L.J. Hoes

CF, Bowie Baysox (AA affiliate of Baltimore Orioles)

Selected as a teenager in the 3rd round of the 2008 Draft by the Baltimore Orioles, L.J. Hoes has proven himself a capable contact hitter with some power potential.  Originally a second baseman, he has been converted to a center fielder for the 2012 season.  After a slow start, L.J. is now hitting a respectable .287 in AA Bowie.  He is still only 22 years old, so the Orioles might want to develop him for a couple more years in the minor leagues before calling him up, but he has potential to be a decent all-around player.

He is MRLJHOES2U on Twitter.

Vinnie Catricala

Third Base

AA Jackson Generals, Seattle Mariners organization

Originally drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 50th round of the 2006 MLB Draft, Vinnie opted not to sign and instead walked on to the University of Hawaii baseball team where he hit .349 with 13 home runs (4th highest season total in University of Hawaii history) in 2009.  In the 2009 MLB Draft, the Seattle Mariners took him in the 10th round.  Last season, Vinnie hit .349 with 25 home runs between single and double A minor league ball.  He hit .347 with 11 home runs while he was playing at the AA level.  As a non-roster invitee this season with the Mariners, he batted .313 with 2 home runs in 32 at-bats.  While he has been impressive at only 23 years of age, there is a lot of competition for 3rd base in the Mariners’ organization and he is unlikely to start the 2012 season in the major leagues.  However, we can expect to see Vinnie make his major league debut later this season.

Paul Goldschmidt

First Baseman, Arizona Diamondbacks

Drafted in the 8th round of the 2009 MLB Draft, Paul Goldschmidt quickly rose through the minor leagues, showing plenty of power while hitting for average at each level along the way.  Through over a thousand at-bats in the minor leagues, Paul hit home runs at a pace of one every 14 at-bats and hit for a .317 batting average.  When he was called up to the Diamondbacks on August 1, 2011, Paul was leading the minor leagues in home runs with 30.  He hit .250 with 8 home runs in 156 at-bats for the Diamondbacks in 2011.

Paul is expected to play his first full season as the regular first baseman of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2012.  He has the potential to be one of the best hitters in the game, so it will be interesting to see if he can continue to hit a lot of home runs while maintaining a high batting average at the Major League level in 2012.

Julio Teheran

Starting Pitcher, Gwinnett Braves (AAA Atlanta Braves affiliate)

Signed out of Colombia at the age of 17 in 2007, Julio Teheran has developed quickly in the Atlanta Braves’ minor league system into a potential number one starting pitcher.  He had an impressive full season in the minor leagues at the AAA level last year where he went 15-3 with a 2.55 ERA.  Going into the 2012 season, Teheran is the Braves’ best prospect and we can expect to see him playing at the Major League level this season.  He turns 21 next week.

Brett Lawrie

Brett Lawrie is the highest drafted Canadian position player ever, being drafted as the 16th overall pick by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2008.  He represented Canada in the 2009 World Baseball Classic and represented the World Team in the 2009 Futures Game.  During last year’s Winter Meetings, Lawrie was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for Shaun Marcum. 2011 turned out to be his breakout season, when he hit .353 in AAA Las Vegas before being called up to the Blue Jays in August where he hit .293 in his MLB debut season.

Brett Lawrie is my top prospect pick of 2011, meaning I think he has a big chance of making the MLB All-Star team in the near future.  Barring any off-field douchy behavior getting him in trouble, I think the Blue Jays have themselves a star player.

Ryan Lavarnway

Catcher, Boston Red Sox

Coming out of Yale University, Ryan Lavarnway is one of the greatest baseball players to ever play in the Ivy Leagues.  He set several Ivy League hitting records before being drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 6th round of the 2008 draft.  In 2009, Lavarnway hit a team-record 21 home runs for the class-A Greenville Drive.  He split the 2010 season between class-A+ and class-AA, hitting 22 home runs and winning Player of the Week honors at both levels, as well as making the Carolina League All-Star team.  After batting .290 with 32 home runs split between class-AA and class-AAA in 2011, Lavarnway was called up to the Boston Red Sox in August.  In 39 At-bats for the Red Sox, he hit 2 home runs, 2 doubles, and 5 singles for a .231 batting average.

Ryan Lavarnway will likely be competing with Jarrod Saltalamacchia for the the primary catcher position for the Boston Red Sox in 2012.

2010 Topps #335

Jordan Norberto

P – Oakland Athletics

This one is going to sound like a long-shot, but I think Jordan Norberto might just turn out to be an excellent relief pitcher someday.  His 94-mph fastball has been cutting down minor league hitters for years.  He’s a left-handed Dominican reliever with some great potential that hopefully the A’s will take advantage of next season.

Norberto was acquired by Oakland along with Brandon Allen in a July 2011 trade that sent Brad Ziegler to the D-backs.  He then pitched 6.2 innings in 6 games for Oakland this season, racking up an unimpressive 8.10 ERA.  However, the final numbers don’t do him justice.  In his first five games, he pitched 6.0 innings and earned only 2 runs for a respectable 3.00 ERA.  It was that nasty final outing of the season in which the Yankees pummeled the A’s 22-9 by hitting a record 3 grand slams that did him in.  Norberto pitched 0.2 innings in that final game, walking 5 and picking up 4 earned runs to drive up his ERA.

I think with some good coaching and Major League experience, Jordan Norberto could make a real impact in the Oakland bullpen next season.

Anthony Rendon

3B — Washington Nationals organization

Sure, he hasn’t played a professional baseball game yet, but there’s just something about winning the Dick Howser Trophy and then getting selected early in the first round of the MLB Draft that gives a player good odds of succeeding.  Anthony Rendon joins the likes of Buster Posey, Alex Gordon, Rickie Weeks, and Mark Teixeira as recent winners of the Dick Howser Trophy who were later selected within the first 6 picks of the draft.

Rendon batted .394 with 26 homers in 63 games for Rice University in 2010.  He was then taken in the first round, 6th overall, by the Washington Nationals in the 2011 MLB Draft.  He had been widely touted as the best college hitter in America.

Rendon is currently playing in the Nationals’ instructional league and will move on to the Arizona Fall League in October, where it will be fun to watch how well him and Bryce Harper play together in the same lineup.