We break down the top five prospects for each organization for 2008, taking into consideration: games, at-bats, innings and major-league service time. We expect these players to have rookie status remaining heading into next year.
According to MLB rules: "A player shall be considered a rookie unless, during a previous season or seasons, he has (a) exceeded 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the major leagues; or (b) accumulated more than 45 days on the active roster of a major league club or clubs during the period of 25-player limit (excluding time in the military service and time on the disabled list)."
We have already covered the NL Central, AL Central, NL West and AL West and now we take a look at the AL East:
Baltimore Orioles
| Top Orioles prospects | ||||
| Player | Age | Pos. | 2007 minor league stats | |
| 1 | Radhames Liz | 24 | RH SP | Double-A: 11-4, 3.22 ERA, 161 K, 70 BB, .204 BAA |
| Lightning arm has high ceiling, but future was thought to be in 'pen. | ||||
| 2 | Garrett Olson | 24 | LH SP | Triple-A: (9-7)-3.16-120-39-.208 |
| Great numbers didn't translate, but he could get a shot at rotation. | ||||
| 3 | Nolan Reimold | 24 | OF | A-Double-A (combined): .296 AVG, 11 HR, 42 RBI, 34 R, 2 SB (.372 OBP, .546 SLUG) |
| Strong Arizona Fall League showing could put him on the fast track. | ||||
| 4 | Brandon Tripp | 22 | OF | Class A: .288-19-79-72-7 (.377-.531) |
| 12th-round pick in '06 made huge strides and could rise quickly. | ||||
| 5 | Billy Rowell | 19 | 3B | Class A: .273-9-57-47-3 (.335-.426) |
| Disappointing year for him, but he's young and can bounce back. | ||||
| Best of the rest: RP Jim Hoey, OF Jeff Fiorentino, C Matt Wieters, 3B Scott Moore, SP Chorye Spoone, 1B Brandon Snyder, RP Cory Doyne, SP Brandon Erbe, SP Brad Bergesen, SP Pedro Beato, OF Kraig Binick, 3B Tyler Kolodny, OF Val Majewski, P Rommie Lewis, SP Tim Bascom, RP Sendy Rleal, SP Jason Berken, RP Bob McCrory, RP Luis Lebron, OF Luis Montanez, OF Kieron Pope, SP Jim Johnson, SP Zach Britton, C Gustavo Molina. | ||||
| 2007 rookies to lose eligibility: SP Jeremy Guthrie, P Brian Burres. | ||||
Boston Red Sox
| Top Red Sox prospects | ||||
| Player | Age | Pos. | 2007 minor league stats | |
| 1 | Clay Buchholz | 24 | C | AA-Triple-A (combined): (8-5)-2.44-171-35-.193 |
| No-hitter and FA-to-be Curt Schilling give him shot at rotation. | ||||
| 2 | Jacoby Ellsbury | 24 | OF | AA-Triple-A (combined): .323-2-41-82-41-.387 |
| Continually makes Sox happy they didn't re-sign Johnny Damon. | ||||
| 3 | Bubba Bell | 25 | OF | A-Double-A (combined): .337-26-105-118-14 (.420-.584) |
| Late-bloomer has good power and more walks (62) than Ks (56). | ||||
| 4 | Jed Lowrie | 23 | SS | Triple-A: .298-13-70-82-5 (.393-.503) |
| Solid, but we can't see him getting much of a chance in Boston. | ||||
| 5 | Michael Bowden | 21 | RH SP | A-Double-A (combined): (10-6)-3.34-128-41-.259 |
| Drafted just after Clay, but few years younger with work to do. | ||||
| Best of the rest: 1B Lars Anderson, 1B Chris Carter, SP Justin Masterson, SP Nick Hagadone, OF Brandon Moss, C George Kottaras, RP Craig Hansen, OF Ryan Kalish, OF Josh Reddick, 1B Aaron Bates, 2B Jeff Natale, P Daniel Bard, SP Devern Hansack, SS Yamaico Navarro, RP Chris Province, P Dustin Richardson, OF Che-Hsaun Lin, SS Oscar Tejeda, SP Kris Johnson, OF Jason Place, RP Bryson Cox, SP Caleb Clay, C Tyler Weeden, C Jon Egan, 2B Kris Negron, SP David Pauley. | ||||
| 2007 rookies to lose eligibility: SP Daisuke Matsuzaka, 2B Dustin Pedroia, RP Hideki Okajima. | ||||
New York Yankees
| Top Yankees prospects | ||||
| Player | Age | Pos. | 2007 minor league stats | |
| 1 | Joba Chamberlain | 22 | RHP | A-AA-Triple-A (combined): (9-2)-2.45-135-27-.198 |
| Nasty stuff, but if he opens as setup man, it hurts him in Fantasy. | ||||
| 2 | Ian Kennedy | 22 | RH SP | A-AA-Triple-A (combined): (12-3)-1.91-163-50-.182 |
| Chamberlain got all the pub, but he has more promising rotation chance. | ||||
| 3 | Humberto Sanchez | 24 | RHP | DNP injury (Tommy John surgery) |
| Sanchez may be ready by midseason. If healthy, he's dominant. | ||||
| 4 | Shelley Duncan | 28 | 1B | Triple-A: .295-25-79-58-2 (.329-.554) |
| Blossomed in '07, but his age should concern you at this point. | ||||
| 5 | Austin Jackson | 20 | OF | A-AA-Triple-A: .304-13-59-88-33 (.370-.476) |
| Moved from low to high Class A and played game in Triple-A. | ||||
| Best of the rest: SP Alan Horne, 1B Juan Miranda, OF Jose Tabata, SP Chase Wright, SP Tyler Clippard, 3B Eric Duncan, OF Brett Gardner, C Jesus Montero, SP Dellin Betances, C Frank Cervelli, OF Colin Curtis, RP Edwar Ramirez, SP Darrell Rasner, SP Jeff Karstens, RP Ross Ohlendorf, SP Matt DeSalvo, P Kevin Whelan, P Jairo Heredia, SP George Kontos, SP Steven White, SP Daniel McCutchen, SP Jeff Marquez, P Michael Dunn, OF Bronson Sardinha, SS Alberto Gonzalez, OF Abraham Almonte, SP Chris Garcia, RP Mark Melancon, P Angel Reyes, SP Zach McAllister, SP Tim Norton, SP Andrew Brackman. | ||||
| 2007 rookies to lose eligibility: SP Phil Hughes, SP Kei Igawa, RP Sean Henn. | ||||
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
| Top Devil Rays prospects | ||||
| Player | Age | Pos. | 2007 minor league stats | |
| 1 | Evan Longoria | 22 | 3B | AA-Triple-A (combined): .299-26-95-97-4 (.402-.520) |
| Baseball America says elite talent might be opening day 3B, wow! | ||||
| 2 | David Price | 22 | LH SP | DNP drafted No. 1 overall June 2007 |
| Top draftee should be able to arrive quickly and dominant early. | ||||
| 3 | Jacob McGee | 21 | LH SP | A-Double-A (combined): (8-6)-3.15-175-52-.207 |
| Knockout stuff gives him chance to be Fantasy superstar soon. | ||||
| 4 | Wade Davis | 22 | RH SP | A-Double-A (combined): (10-3)-2.50-169-51-.223 |
| He's one of the best of slew of prospects nearly ready to make it. | ||||
| 5 | Reid Brignac | 21 | SS | Double-A: .260-17-81-91-15 (.328-.433) |
| Baseball's top shortstop prospect has door open for him in 2008. | ||||
| Best of the rest: SP Jeff Niemann, SP Will Kline, OF Jason Pridie, OF Sergio Pedroza, SP Chris Mason, SP Mitch Talbot, SP Jeff Houser, SP Wade Townsend, SP Heath Rollins, OF Justin Ruggiano, OF Desmond Jennings, 1B Joel Guzman, OF Ryan Royster, C Mike McCormick, SP Nick Barnese, SP Josh Butler, RP Jeff Ridgway, P Matt Walker, SP Dale Thayer, C John Jaso, OF Fernando Perez, SP Jeremy Hellickson, 2B Elliott Johnson, C Shawn Riggans, SP Jonathan Barratt, 1B Chris Nowak, OF Shaun Cumberland, RP Evan Meek. | ||||
| 2007 rookies to lose eligibility: OF Delmon Young, 3B Akinori Iwamura, SP Andy Sonnanstine, OF Elijah Dukes, SP Jason Hammel, RP Juan Salas, SS Josh Wilson, RP Brian Stokes, RP Jae Kuk Ryu. | ||||
Toronto Blue Jays
| Top Blue Jays prospects | ||||
| Player | Age | Pos. | 2007 minor league stats | |
| 1 | Travis Snider | 19 | OF | Class A: .313-16-93-72-3 (.377-.525) |
| There's immense potential here, but there's going to be a wait for it. | ||||
| 2 | Sergio Santos | 24 | SS | AA-Triple-A (combined): .244-20-62-63-2 (.325-.477) |
| Ex-D-Back showed good pop at SS and might have opening in '08. | ||||
| 3 | Ryan Patterson | 24 | OF | A-Double-A (combined): .263-18-69-54-1 (.302-.441) |
| Decent power, but he will have to make better contact to improve. | ||||
| 4 | John-Ford Griffin | 27 | OF | Triple-A: .252-26-83-69-4 (.330-.488) |
| Late-bloomer is one of few positive developments in poor system. | ||||
| 5 | John Tolisano | 19 | 2B | Class A: .246-10-33-35-7 (.336-.437) |
| Teenager draftee showed well in GCL, especially with pop at 2B. | ||||
| Best of the rest: C Robinzon Diaz, SP Chi-Hung Cheng, SP Joel Carreno, SS Kevin Ahrens, OF Aaron Matthews, SP David Purcey, SP Ricky Romero, SP Josh Banks, OF Yohermyn Chavez, OF Brian Pettway, 1B Chip Cannon, C Brian Jeroloman, 3B Anthony Hatch, SP Brandon Magee, SP Kyle Ginley, SP Graham Godfrey, P Ismael Ramirez, SS Justin Jackson, RP Jamie Vermilyea, RP Tracy Thorpe, RP Jordan De Jong, RP Paul Phillips, SP Chase Lirette, SP Kenny Rodriguez, RP Lee Gronkiewicz, 3B Ryan Roberts, OF Ryan Klosterman, SP Kyle Yates, SS Balbino Fuenmayor. | ||||
| 2007 rookies to lose eligibility: SP Jesse Litsch, OF Adam Lind, C Curtis Thigpen, RP Brian Wolfe. | ||||
You can e-mail Emack your Fantasy Baseball prospect questions to dmfantasybaseball@cbs.com. Be sure to put Attn: AL East prospects in the subject field. Please include your full name, hometown and state. Be aware, due to the large volume of submissions received, we cannot guarantee personal responses or answers to all questions.
