He’s flown under the prospect radar thus far, but that will change soon if he keeps performing like this. He hit over .300 as a teenager in full-season ball last year, has some pop  and is an excellent leader and defensive catcher. What more could you ask for?

Last year’s Southern League MVP went 20-20 in Chattanooga in 2006, erasing a frustrating 2005 campaign for the Canadian. With a little more work on his defense, his bat will be at Great American Ballpark in the near future.

Corey’s younger brother sports a career .299 average while swiping nearly 45 bases per year while shooting to the top of the Cubs system in two seasons. The addition of Mark DeRosa erased any chance Patterson had to make the big league club this spring.

Hitting .353 and slugging .912 evidently wasn’t enough for Braun to win the Brewers’ third base job, as the team wants him to improve his defense. They’ll want to get his 30-30 offensive potential into the lineup sooner rather than later.

A finger injury hurt his production in 2006 as a teenager in the Florida State League. A plus defender with good speed (58 steals over the past two seasons), if he can continue to hit, he could give J.J Hardy a run for his money in a few years.

The timetable keeps speeding up. He jumped on the fast track with an impressive leap to Double-A at the end of the season, then got a long look this spring and impressed everyone. He has the chance to be a very special player.

Joining McCutchen from the high school outfielder class of 2005, Bruce had 63 extra-base hits in his first full season. Many of the 42 doubles will start turning into homers for the outfielder with the most power potential from that ’05 group.

No one is saying his unorthodox swing won’t play at the upper levels anymore, not after slugging .533 in Double-A last year then setting the Grapefruit League on fire with a .571 average and 1.718 OPS – that’s not a misprint – over 28 at-bats. They won’t be able to keep him down for long.

It's easy to forget how young Pie is considering he's already spent a full year in Triple-A. The acquisition of Alfonso Soriano gives him another year in Triple-A to work on some things and he’ll spend the season at the ripe old age of 22.

All Veal did in 2006 was finish third in the Minors in batting average against (.175) and sixth in strikeouts (174) with a 2.16 ERA across two levels. Even better, he got better as he moved up and he focused on improving his command this spring.

The Bailey-Hughes debate might wage on for years in the big leagues. Bailey’s got the better pure stuff and should be a true No. 1 in the very near future. Look for him in Cincy by midseason.

The 2006 draftee has closer stuff with a plus fastball and a nasty slider. As a college reliever, there’s an expectation he’ll move quickly. He’s likely not to disappoint.