Best Reasons to Lose in 2010

My preseason prospect list only included players who were/are available in Benchwarmer. As a BWB admin, I'd say the most frequently asked question (to which I actually know the answer) is when new players become available. The rule:

After the initial load of the master list in December, players will be added to the master list only for these reasons:

• They are promoted to a major league roster AND earn major league statistics.
• They are a number one draft pick in the amateur draft. This is only for one of the top 30 picks and does not include any of the supplemental picks. (If supplemental picks are added in the middle of the first round, they will be included...the intent here is to cover all the primary 30 team slots in the first round).

Putting this another way, no players will be added to the list between January and April – despite signings of players from Japan, Korea, Cuba, etc. and despite any expectations that a minor leaguer not currently on the BWB list will make a major league roster. These players must play in a regular season game before they make our list.

So non first-round draft picks who aren't initially on the 40 man roster trickle in throughout the season. Obviously, a few might even be there the first week. It's important to attempt to jump on these $100 players, as they can be signed cheap and kept under control for a good while (just like in MLB) . Moreover, teams doing the worst pick free agents first, so there is always a reason to pay attention. Here's a quick list of guys definitely worth making room for :

Aroldis Chapman - SP - Cin
Jesus Montero - C- NYY
Jenrry Mejia - RP - NYM
Mike Stanton - OF - Fla
Martin Perez - SP - Tex
Michael Taylor - OF - Oak
Domonic Brown - OF - Phi
Starlin Castro - SS - ChC
Logan Morrison - 1B - Fla
Alex Colome - SP - TB
Matt Moore - SP - TB
Todd Frazier - 2B - Cin
Derek Norris - C - Was
Dee Gordon - SS - LAD
Noel Arguelles - SP - KC
Zach Stewart - P - Tor

My 2010 Top Benchwarmer Baseball Prospects

I am defining "prospect" as any player eligible for rookie status in 2010. For the purpose of this list the player must be currently on the Benchwarmer player list. For the "starters" I am choosing based on a combination of upside and the ability to contribute to a BWB lineup sooner rather than later (i.e. having a job is a big help). All salaries are 100 unless noted otherwise.

Here is a full Benchwarmer starting roster (+ taxi squad):

updated 1/25/10

C: Buster Posey - SF
1B: Justin Smoak - Tex
2B: Scott Sizemore - Det
SS: Alcides Escobar - Mil (Salary 147)
3B: Pedro Alvarez - Pit
OF: Jason Heyward - Atl
OF: Desmond Jennings - TB
OF: Dustin Ackley - Sea
DH: Brett Wallace - Tor
B1: Chris Carter - 1B - Oak
B2: Carlos Santana - C - Cle
B3: Fernando Martinez - OF - NYM (Salary 106)
B4: Ian Desmond - SS/2B - Was (Salary 109)
B5: David Freese - 3B/C/1B - StL
SP1: Neftali Feliz - Tex (Salary 200)
SP2: Stephen Strasburg - Was
SP3: Wade Davis - TB (Salary 202)
SP4: Brian Matusz - Bal (Salary 200)
SP5: Jeremy Hellickson - TB
SS1: Kyle Drabek - Tor
SS2: Madison Bumgarner - SF
RP1: Daniel Bard - Bos (Salary 497)
RP2: Drew Storen - Was
RP3: Daniel Schlereth- Det
RP4: Clevelan Santeliz - CWS
RP5: Carlos Gutierrez - Min
T1: Jacob Turner - SP - Det
T2: Chris Heisey - OF - Cin

Here are 12 longer term picks to fill out our roster's minor league spots. Looking for ultimate upside here. I may tweak this (so many choices!):

M1: Aaron Hicks - OF - Min (a homer pick, but so was Joe Mauer)
M2: Donovan Tate - OF - SD
M3: Bobby Borchering -3B - Ari
M4: Mike Trout - OF - LAA
M5: Jared Mitchell - OF - CWS
M6: Lonnie Chisenhall - SS - Cle
M7: Ike Davis - 1B - NYM
M8: Tyler Matzek - P - Col
M9: Casey Kelly - P (SS?)- Bos
M10: Chris Withrow - P - LAD
M11: Shelby Miller - P - StL
M12: Josh Vitters - 3B - ChC


OK, who did I forget? Or, which recent first round draft picks will be better BWB contributors than these guys? Comments encouraged.