Baseball Prospectus

[vivalaultra]

And if you're talking closers, K-Rod's also not in there. No love for K-Rod?

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

What might this list have looked like in 2001? Here are the leaders in either RCAP (for batters) or RSAA (for pitchers), from 2001-06.

 

1. Barry Bonds

2. Albert Pujols

3. Alex Rodriguez

4. Manny Ramirez

5. Todd Helton

6. Lance Berkman

7. Jim Edmonds

8. Jason Giambi

9. Chipper Jones

10. Bobby Abreu

11. Jim Thome

12. Vladimir Guerrero

13. Gary Sheffield

14. Derek Jeter

15. Brian Giles

16. Roy Halladay

17. Carlos Beltran

18. Jeff Kent

19. Pedro Martinez

20. Johan Santana

 

Two guys on the list (Roy Halladay, Carlos Beltran) were 24 at the time, Johan Santana was 22 and Albert Pujols was 21. Four more were 25. Seven on the list were over 30. By comparison, BPro's current list has nine guys 24 or under and four are 30/31. If there's a conclusion to draw, it's that you're better off with an older established star than a 22/23 year old hot prospect, all else being equal. Of course when you factor contracts in, you'll take the youngster.