Gman
06-14-2010, 11:45 AM
Seems like the AL has been fairly dominant for awhile now but when you look at where the premier young talent is, the NL seems to have gained a much larger share of the market. If you just look at the absolute cream of the young and early prime crop it's pretty amazing what the NL has. Here's my list of the premier impact talents in the NL who are just hitting the bigs or still in their early prime (age 30 and under). Anyone want to take a crack at a comparative list from the AL and/or add to the NL?
The NL East
Marlins: Hanley Ramirez, M.Stanton & Josh Johnson
Braves: McCann, Heyward, Hanson
Nats: Zimmerman & Strasburg
Mets: Wright & Reyes
Philly: Howard and Hamels
NL Central
Cards: Pujols, Wainwright and Rasmus
Reds: Phillips (still only 28 with a career year in the making), Votto and Bruce with Volquez potentially returning to elite now that TJ is behind him)
Brewers: Fielder, Braun and Gallardo
Stros: None that I think are in the premier class
Pgh: McCutchen (poor Pirates...seems like they always only have one)
Cubs: None that I see as sure-fire but Soto, Castro and Cashner look like they could be on this list by seasons end
NL West
Rockies: Ubaldo, Tulowitski, C.Gonzalez, and I think Ian Stewart but like the Reds Jay Bruce, he seems like he's just a few minutes from stardom.
Dodgers: Kershaw, Ethier, and Kemp
Giants: Lincecum, Cain, Jonathan Sanchez (he's reminds me of where Ubaldo was last year) and Posey has a bat that is going to be very good
Arizona: they have some good young talent but only Upton jumps off the page at me.
Padres: A.Gonzalez
That's a whole lot of premier young talent just off the top of my head so I'm sure I missed some. Does the AL even come close to this in quantity/quality?
The NL East
Marlins: Hanley Ramirez, M.Stanton & Josh Johnson
Braves: McCann, Heyward, Hanson
Nats: Zimmerman & Strasburg
Mets: Wright & Reyes
Philly: Howard and Hamels
NL Central
Cards: Pujols, Wainwright and Rasmus
Reds: Phillips (still only 28 with a career year in the making), Votto and Bruce with Volquez potentially returning to elite now that TJ is behind him)
Brewers: Fielder, Braun and Gallardo
Stros: None that I think are in the premier class
Pgh: McCutchen (poor Pirates...seems like they always only have one)
Cubs: None that I see as sure-fire but Soto, Castro and Cashner look like they could be on this list by seasons end
NL West
Rockies: Ubaldo, Tulowitski, C.Gonzalez, and I think Ian Stewart but like the Reds Jay Bruce, he seems like he's just a few minutes from stardom.
Dodgers: Kershaw, Ethier, and Kemp
Giants: Lincecum, Cain, Jonathan Sanchez (he's reminds me of where Ubaldo was last year) and Posey has a bat that is going to be very good
Arizona: they have some good young talent but only Upton jumps off the page at me.
Padres: A.Gonzalez
That's a whole lot of premier young talent just off the top of my head so I'm sure I missed some. Does the AL even come close to this in quantity/quality?