With Adam Wainwright hurt, Miguel Cabrera battling alcohol addiction and the Yankees’ rotation in shambles, it only makes sense that most of the talk about minor leaguers so far this spring has surrounded who can fill a need for his team at the big-league level in 2011. So much uncertainty encircles inexperienced prospects that only the most hardcore fans really take interest in minor leaguers still two or three years from MLB readiness.
Still, those players can be the organization changers. Albert Pujols played just three games above Class-A, in late 2000. In 2001, he was the National League Rookie of the Year.
There is no Albert Pujols lurking in the Midwest League right now—at least, not that we know of. But there are studs in almost every farm system in baseball, and many of them are not yet far enough up the ladder to get the full attention they deserve. Let’s remedy that: Here are the best prospects in each minor-league system to have never played above Class-A.