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Keith Law does the rankings here:MLB - Justin Upton leads top 50 list of MLB players under age 25 - ESPN
4 in the top 25 is pretty awesome!
Rank: 4
Name: Buster Posey
Position: C
Age: 24
Analysis: I'm assuming that Posey remains a catcher after the leg injury that prematurely ended his 2011 season and probably killed the Giants' season as well, given that they often couldn't find eight competent hitters to fill out a lineup.
Posey can hit, get on base, catch, and throw, and is good for double-digit homers, which is extremely valuable at a position where some teams are left with the choice between an elastic net and Jeff Mathis. If his leg recovers physically, Posey can catch again and probably stay back there into at least his late 20s, after which he could move to any of a number of positions where his bat would still be valuable.
Rank: 9
Name: Madison Bumgarner
Position: LHP
Age: 22
Analysis: Two years ago, Bumgarner looked like a potential bust, as his velocity disappeared during the second half of 2009 with no apparent explanation, and he didn't get it all back until after the start of the 2010 season. Whatever the reason was -- and we still don't know, although it barely matters at this point -- his velocity is back, as is the plus slider that he didn't even learn until his senior year of high school.
Bumgarner's arm action is a little long, and he comes around at a low slot. However, he gets his hand up to give the slider a little tilt, and combined with a velocity close to that of his fastball, the offering is tough to hit. Throw in plus control -- he only walked six left-handed batters all year -- and he's a hidden ace, unknown only because he pitches behind two other aces in San Francisco's stacked rotation.
Rank: 19
Name: Pablo Sandoval
Position: 3B
Age: 25
Analysis: It looks like 2010 was the outlier year, although given Sandoval's allergy to the walk, his down years in batting average on balls in play will always be magnified because his OBP will become unacceptably low.
A switch-hitter, Sandoval comes from the "see ball, hit ball" school of batting; he's a star from the left side who's passable right-handed, and he's improved his defense at third base to the point where we're at least not putting him on the express bus across the diamond. (I've seen some defensive metrics that indicated Sandoval had plus defense this year at third. Forgive my skepticism, but I'd like to see another year of that before buying it.) He'll madden fans with some of his short at bats, but he can repeat his 2011 season a few times over the next half-dozen years.
Rank: 23
Name: Brandon Belt
Position: RF (Not sure about this, maybe that is where he thinks he will end up?)
Age: 23
Analysis: At some point, maybe when the Giants have gone two or three weeks without scoring, you'd like to think San Francisco will wise up and just give Belt regular playing time, because even with some adjustments ahead of him, he could be the third-best hitter in their lineup.
Belt has a balanced swing, excellent hip rotation and weight transfer that bodes well for future power; his eye is good, but he needs to improve his two-strike approach, as his passivity in those situations hurts his production and isn't helping him stay in the lineup. Long-term, he looks like he'll get on base and hit for power with at least a high-.200s batting average and above-average defense at first.
4 in the top 25 is pretty awesome!
Rank: 4
Name: Buster Posey
Position: C
Age: 24
Analysis: I'm assuming that Posey remains a catcher after the leg injury that prematurely ended his 2011 season and probably killed the Giants' season as well, given that they often couldn't find eight competent hitters to fill out a lineup.
Posey can hit, get on base, catch, and throw, and is good for double-digit homers, which is extremely valuable at a position where some teams are left with the choice between an elastic net and Jeff Mathis. If his leg recovers physically, Posey can catch again and probably stay back there into at least his late 20s, after which he could move to any of a number of positions where his bat would still be valuable.
Rank: 9
Name: Madison Bumgarner
Position: LHP
Age: 22
Analysis: Two years ago, Bumgarner looked like a potential bust, as his velocity disappeared during the second half of 2009 with no apparent explanation, and he didn't get it all back until after the start of the 2010 season. Whatever the reason was -- and we still don't know, although it barely matters at this point -- his velocity is back, as is the plus slider that he didn't even learn until his senior year of high school.
Bumgarner's arm action is a little long, and he comes around at a low slot. However, he gets his hand up to give the slider a little tilt, and combined with a velocity close to that of his fastball, the offering is tough to hit. Throw in plus control -- he only walked six left-handed batters all year -- and he's a hidden ace, unknown only because he pitches behind two other aces in San Francisco's stacked rotation.
Rank: 19
Name: Pablo Sandoval
Position: 3B
Age: 25
Analysis: It looks like 2010 was the outlier year, although given Sandoval's allergy to the walk, his down years in batting average on balls in play will always be magnified because his OBP will become unacceptably low.
A switch-hitter, Sandoval comes from the "see ball, hit ball" school of batting; he's a star from the left side who's passable right-handed, and he's improved his defense at third base to the point where we're at least not putting him on the express bus across the diamond. (I've seen some defensive metrics that indicated Sandoval had plus defense this year at third. Forgive my skepticism, but I'd like to see another year of that before buying it.) He'll madden fans with some of his short at bats, but he can repeat his 2011 season a few times over the next half-dozen years.
Rank: 23
Name: Brandon Belt
Position: RF (Not sure about this, maybe that is where he thinks he will end up?)
Age: 23
Analysis: At some point, maybe when the Giants have gone two or three weeks without scoring, you'd like to think San Francisco will wise up and just give Belt regular playing time, because even with some adjustments ahead of him, he could be the third-best hitter in their lineup.
Belt has a balanced swing, excellent hip rotation and weight transfer that bodes well for future power; his eye is good, but he needs to improve his two-strike approach, as his passivity in those situations hurts his production and isn't helping him stay in the lineup. Long-term, he looks like he'll get on base and hit for power with at least a high-.200s batting average and above-average defense at first.