Braves Prospects: Who to watch in '06

Every team has their top prospects, the players we look forward to seeing succeed in the big leagues. Some do, some don't. What's a defintion of a prospect? From Merriam-Webster's dictionary a prospect has many meanings most notably an advance realization of something to come, something that is awaited or expected. So, when one of your prospects makes waves through the minor leagues we generally expect a big splash into the majors. That's doesn't always work out as expected. Look at these two players, Mike Hessman and Jeff Francoeur. Hessman is what some may call a career minor leaguer. He put up solid numbers in the minors but when he made it to the big show he failed miserably. On the other hand, Francoeur didn't really have great numbers in the minors but they were respectable. When called up, he exploded on the scene. Granted in Francoeur's case, no one could have predicted his impact with Atlanta based on his stats from the minors.

Lists are complied every year of who are considered to be a team's top prospects. This is usually based on stats as the player's progress in each individual league. I want to list my top 5 Braves prospects for 2006. Based on other lists, my list doesn't vary too much from the general consensus.

My Top 5 Braves Prospects

1. Jarrod Saltalamacchia-C aka Salty, or Salty Dog. Jarrod has clearly taken over as the top prospect in the Atlanta organization. Last year he played in the Braves adv. rookie ball league Myrtle Beach. His numbers were impressive .314/.394/.519 19HR 81RBI 35 doubles in 400+AB's. He also is apart of Team USA and this past fall played in a qualifying tournament for the Olympics Americas Tournament to be held next August. He had 7 hits in 8 AB's including 2HR's. Salty should start the season out in Rome(A) or even Mississippi(AA) since half the team from last year now plays in either Richmond or Atlanta. If Salty continues his strong push he may be apart of the big club in 2007.

2. Chuck James-P He appeared in 2 games for Atlanta last year pitching 5.2 innings with 5K's and posting an ERA of 1.59. I can't wait to see this guy pitch every five days for Atlanta. He could be a darkhorse to make the team this year, but with Davies also bidding for a starting spot James could likely start out in Richmond(AAA) or Mississippi(AA).

3. Elvis Andrus-SS This kid is young, Andrus will only be 17 at the start of the 2006 season. He split time last year amongst the Gulf Coast Rookie League club and Danville. A majority of his playing time came from the GCL. Expect a slow growth to the bigs for Andrus. Renteria will man SS for the next three years and by that time he could be ready. It won't be without competition, but we'll get to that in a bit. With continuing success Andrus will easily be a top 5 prospect for coming years.

4. Eric Campbell-3B Will Campbell take over third when Chipper retires? His name has been mentioned since Marte was traded. Campbell and another prospect Van Pope are the frontrunners for 3B in a couple of years. Campbell shared the 2005 Appalachian League POY award with teammate Max Ramirez. He's a power hitter, going .313/.383/.634 last year. Campbell should now move on to Myrtle Beach or maybe Rome.

5. Yunel Escobar-SS-He's one step ahead of Elvis Andrus and will be competing for SS in the future. Escobar had 12 hits in 30AB's at Danville and quickly was promoted to Rome where he continued the good numbers. .313/.358/.470 in 198AB's. Escobar could be playing in Mississippi sometime this year. Luis Hernandez, the SS at Miss. has not been very good since making the leap from the GCL.

Keep these guys in mind: Brandon Jones-OF, Anthony Lerew-P, Scott Thorman-1B