Scouting Book: The Best Baseball Prospects for 2008 (Sleepers Too!)

Baseball Prospect Rankings for 2008

Scouting Book's Top Prospects list is different than other prospect lists: we're not in a bubble, and we never sit still. We show you not just our own rankings, but also rankings from some of the other major ranking lists for each player. You can now sort, for example, by Baseball America's rankings, or view the top prospects as chosen by the wizards at Baseball Prospectus, or compare our rankings to those from Sports Illustrated. Also, unlike most lists, we don't publish a book! Our lists are updated often during the offseason, and updated daily during the pre-season to show the latest situations and adjusted for spring results. This means we're always a work in progress. We also think this means our lists are much more useful for fantasy draft purposes. If you notice a mistake or have a suggestion feel free to let us know by mailing mistakes (at) our domain name. For more on our methods, see this blog entry.

Baseball's Top Prospects for Spring 2008

151. Anthony Swarzak

RHP, MIN

A powerful righthander with an excellent fastball-curve combination, Swarzak's path to the big leagues took a detour while he sat out a 50 game suspension for violating baseball's drug policy with an unnamed recreational substance. Swarzak's 3:1 impressive K:BB ratio has held up over the past three seasons. He's likely to be tested in the Minnesota rotation late in the season.

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152. Justin Smoak

1B, TEX

An odd pick for Texas in the 2008 draft, considering how many 1B options the Rangers already had, but talent comes before need when you're drafting, and Smoak certainly has the talent. With a smooth, easy swing and decent power, this switch-hitting first baseman might just be the long-term answer to the Mark Teixeira shaped hole in the Texas lineup. Look for him to arrive in 2011 or so, and arrive with a big thumping noise when he does.

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153. John Lannan

LHP, WAS

He's not the same kind of super-prospect as teammate Ross Detwiler (heck, he's not even Josh Smoker or Jordan Zimmerman) but Lannan will probably be making a difference sooner, thanks to his advanced age compared to those other arms. Lannan is a control pitcher, who relies on location to make his high-80's fastballs work. He's added some strength and could be a workhorse for the Nationals, who will give him every chance to win a starting job and hold it, at least until the hotter arms are ready.

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154. Neftali Feliz

RHP, TEX

An eighteen year old Dominican whose fastball has been clocked at 98mph, Feliz was a sleeper deep in the Atlanta system, scooped by Texas as part of the prospect package that sent Mark Teixeira to the Braves.

He's still a year or more away from really contributing, but if the Texas coaches can add a change or a curve to his fastball-slider talent, he could be something special enough that we'll have a King Feliz to accompany that other guy.

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SB #154 | BA #93 | BP #30 | ML unranked | SN unranked | ES unranked

155. Michael Saunders

OF, SEA

A tall, sturdy Canadian, Saunders was a five-sport athlete in childhood and is a legitimate five-tool talent in the Seattle outfield. A natural center fielder with 20 home run potential and plus speed, he even touched 92mph as a sometime pitcher in high school. He'll be pushed fast, like all Seattle prospects seem to be, but unlike some that have fallen by the wayside, Saunders can probably handle the pressure and workload. He'll be fighting for an outfield spot in 2009's preseason, and could win the job outright by 2010.

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156. Nolan Reimold

OF, BAL

Another power-hitting fielder from the factory that produced Nick 'Ak-ak' Markkakis, Beimold projects to be a similar major-leaguer in the next couple of years. While he could use a little more plate discipline, hitting around the .250 mark last year in a full high-A season, he makes good contact to all fields when he does connect (19 HRs and 75 RBIs.)

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SB #156 | BA #91 | BP unranked | ML unranked | SN unranked | ES #39

157. Yu Darvish

RHP, FA

He's six foot five with a 94mph fastball and he's... Japanese? Well, half-Japanese, at least. Darvish, the Japanese/Iranian wunderkind who's half baseball star and half sex symbol, is Japan's best young pitcher. Playing for the Nippon Ham Fighters, Darvish posted a 1.82 ERA over 26 starts while striking out 210. Again, that's 210 strikeouts in only twenty-six starts.

MLB players who've faced him or played beside him call him one of the best pitchers they've ever seen. His current manager calls him "the best pitcher in the history of Japanese baseball." And ex-manager Trey Hillman has said that if it was possible, Darvish would be worth "the rosters of a couple of major league teams" in a fair-value trade. (Then again, Hillman also said that Darvish's rock star cool was like "Fonzie and Elvis, both at the same time.")

He's only 21, which means he has a lot of time to build his legend in Japan before even considering international free agency, but considering his age and skill level, and the way he'd justify a posting fee at least as high as Daisuke Matsuzaka's, it's more than possible that the Carp will consider how much they could improve their team with, oh, an extra $80 million dollars or so.

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158. Emilio Bonifacio

2B, ARZ

A defensive-minded middle infielder with plus speed, Bonifacio effectively takes the place of Alberto Callaspo in the Diamondback's future. He is growing into a solid contact hitter, and his increasing walk rate also bodes well for a future in the leadoff position, while the move of Justin Upton to the outfield clears the road for him to take over for Orlando Hudson soon. While he possesses great speed, Bonifacio's basestealing smarts are not quite as developed as his legs yet (as seen by his 25 percent caught-stealing rate) but he's coming along. He's someone who might have some value in late 2008, or sooner if Hudson is moved.

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159. Nick Evans

1B, NYM

The Mets 5th round selection in the 2004 amateur draft, Evans always put up solid numbers, but really broke open in the summer of 2007. Firmly taking hold of his future as middle of the order power bat, Evans hit .286/.374/.476 in 378 ABs for St. Lucie.

His blossoming as a power threat has scouts not only relisting him over the Mets other 1B prospect, Mike Carp... they're looking at a 30-homer, 100RBI future in the middle of the Mets lineup.

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160. Adrian Cardenas

2B, PHI

Baseball America's High School Player of the Year for 2006 is still a bit raw, but his development has been strong. As a 19 year old in A ball, Cardenas hit .295 with nine homers in 127 games, posting an OPS of .770. He stole 20 bases but was caught too often (7 times).

Adrian is a good contact hitter with decent discipline. He's shown line-drive power to all fields, which many scouts expect to grow in the future. Defensively he's capable: he has been moved down the spectrum from SS to 2B, but most expect him to stick there for the forseeable future.