Seven Minor League prospects you'll be rooting for this season
Tired of only rooting for young players who top the prospect rankings and make the cover of magazines? Want a sleeper with a wacky swing to snag in your keeper league, or a former two-sport star to see on that mid-summer road trip? You're in luck. Here are seven less heralded prospects that you should be cheering for in 2016. And if you were already high on one of these guys, we're sorry for blowing up your spot.
Eddy Alvarez, SS
Prospect ranking: No. 25 in the White Sox system
Current team: Birmingham Barons, Double-A
Alvarez's immense speed on the basepaths previously helped him excel in another sport: short track speed skating. Nicknamed "Eddy the Jet," Alvarez was winning national speed skating competitions by age 11. After playing shortstop in high school, he chose to forego a college scholarship in favor of pursing his dream of competing at the Olympics. Six years later, Alvarez became the first Cuban-American male speed skater to make the U.S. Olympic team, and went on to help win the silver medal in the 5,000 meter relay at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. He returned to the diamond after the Olympics and signed a Minor League deal with the White Sox in June 2014. In 123 games across Low-A and High-A last season, Alvarez hit .296/.409/.424 with 53 steals.
Amir Garrett, LHP
Prospect ranking: No. 4 in Reds system, No. 67 in Top 100
Current team: Pensacola Blue Wahoos, Double-A
It's safe to say Garrett is the only Top 100 prospect with a summer hoops mixtape full of huge dunks from his high school days. The 6-foot-5 southpaw spent most of his time in high school dominating on the basketball court, developing into one of the top small forward recruits in the country. Garrett's dad convinced him to hold a tryout for Major League scouts despite not even playing baseball during his senior year, and the southpaw impressed everyone with a mid-90's fastball. The Reds selected him in the 22nd round of the 2011 Draft and gave him a $1 million signing bonus and permission to continue his basketball career in the offseason at St. John's University. After two seasons of college hoops, Garrett decided to focus on baseball full time, and hasn't looked back since. After a stellar full-season debut in 2014, Garrett excelled in 2015 at Class A Advanced Daytona (2.44 ERA with 133 strikeouts in 140.1 IP) and cemented himself as one of the top left-handed pitching prospects in baseball.
Raimel Tapia, OF
Prospect ranking: No. 7 in Rockies system
Current team: Hartford Yard Goats, Double-A
Signed as a 16-year-old out of the Dominican Republic in 2010, Tapia has done nothing but mash since making his stateside debut in 2013. The outfielder won Pioneer League MVP as a 19-year-old during his debut campaign and hit .315 with 59 steals over the last two years at Class A. Tapia is perhaps best known for an unusual batting stance quirk: with two strikes, he descends into a pronounced crouch that made at least one teammate ponder "what in the world is that guy doing?" Tapia developed his unorthodox approach at a very young age, shrinking the strike zone and drastically shortening his swing in an effort to square up more pitches. A season at Double-A will tell whether his efforts to shrink the strike zone have true staying power.
Marten Gasparini, SS
Prospect ranking: No. 8 in Royals system
Current team: Lexington Legends, Class A
Unlike most kids growing up in Italy, Gasparini wasn't interested in pursuing a career on the soccer pitch. After watching highlights from the 1999 and 2001 World Series featuring Derek Jeter, Gasparini joined a youth league at age 10, and moved to the Italian Baseball Academy at age 14. He soon developed into a promising shortstop prospect and signed with the Royals in 2013 for $1.3 million -- the largest bonus ever given to a European-born player, topping Max Kepler's previous record of $800,000. Gasparini's first two years of Minor League ball have been shortened by injury, but he hit .314/.404/.500 over the second half of the 2015 Pioneer League season.
Anthony Alford, OF
Prospect ranking: No.1 in Blue Jays system, No. 40 in Top 100
Current team: Dunedin Bue Jays, Class A Advanced
Originally projected as a first-round pick in the 2012 Draft, Alford slipped to Toronto in Round 3 because of a commitment to continuing his football career in college. He played quarterback for Southern Miss as a freshman, and then transferred to Ole Miss, where he played safety. After committing to baseball full-time in the summer of 2014, Alford traveled Down Under to make up for lost at-bats in the Australian Winter League. His long-anticipated full-season debut in 2015 was worth the wait: the dynamic outfielder -- still only 20-years-old at the start of the season -- hit .298/.398/.421 with 27 steals across both levels of A-ball, vaulting himself to the top of Toronto's Top 30. Alford is back at Class A Advanced Dunedin to start 2016.
Kaleb Cowart, 3B
Prospect ranking: No. 5 in Angels system
Current team: Salt Lake Bees, Triple-A
Cowart won Gatorade High School Player of the Year in 2010, was selected 18th overall that June by the Angels and was right on pace for top prospect status after slashing .276/.358/.452 across 135 Class A games in 2012. But the switch-hitting third baseman's career short-circuited at Double-A each of the next two seasons, and he found himself back in A-ball at the start of 2015. A string of injuries to other Angels prospects prompted a promotion to Triple-A level, and after some mechanical tune-ups, Cowart started mashing again to the tune of .323/.395/.491 in 62 games Lake before earning a cup of coffee with the big league club in August. Still just 23 years old, Cowart has begun 2016 back in Triple-A.
Willie Calhoun, 2B
Prospect ranking: No. 16 in Dodgers system
Current team: Tulsa Drillers, Double-A
The 5-foot-8 Calhoun posted otherworldly numbers at Yavapai Junior College, hitting.432/.520/.952 with a nation-leading 31 home runs in just 63 games, including a nine-game homer streak. Calhoun signed quickly after the Dodgers snagged him in the fourth round of last June's Draft and mashed his way to a .316/.390/.519 line with 11 HR across three levels, concluding at Class A Advanced. We've seen shorter players like Jose Altuve and Mookie Betts ascend to MVP-level Major League performers in recent years, but Calhoun represents a different type of diminutive dominance: the kind that includes lots and lots of dingers. He even hit one this Spring Training with the big league club:
Jordan Shusterman is one of the founders of Cespedes Family BBQ. You can follow him on Twitter at @CespedesBBQ.