The All-Under 25 MLB Team

What began in the early 2000’s with the Oakland A’s has now become a full blown trend throughout Major League Baseball. The trend is the youth movement that has completely taken over the game. Gone are the days of giving older guys that huge contract and now the young prospects are getting their shot and they have not disappointed. Right now baseball is as young and athletic as it has ever been. In light of this youth movement I have decided to create the ultimate team of young players. This is the complete starting 9, including a Designated Hitter, a complete starting rotation, and a closer. To make this team you had to be less than 25 years old & currently in the majors (I will put together a futures team later on). The team was put together with consideration to past performance, as well as future potential.

C: Carlos Santana, Cleveland Indians. 24 Years Old

Santana’s rookie season abruptly ended on Monday in a nasty collision at home plate that really could have been much worse then it was. However, before that happened Santana showed why he is such a special player even at such a young age.  Santana made his debut on June 11 and has immediately made his presence felt. He has an OBP of .401, SLG .467, a K/BB ratio of 29/37, he was throwing out 35% of base stealers. He has been described by scouts as “Victor Martinez with defense.” His performance in the short time that he has been up has certainly justified that sentiment.

1B: Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants. 23 Years Old

First, I want to thank the Giants for making Posey primarily play 1^st base because his natural position of catcher would have made the choice between Posey and Santana extremely difficult. Posey’s path to the big leagues was certainly a strange one. He was called up last September but Bruce Bochy, inexplicably showing loyalty to Bengie Molina, refused to play the young man. Then, at the beginning of this year GM Brian Sabean said about Posey, who was tearing the cover off the ball in Triple-A, was succeeding because pitching at that level wasn’t very good. The Giants finally came to their senses and Posey has not disappointed. His average of .349 would be good enough to lead first basemen if he had the at-bats to qualify, his OPS of .922 would be fifth (only Votto, Pujols, Huff, & Dunn would be better). He will likely move back to catcher full-time next year but since he has played almost as many games at first as he has catcher I gave him the nod here.

2B: Gordon Beckham, Chicago White Sox. 23 Years Old

Beckham came on last year when the White Sox called up their prized prospect and put him at third base. He responded with 14 HR’s and an OPS of .807 in just 102 games. This year, Beckham moved to second base and struggled for much of the first half of the season. However, he has started to come along lately by hitting .354 in July and playing solid defense at second. Supposedly, the Nationals were asking for Gordon Beckham in their trade talks with the White Sox and the deal was turned down by Kenny Williams. Seeing the way that Beckham is turning his year around and what he can mean to the lineup, it’s not too difficult to understand why.

SS: Starlin Castro, Chicago Cubs. 20 Years Old

Castro made quite an impression in his debut as a Cub when he drove in 6 runs. What’s more impressive about Castro is how much better he can get. He is still just 20 years old and his body has not filled out yet, meaning there is a lot more potential in the bat than he has already shown. Impressive, since he is currently at .318/.364/.458 and this is only the beginning for Castro. His power will get better as he gets older and is able to add more muscle to his body. Plus, he is a slick defender with good range to both his left and right and a terrific arm at short.

3B: Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays. 24 Years Old

Longoria has been around for three years now so it’s a little odd to include him on this list until you realize he is still only 24 years old. The 2008 Rookie of the Year just continues to get better and better each year. His defense at third is as good as anyone in baseball with range to his left and right and the arm to make any play, as well as fantastic instincts that you need for the hot corner. By the way, he can hit a little bit as well. He has hit 27 & 33 homers in each of his first two years and he has 15 this year. He is a very good base runner, going 31-34 thus far in his career. The Rays gave Longoria a 6 year contract a week after he was called up in 2008 and people thought that was nuts. Now it is probably the best bargain deal in baseball.

LF: Delmon Young, Minnesota Twins. 24 Years Old

Young is finally living up to that potential that people saw in him back when the Rays made him the top pick in the 2003 draft. He still doesn’t draw as many walks as you would like to see but he has started to make enough contact to offset his impatience. His power has started to come as well; he has already set a career high in homers with 14 so far this year. His defense is still not very good. He tends to take a bad route to a ball and sometimes seems to lose interest in the field. But the offense has started to offset some of the problems defensively. Plus, he is still young enough to correct some of these flaws that he tends to show when he is out there.

CF: Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh Pirates. 23 Years Old

Andrew McCutchen is probably the most unknown great young player in the game. There is a good reason for that, he plays in Pittsburgh and the Pirates haven’t been relevant in nearly 20 years. However, there is reason for optimism in Pittsburgh and McCutchen is the biggest reason for that. He is a plus defender in CF, he gets great reads on the ball off the bat and has the speed to track down balls hit in the gap. His bat will get better as he fills out, there is more power in there than he has shown thus far because he is still so young. He has five-tool potential and will be the leader of a Pirates team that finally has a cornerstone player to build around.

RF: Jason Heyward, Atlanta Braves. 20 Years Old

Jason Heyward had a storybook beginning to his career when he hit a 450-foot home run off Carlos Zambrano in his first at-bat. He has had some ups and downs in his rookie year, but that’s to be expected after all he is only 20. However, you look at him and you see why Bobby Cox had to put him on the big league club out of spring training. He has a quick bat, tremendous power, and the ability to work a deep count. He will draw his share of walks and the strikeouts will come down as he gets older and more experienced. In the outfield, he is a fantastic defender. He gets great reads on the ball and has a plus arm for the corner outfield spot. He has been bitten by the injury bug a little bit this year but this young man’s potential is off the charts.

#1 SP- Stephen Strasburg: Washington Nationals. 22 Years Old

Were you expecting someone else to lead the staff? What else can I say about this guy that hasn’t already been said? The most hyped draft pick ever has more than lived up to his billing. Beginning with his debut on June 8 against Pittsburgh, in which he struck out 14, and in all his subsequent starts he has been better than advertised. Everything in Strasburg’s arsenal is at the very least plus (command, stuff, presence, etc.). He is on the disabled list right now with shoulder stiffness but that’s more a precautionary measure by the Nationals than anything to worry about. He is going to be handled with kid gloves for now, but when the gloves come off look out because we still haven’t seen the best this young man has to offer.

#2 SP: Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners. 24 Years Old.

Another guy who I was surprised was still only 24 years old because he has been around for awhile now. He came up late in 2005, when he was 19 years old, and has gotten better and better every year. His has tremendous poise and presence for a guy who is as young as he is. Of course, that stems from the fact that he’s been in the majors for five years already. If it wasn’t for Strasburg, I would have probably had Felix as the ace of this staff he is that good. He gets lost in the shuffle because he won’t put up gaudy win totals because Seattle can’t score but the numbers that he does have control over are as good as anyone in baseball over the last five years.

#3 SP- David Price: Tampa Bay Rays. 24 Years Old

What does it say about the tremendous depth of young pitching in baseball where a guy who leads the American League in wins, is fourth in ERA, & twelfth in strikeouts is the number three starter on this team? Don’t get me wrong if I had to lead my rotation with David Price I wouldn’t cry. It’s more a testament to how good the other two guys are than a knock on this guy. Price has realized that potential that we all saw firsthand in the 2008 postseason when he was a reliever for the Rays team that went to the World Series. Now, he is leading the Rays rotation in their effort to get back to the World Series this year.

#4 SP: Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers. 22 Years Old

Clayton Kershaw is the definition of a pitching enigma. He can go out one day and throw a complete game with 15 K’s and then come out the next game and go 3 innings with 7 BB’s. His inconsistent command is the only real knock on him. He is a big, hard throwing lefty that can make you drool with envy and make you pull your hair out in frustration because the stuff is so good. He is still only 22 so I think he can make strides with his command in the future. Lefties can’t touch him (.185 BAA, .612 OPS) and righties don’t fare much better (.228/.632). Right now he very, very good and if he can figure out his command he can become the most dominant pitcher in the game.

#5 SP: Yovani Gallardo, Milwaukee Brewers. 24 Years Old

This was the hardest decision for the team because I debated for a long time on Latos, Gallardo, & Tommy Hanson. I chose Gallardo because of the scientific numbers of the game that seem to favor him over the other two, although if I were forced to take one of the other guys I wouldn’t cry about it. He has better stuff then Latos or Hanson and he misses more bats then the other two. His defense-independent ERA is almost a half a run better than the other two. He is the lone bright spot in a Milwaukee rotation that has been decimated by poor performance and lack of talent in the system.

Closer: Neftali Feliz, Texas Rangers. 22 Years Old

Many scouts, including Baseball America & ESPN’s Keith Law, believe that Feliz could transition to the starting rotation and be absolutely dominant in that role. Watching Feliz pitch it’s easy to see why: there is seemingly no effort in his delivery and he can crank it up to 100 MPH with his fastball and has the change-up and breaking ball necessary to become a number 1 starter. However, for now the Rangers have used him as their closer and he hasn’t missed a beat. His ERA is slightly inflated thanks to a couple bad outings but everything else about Feliz has been terrific. He has only given up 32 hits in almost 47 innings pitched. Struck out 50 and walked just 13. Whether his future is in the rotation or the bullpen will not matter, he will dominate wherever he is at.

DH: Billy Butler, Kansas City Royals. 24 Years Old

Very quietly the Royals are finally starting to build something in their system. There is talk, and it’s still very early, that the Royals could have the top farm system in all of baseball by the end of this year and heading into next year. One thing that the Royals already have is the anchor in the middle of the lineup to lead their new crop of young players and that is Billy Butler. His defense is likely not able to allow him to stick at a position but he can hit. There is some question whether he will turn all the doubles into home runs but that doesn’t really bother me. He can flat out hit (.308/.379/.458) and will be the leader of the Royals lineup when they get their next crop of great young players into the fold in Kansas City.