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Corey Seager

Posted by Goodsport66 Sport over 6 months ago

7. Walker Buehler, RHP, Dodgers: first-round pick (No. 24 overall), 2015 (Vanderbilt), $1,777,500 bonus Buehler was in the running to become the first pitcher drafted in 2015, but elbow issues hurt his performance at Vanderbilt as well as his stock and eventually required Tommy John surgery after he slid to Los Angeles with the 24th overall choice. When he returned at the end of 2016 Andre Ethier Jersey, he had added 4-5 mph to his pitches without losing his ability to locate them, and he has thrived ever since. After a bullpen cameo in 2017, he was the Dodgers' best starter as a rookie the next year. 8. Blake Snell, LHP, Rays: supplemental first-round pick, 2011 (HS/Washington), $684,000 bonus Tampa Bay had a record 10 picks before the second round of the loaded 2011 Draft but turned them into just four big leaguers Chris Taylor Jersey, only one of whom qualifies as better than marginal. Home schooled until his senior year of high school, Snell was a projectable left-hander whom most clubs saw as more of a third- to fifth-rounder. His stuff improved as hoped but there were questions about whether he'd throw enough strikes to remain a starter until 2015, when he opened the year with 49 straight scoreless innings and led the Minors with a 1.41 ERA. He made his big league debut in 2016 and won the Cy Young Award in his first full season in the Majors in 2018. 9. Joc Pederson, OF, Dodgers: 11th-round pick, 2010 (HS/California), $600,000 bonus Los Angeles gave Pederson the second-highest bonus in its 2010 Draft to lure him away from playing baseball and walking on as a wide receiver in football at Southern California. Like Bellinger, he took a while to grow into his power before logging a 30-30 season in 2014 while winning Triple-A Pacific Coast League MVP honors and breaking in with the Dodgers. 10. Mike Zunino, C, Rays: first-round pick (No. 3 overall), 2012 (Florida), $4 million bonus (Mariners) Zunino was a candidate to go No. 1 overall in 2012, when he won the Golden Spikes Award as the top amateur player in the nation, and went third, the only catcher to go that high in 12 Drafts from 2006-17. The first position player from his class to reach the Majors, he opened 2013 in Triple-A and joined the Mariners that June. He hasn't become a star but has produced consistent power and solid defense. 11. Willy Adames, SS, Rays: international free agent, 2012 (Dominican Republic), $420,000 bonus (Tigers) The most expensive signing in the Tigers' 2012 international class Clayton Kershaw Dodgers Jersey, Adames earned a rare assignment for an 18-year-old making his U.S. debut when he headed to low Class A in 2014. He quickly asserted himself as Detroit's best prospect that spring and went to the Rays as the key to the three-team David Price trade that July. He developed into a more powerful hitter and better defender than originally projected, taking over as Tampa Bay's shortstop midway through 2018 at age 22. 12. Dustin May, RHP, Dodgers: third-round pick, 2016 (HS/Texas), $997,500 bonus Los Angeles' 2016 Draft was one of this decade's best, already having produced eight big leaguers, including potential cornerstones in first-rounders Gavin Lux (who'd rank second on this list if he had made the World Series roster) and Will Smith (see below), May and ninth-rounder Gonsolin. A late bloomer in high school who impressed with his projectable 6-foot-6 frame and high spin rates, May proved more advanced than expected and rode his turbo sinker and electric cutter to the Majors by August 2019 at age 21. 13. Manuel Margot, OF, Rays: international free agent, 2011 (Dominican Republic), $800,000 bonus (Red Sox) One of the top athletes on the 2011 international amateur market, Margot rose quickly through the Red Sox system, getting to high Class A at age 19 in 2014 and opening the next season without striking out in his first 62 at-bats. He was the headline prospect in the four-player package sent to the Padres for Craig Kimbrel after the 2015 season and debuted in San Diego in September 2016. Though he showcased three plus tools (hitting ability, speed, defense) in the Minors, they haven't played that way at the big leagues Corey Seager Jersey. 14. Austin Meadows, OF, Rays: first-round pick (No. 9 overall), 2013 (HS/Georgia), $3,029,600 bonus (Pirates) When the Pirates failed to sign Mark Appel as the No. 8 overall pick in the 2012 Draft, they received the No. 9 choice in 2013 as compensation and turned that into Meadows. He was productive but repeatedly hampered by hamstring injuries in the Minors, never hitting more than 12 homers in a season. He finally arrived in Pittsburgh in May 2018, only to get included in the ill-fated Archer deal two months later, then broke out with 33 homers in his first full big league season in 2019. 15. Hunter Renfroe, OF, Rays: first-round pick (No. 13 overall), 2013 (Mississippi State), $2,678,000 bonus (Padres) After homering just four times in his first two college seasons, Renfroe tied for the Southeastern Conference lead with 16 and carried Mississippi State to the College World Series finals in 2013. He hit for power everywhere he went in the Minors, winning Pacific Coast League MVP honors and tying for the Triple-A circuit's home run lead with 30 in 2016. He went deep four times after a late September callup before belting a Padres rookie-record 26 homers in 2017. 16. Will Smith, C, Dodgers: first-round pick (No. 32 overall), 2016 (Louisville), $1,772,500 bonus The first catcher taken in the first round by the Dodgers since Paul Konerko in 1993, Smith was one of four Atlantic Coast Conference backstops selected in the top 43 picks of the 2016 Draft. He immediately stood out with his defense in pro ball but was inconsistent at the plate as he learned to tap into his power, then posted a .984 OPS with 20 homers in 62 Triple-A games in 2019 and tied a big league record with 12 homers in his first 28 contests. 17. Brusdar Graterol, RHP, Dodgers: international free agent, 2014 (Venezuela), $150,000 bonus (Twins) Graterol didn't generate much early hype Fernando Valenzuela Jersey, landing the seventh-largest bonus in the Twins' 2014 international class and having Tommy John surgery in 2016 before making his U.S. debut a year later. He broke out as one of the hardest-throwing starters in the Minors in 2018 and overcame shoulder problems to earn a September callup and a spot on Minnesota's playoff roster in 2019. Originally headed to the Red Sox as part of a three-team Mookie Betts trade in February, he instead joined Betts in Los Angeles and provided immediate impact in the bullpen. 18. Shane McClanahan, LHP, Rays: first-round pick (No. 31 overall), 2018 (South Florida), $2,230,100 bonus McClanahan had the best college fastball (up to 100 mph) in the 2018 class and ranked second in NCAA Division I strikeout rate (14.2 per nine innings) that spring, but he lasted longer than expected in the Draft and Tampa Bay grabbed him with the second of its three first-round choices. He improved his command while advancing three levels during his first full pro season in 2019 before making history this October as the first pitcher ever to make his big league debut in the postseason. 19. Jake McGee, LHP, Dodgers: fifth-round pick, 2004 (HS/Nevada), $215,000 bonus (Rays) A live-armed lefty who required a lot of polish when the Rays made him a fifth-round pick out of high school, McGee developed nicely and ranked as MLB.com's No. 20 prospect entering 2008. He blew out his elbow that June, however, and had Tommy John surgery a month later. Tampa Bay moved him to the bullpen when he got to Triple-A in August 2010, and he launched a long run as one of the Majors' better southpaw relievers a month later.