include new input, correct errors (thanks for letting us know, helpful readers) and MLB situations evolve. For more information on our system, read this blog posting.
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