season preview: the players

Between the early looks and all the college stats stuff, I've written a lot about the 2008 season. In fact, I've almost written too much. I have very little to add. But since all of that stuff is so detailed and so freaking long, I'm going to try to pull out some of the main things and put them in this post and the next post. This one looks at the players, the next one will look at the teams. And then . . . baseball, finally.

THE PLAYERS

It seemed that the 2008 draft class had its sure things in place for a long time. I think that was due mostly to Pedro Alvarez and Justin Smoak, who seemed to be in college -- and be on draft boards -- for eight years each.

Still, the Cape League had a huge impact on the first round. Aaron Crow, Gordon Beckham, Buster Posey, Yonder Alonso -- all those guys became bright spots on the radar with big Cape summers. When all of them put up great numbers this spring, they solidified their spots.

As the summer begins again, and as the 2009 draft class starts to take shape, there appear to be more Beckhams and Crows than Alvarezes and Smoaks. Which is to say, nobody's a sure thing. Maybe, like last year, stars at the plate will emerge and give the league another burst of offense. Maybe the pitching will re-assert itself and turn the Cape into a pitchers' paradise once again. At this point, I'm tempted to side with the offense, but who can really tell?

Either way, the fact that things look wide open should should make this Cape League summer a very interesting one. And considering the large number of Team USA invitees and CWS participants, the opportunity is there for someone to make a splash. A lot of names we don't know right now will soon become names we won't forget.

In an effort to put some names out there, I'm taking a page out of the college sports awards' playbook. Watch lists, anyone?

I'll do two 25-player lists, one for hitters, one for pitchers. So, that's essentially the MVP Watch List and the Outstanding Pitcher Watch List. Since it's 25 each, this will kind of count as the first Right Field Fog Top 50 of the year. Also, consider it the list of the 50 players I'm excited to see.

As a side note, these lists are coming from an all-things-being-equal kind of perspective. So, Team USA invitees and CWS participants are still included, but I do have stars by the Team USA guys. This is organized by team.

MVP Watch List
*Dusty Coleman - SS - Wichita State - Bourne
*Matt den Dekker - OF - Florida - Brewster
Jim Klocke - C - SE Missouri - Brewster
James Meador - INF/OF - San Diego - Brewster
Connor Powers - INF - Mississippi State - Brewster
Grant Green - SS - USC - Chatham
Aaron Miller - OF - Baylor - Chatham
*Kyle Seager - 2B - North Carolina - Chatham
Jason Kipnis - OF - Arizona State - Cotuit
Robert Stock - C - USC - Cotuit
Tim Fedroff - OF - North Carolina - Falmouth
*Hunter Morris - 1B - Auburn - Falmouth
A.J. Pollock - INF/OF - Notre Dame - Falmouth
Diego Seastrunk - 3B - Rice - Falmouth
*Dustin Ackley - 1B - North Carolina - Harwich
Ryan Lavarnway - C - Yale - Hyannis
*Ryan Jackson - SS - Miami - Hyannis
Cole Figueroa - SS - Florida - Orleans
Nate Freiman - 1B - Duke - Orleans
Rich Poythress - 1B - Georgia - Orleans
Angelo Songco - OF - Loyola Marymount - Orleans
*Josh Phegley - C - Indiana - Wareham
*Derek Dietrich - SS - Georgia Tech - Wareham
Blake Dean - OF - LSU - Wareham
Andy Wilkins - INF/OF - Arkansas - Y-D

Fearless Prediction: Nate Freiman wins it. He's a junior who's already had success on the Cape, and he can flat-out hit. I also like Ryan Lavarnway, Grant Green and Angelo Songco. And Josh Phegley if he doesn't go to Team USA.

Outstanding Pitcher Watch List
Nathan Baker - Ole Miss - Bourne
*Ryan Berry - Rice - Bourne
*Drew Pomeranz - Rice - Bourne
Bob Revesz - Louisville - Bourne
Caleb Coltham - Vanderbilt - Brewster
Brad Boxberger - USC - Chatham
Charles Brewer - UCLA - Chatham
Gavin Brooks - UCLA - Chatham
Kevin Couture - USC - Chatham
*Justin Marks - Louisville - Chatham
Alex White - North Carolina - Chatham
Matt Fairel - Florida State - Cotuit
Dan Jennings - Nebraska - Cotuit
*Kyle Gibson - Missouri - Falmouth
Sean Black - Seton Hall - Harwich
Chris Manno - Duke - Harwich
Andrew Carraway - Virginia - Hyannis
Matt Ridings - Western Kentucky - Hyannis
Eric Erickson - Miami - Orleans
Matt Bashore - Indiana - Wareham
*Mike Minor - Vanderbilt - Wareham
*Andy Oliver - Vanderbilt - Wareham
*Kendal Volz - Baylor - Wareham
*Stephen Strasburg - San Diego State - Y-D
Jerry Sullivan - Oral Roberts - Y-D

Fearless Prediction: I know I said all things were equal and if they really were, Team USA invitee Stephen Strasburg is a no-brainer here. But for the purposes of the prediction, all things are not equal. I'm going with Jerry Sullivan. I'll put Andrew Carraway, Chris Manno and Alex White just behind him.