We break down the top five prospects for each organization for 2008, taking into consideration: games, at-bats, innings and major-league service time. We expect these players to have rookie status remaining heading into next year.
According to MLB rules: "A player shall be considered a rookie unless, during a previous season or seasons, he has (a) exceeded 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the major leagues; or (b) accumulated more than 45 days on the active roster of a major league club or clubs during the period of 25-player limit (excluding time in the military service and time on the disabled list)."
We have already covered the NL West and AL West and now we take a look at the AL Central:
Chicago White Sox
| Top White Sox prospects | ||||
| Player | Age | Pos. | 2007 minor league stats | |
| 1 | Gio Gonzalez | 22 | LH SP | Triple-A: (9-7), 3.18 ERA, 185 K, 57 BB, .216 BAA |
| Smoke-thrower should be one of 2008's best Fantasy rookie SPs. | ||||
| 2 | Faustino De Los Santos | 21 | RH SP | Class A (combined): (10-5)-2.65-153-43-.163 |
| Domican signee has impressed and risen quickly in first year. | ||||
| 3 | Chris Carter | 20 | 1B | Class A: .291 AVG, 25 HR, 93 RBI, 84 R, 3 SB (.383 OBP, .522 SLUG) |
| They kept promoting him and he kept getting better at every level. | ||||
| 4 | Aaron Poreda | 21 | LH SP | Class A: (4-0)-1.17-48-10-.181 |
| '07 No. 1 pick throws high-90s and could arrive, dominate soon. | ||||
| 5 | Jack Egbert | 24 | RH SP | Double-A: (12-8)-3.06-165-44-.232 |
| Scouts don't see him as front-liner, but numbers suggest otherwise. | ||||
| Best of the rest: SP Kyle McCulloch, 2B John Shelby, 1B Micah Schnurstein, SP Lance Broadway, OF Ryan Sweeney, C Francisco Hernandez, SP Lucas Harrell, 2B Chris Getz, P Heath Phillips, P Charlie Haeger, P Adam Russell, P Nevin Griffith, P John Ely, P Leroy Hunt, 1B Casey Rogowski, RP Ehren Wassermann, RP Dewon Day, OF Anderson Gomes, P Oneli Perez, P Brian Omogrosso, P Justin Edwards, P Matt Long, P Ray Liotta, C Donny Lucy, SS Roberto Valido, P Wes Whisler. | ||||
| 2007 rookies to lose eligibility (expected): 3B/OF Josh Fields, SP John Danks, OF Jerry Owens, 2B Danny Richar, RP Nick Masset, UTL Andy Gonzalez. | ||||
Cleveland Indians
| Top Indians prospects | ||||
| Player | Age | Pos. | 2007 minor league stats | |
| 1 | Adam Miller | 22 | RH SP | Triple-A: (5-4)-4.82-68-21-.265 |
| Injuries led to disappointing Triple-A year, but his stuff is great. | ||||
| 2 | Aaron Laffey | 22 | LH SP | AA-Triple-A (combined): (13-4)-2.88-99-30-.238 |
| Doesn't have knockout stuff, but great year moves him up list. | ||||
| 3 | Chuck Lofgren | 22 | LH SP | AA-Triple-A (combined): (12-8)-4.58-130-71-.273 |
| Took step back this year and proved to be a little more erratic. | ||||
| 4 | Jordan Brown | 21 | 1B | Double-A (combined): .333-11-76-85-11 (.421-.484) |
| Baseball America says he has drawn Wally Joyner comparisons. | ||||
| 5 | Wes Hodges | 23 | 3B | Class A: .288-15-71-60 (.367-.473) |
| First pro season was decent, but there's much more to come. | ||||
| Best of the rest: OF Trevor Crowe, 1B Matt Whitney, 2B Jared Goedert, OF Brian Barton, SS Josh Rodriguez, C Matt McBride, 1B/3B Beau Mills, SP Scott Lewis, P Tony Sipp, OF Brad Snyder, SP David Huff, 1B Michael Aubrey, SP Sung-Wei Tseng, OF Ben Francisco, 3B Kelvin Diaz, SP Brian Slocum, OF John Drennen, 1B Stephen Head, OF Ryan Mulhern, P J.D. Martin, RP Juan Lara, SP T.J. MacFarland, RP Jonathan Holt, OF Jose Constanza, P Fabio Castillo, SP Frank Herrmann, SP Steven Wright, C Wyatt Toregas. | ||||
| 2007 rookies to lose eligibility (expected): 2B/SS Asdrubal Cabrera, RP Rafael Perez, RP Thomas Mastny, RP Jensen Lewis, RP Edward Mujica, UTL Mike Rouse. | ||||
Detroit Tigers
| Top Tigers prospects | ||||
| Player | Age | Pos. | 2007 minor league stats | |
| 1 | Cameron Maybin | 23 | OF | A-Double-A (combine): .316-14-53-68-25 (.409-.523) |
| Tigers struggles make it likely he starts in Triple-A, but he's so good. | ||||
| 2 | Jair Jurrjens | 21 | RH SP | Double-A: (7-5)-3.20-94-31-.257 |
| Great September makes it likely he opens spring with rotation spot. | ||||
| 3 | Jeff Larish | 24 | 1B | Double-A: .267-28-101-71-6 (.390-.515) |
| Arizona State product has great power and draws a lot of walks. | ||||
| 4 | Rick Porcello | 18 | RH SP | DNP -- First-round pick signed in August |
| Signability dropped someone who was arguably the best '07 draftee. | ||||
| 5 | Virgil Vasquez | 25 | RH SP | Triple-A: (12-5)-3.48-127-33-.241 |
| Awful results with Tigers makes him a long shot for '08 rotation. | ||||
| Best of the rest: OF Gorkys Hernandez, SS Michael Hollimon, SP Yorman Bazardo, SP Jordan Tata, OF Matt Joyce, SP Burke Badenhop, OF Wilkin Ramirez, OF Brent Clevlen, SP Jonah Nickerson, SP Dallas Trahern, P Brandon Hamilton, P Charlie Furbush, P Casey Crosby, SS Brent Dlugach, SP Sendy Vasquez, SS Tony Giarratano, OF Michael Hernandez, OF Brennan Boesch, SS Danny Worth, 2B Scott Sizemore, 3B Kody Kirkland, 3B Ron Bourquin, OF Jeff Frazier, OF Clete Thomas, RP Eulogio De La Cruz, RP Clayton Rapada, RP Preston Larrison, RP Randor Bierd, RP Edward Campusano, P Kyle Sleeth, SS Audy Ciriaco. | ||||
| 2007 rookies to lose eligibility (expected): SP Andrew Miller, UTL Ryan Raburn, C Mike Rabelo. | ||||
Kansas City Royals
| Top Royals prospects | ||||
| Player | Age | Pos. | 2007 minor league stats | |
| 1 | Luke Hochevar | 24 | RH SP | AA-Triple-A (combined): (4-9)-4.86-138-47-.271 |
| '06 No. 1 overall had a disappointing year in first full season. | ||||
| 2 | Billy Buckner | 24 | RH SP | AA-Triple-A (combined): (10-10)-3.92-96-32-.268 |
| Might be showing enough to enter spring with rotation spot. | ||||
| 3 | Michael Moustakas | 22 | SS | Class A: .293-0-10-6-0 (.383-.439) |
| '07 No. 2 overall pick will try to remain at shortstop for now. | ||||
| 4 | Craig Brazell | 27 | 1B | Triple-A: .315-39-91-83-0 (.352-.601) |
| 27-year-old late-bloomer might be capable of playing in majors. | ||||
| 5 | Chris Lubanski | 22 | OF | AA-Triple-A (combined): .259-15-56-53-3 (.325-.438) |
| Numbers haven't matched the hype, but he could find it in '08. | ||||
| Best of the rest: SP Blake Johnson, SP Julio Pimentel, 1B Craig Brazell, OF Mitch Maier, 1B Justin Huber, SP Tyler Lumsden, OF Joe Dickerson, 2B Fernando Cortez, SP Carlos Rosa, SP Tyler Chambliss, P Blake Wood, SP Daniel Cortes, SP Rowdy Hardy, SP Jason Godin, SP Zach Peterson, P Brent Fisher, SS Jeff Bianchi, RP Jarod Plummer, 1B Clint Robinson, P Sam Runion, P Danny Duffy, P Matt Campbell, P Chis Nicoll, OF Patrick Norris, 2B Kurt Mertins, OF Adrian Ortiz. | ||||
| 2007 rookies to lose eligibility (expected): SP Brian Bannister, 3B Alex Gordon, 1B Billy Butler, RP Joakim Soria, RP Ryan Z. Braun, RP Neal Musser. | ||||
Minnesota Twins
| Top Twins prospects | ||||
| Player | Age | Pos. | 2007 minor league stats | |
| 1 | Glen Perkins | 24 | LHP | A-AA-Triple-A (combined): (0-2)-6.52-15-10-.253 |
| Started year in Twins 'pen, but could start after injury-plagued year. | ||||
| 2 | Anthony Swarzak | 22 | RH SP | A-Double-A (combined): (5-4)-3.09-94-28-.241 |
| Not quite on level of their other SP prospects, but looks good, too. | ||||
| 3 | Nick Blackburn | 25 | RHP | AA-Triple-A (combined): (10-4)-2.36-75-19-.234 |
| Yet another strike-thrower in Twins system who could start in '08. | ||||
| 4 | Tyler Robertson | 19 | LH SP | Class A: (9-5)-2.29-123-33-.226 |
| Big '06 third-rounder out of high school made huge strides this year. | ||||
| 5 | Brian Buscher | 26 | 3B | AA-Triple-A (combined): .309-14-59-58-3 (.385-.493) |
| Hasn't made great impact, but his K-to-BB ratio is impressive. | ||||
| Best of the rest: SP Brian Duesing, SP Oswaldo Sosa, SS Trevor Plouffe, 2B Matt Tolbert, OF Chris Parmelee, 1B Garrett Jones, OF Erik Lis, OF Joe Benson, SP Alex Burnett, RP Eduardo Morlan, SP Kyle Waldrop, SP Jay Rainville, RP Jose Mijares, OF David Winfree, OF Denard Span, 3B Brian Buscher, OF Josh Rabe, 3B Matt Moses, C/1B Danny Rams, OF Ben Revere, SP Daniel Berlind, OF Angel Morales, P Yohan Pinto, P Jeff Manship, OF Ozzie Lewis, P Rob Delaney, P Nathan Striz, OF Brandon Roberts, RP Jorge DePaula, RP Justin Miller, C Allen De San Miguel, 3B Tommy Watkins, C Chris Heintz, RP David Shinske. | ||||
| 2007 rookies to lose eligibility (expected): SP Matt Garza, SP Kevin Slowey, 2B Alexi Casilla, RP Carmen Cali. | ||||
You can e-mail Emack your Fantasy Baseball prospect questions to dmfantasybaseball@cbs.com. Be sure to put Attn: AL Central prospects in the subject field. Please include your full name, hometown and state. Be aware, due to the large volume of submissions received, we cannot guarantee personal responses or answers to all questions.
