SI.com's All Future Team

[duncan228]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/dreamteams/08/06/mlb.future/index.html

My All-Future Team
Which stars of today will still be great in five years?

By Tom Verducci

Say you're starting an expansion team and the mandate is to keep the team together for five years. You are charged with picking players who will still be in their prime in 2012 and give you a championship-caliber team. That's the idea behind the All-Future team: very good today, but still very good five years from now.

INFIELDERS

C | Joe Mauer | Minnesota Twins
Gets the edge over Brian McCann because of athleticism and defense.

1B | Albert Pujols | St. Louis Cardinals
Only 27 and averaging 200 hits and 42 homers per 162 games.

2B | Chase Utley | Philadelphia Phillies
What's not to like? A second baseman with a .520 slugging percentage and one of the best, smartest runners in baseball.

SS | Jose Reyes | New York Mets
Rare player who has improved his plate discipline dramatically at the big-league level.

3B | Alex Rodriguez | New York Yankees
His next five seasons will take him to 37 years old and 700 home runs.

OUTFIELDERS

LF | Matt Holliday | Colorado Rockies
Terrific hitter, though his career home/road splits (.362/.269) suggest he could be another Coors Field creation.

CF | Grady Sizemore | Cleveland Indians
If you're starting a franchise, he must be among the five players you'd consider for your top pick.

RF | Justin Upton | Arizona Diamondbacks
Big-time bat who could be a Ken Griffey Jr.-type impact player. Now, all the Diamondbacks need to do is establish a regular position for him.

PITCHERS

SP
Johan Santana
Minnesota Twins SP
Felix Hernandez
Seattle Mariners SP
Francisco Liriano
Minnesota Twins SP
Justin Verlander
Detroit Tigers SP
Andrew Miller
Detroit Tigers
Don't forget about Liriano, who was on his way to a Cy Young Award last year before blowing out his elbow.

CLOSER | Francisco Rodriguez | Los Angeles Angels
Still only 25, with 130 career saves and a 2.28 ERA.

MANAGER, COACHES

Manager | Omar Vizquel
So smart he might be able to jump right into a job without a minor-league apprenticeship.

Pitching Coach | Greg Maddux
No one knows pitching better. The question is, will he want to stay in the game?

Hitting Coach | Mark Loretta
Career .299 hitter with four teams could also be managerial material.

RESERVES

POSITION PLAYER COMMENT
CATCHER Russell Martin At 24, he already plays like a seasoned veteran.
INFIELDERS Hanley Ramirez
Miguel Cabrera
Prince Fielder Fielder, 23, might become the youngest player to hit 50 homers in season, breaking the mark of Mickey Mantle (24).

OUTFIELDERS Cameron Maybin
Carl Crawford Maybin, 20, is a five-tool player yet to play above A ball, but he's the Tigers best position prospect in two decades and should develop quickly.

BULLPEN Jake Peavy
Joel Zumaya
Clayton Kershaw
C.C. Sabathia
Clay Buchholz Peavy ranks among the toughest competitors in baseball, regardless of position.

[Thunder Dan]

I'd take Fausto Carmona over C.C. Sabathis in any draft any day of the week

[K-State Spur]

these things can be fun, but they are usually way off.

a lot of the current guys age better than one would think, and many of the kids just drafted will surpass the best young players already in the bigs.

[DOMINATOR]

wish they just did an under 25 team

my under 25:
C- Mauer (backup mccann)
1st- Fielder even though there will be better.
2nd- BJ upton
SS- Ramirez
3rd- Cabrera or Braun
LF- Pence
CF- Sizemore
RF- Delmon Young
P- felix hernandez, verlander, Cole Hamels, Matt Cain, Jered Weavers, Lincecum, carmona... too many to list that arent in the majors yet.

[Thunder Dan]

Carmona is really good, and I'm not just saying that becuase I'm a Tribe fan. I have watched him lose games 1-0 and 2-1 twice this year, and a couple others the bullpen blew for him. He could easily be 17-3 this year if things went his way. I know that can be said for alot of guys, but the kid is only 23. Sabathia is one of the most overrated pitchers in the American league, but Fausto is the real deal.

[JMarkJohns]

I agree with dominator. There needs to be an age or season limit to what can be defined as "future".

It's silly to have a ten-year vet on the team like A-Rod.

If were going on up-n-coming players, then Chris Young of the Diamondbacks should be included. He's going to be a 25-25 offensive player as a rookie, has hit nearly .300 as a leadoff batter, has nit nearly .300 since the All-Star break, is a five-tool player and one of the top defensive outfield prospects in the bigs right now. He's got 30-30 potential, if not 40-40 when all is said and done. He's made some of the best catches of this year, and is fast-becoming the "go" to the Diamondbacks offense.

My 5-Years of less experience FUTURES team

C: Joe Mauer (4th year), Yadier Molina (3rd year)
1B: Justin Morneau (5th year), Prince Fielder (2nd year)
2B: Chase Utley (5th year)
SS: Jose Reyes (5th year), Hanley Ramirez (3rd year)
3B: Miguel Cabrera (5th year), David Wright (3rd year)
LF: Matt Holiday (4th year)
CF: Grady Sizemore (3rd year), Chris Young (2nd year)
RF: Justin Upton (1st year), Alex Rios (4th year)

SP: Justin Verlander (3rd year)
SP: Brandon Webb (5th year)
SP: Felix Hernandez (2nd year)
SP: Francisco Liriano (2nd year)
SP: Cole Hamels (2nd year)

RP: Fausto Carmona (2nd year)
RP: Tim Lincecum (1st year)
RP: Eric Bedard (5th year)
RP: Takashi Saito (2nd year)
CL: Jonathan Papelbon (2nd year)

Obviously, this is not counting minor-leaguers...

[DOMINATOR]

If were going on up-n-coming players, then Chris Young of the Diamondbacks should be included. He's going to be a 25-25 offensive player as a rookie, has hit nearly .300 as a leadoff batter, has nit nearly .300 since the All-Star break, is a five-tool player and one of the top defensive outfield prospects in the bigs right now. He's got 30-30 potential, if not 40-40 when all is said and done. He's made some of the best catches of this year, and is fast-becoming the "go" to the Diamondbacks offense.
i was going to put him in instead of Pence but im too much of an Astros homer for that. :king

[JMarkJohns]

Hey, I only know of how high his potential is because I watch 90% of the Diamondbacks games.

By the way, Young has just hit his fourth homer in four games, and I believe every single one of them led-off an inning. Two to lead off the game. The other two to lead off a later inning.

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

Kyle Davies is missing from this list.