5. Mark Richardson – Age: 26* – 2B – .270/.327/.482

Mark was the 5^th overall pick in the Inaugural Draft by the Florida Featherheads.  His first season in the league showed some great things, such as 24 home runs and 103 RBI.  It also showed some things he needed to improve on, such as a .293 OBP and a 46% steal rate.  Mark dedicated himself in the offseason and it showed in a big way.  ’08 brought a 30 HR/30 SB season.  He improved his patience while lowering his strikeouts.  ’09 was more of the same for Richardson, getting his second 30/30 season in the books.  Richardson can easily handle 2B, SS or 3B, with All-Leather ability at any of them.  He may be the best fielding infielder in the league.  He’s that good.  Mark does still need to work on his plate discipline, but it’s such a minor detail when you look at the whole package.

Unfortunately for fans of the PEBA, we won’t be seeing Richardson anytime soon as he fractured his cheekbone in late September.  Mark was seriously being considered for the top spot before his injury.  Here’s hoping this great talent comes back better than ever.

Florida GM Kevin Lewis shared his thoughts with us: “I'm being a little biased here, but I'd definitely have to throw Mark Richardson's name into the mix.  The man does everything well.  He can hit… hit for power… steal bases.  You can bring up stats like consecutive "30-30" seasons or winning the All-Leather at both SS and 2B, but the most impressive thing is he does all this at a position you would not expect: middle infield.  Bringing that quality to a team is quite an advantage.  It's like having a tight end in football who can catch passes or having a defender in hockey who can handle the puck and score.  Richardson just brings skills to the table at a position you normally do not expect much from.”

* Mark turned 26 three days before he injured his cheekbone.

Steve was drafted in the 3^rd round of the Inaugural Draft by the Aurora Borealis.  He played full-time that year at 2B as a 20-year-old, putting up an impressive line of .299/.343/.416 with 33 steals.  When a kid shows this much potential that early, you know you have something great on your hands.  2008 proved that McDonald was no flash in the pan as he put up a whopping 71.7 VORP while improving his plate discipline substantially.  ’09 was another banner year for McDonald.  He put up 71.2 VORP while showing off a .423 OBP.  Steve is yet another player on this list that brings a huge amount of offense to a traditionally defensive position.  The only knock on the kid is that he doesn’t have a ton of pop, hitting 21 home runs in his career.  There is more than one way to skin a cat, though, and Steve seems to have figured out multiple ways to do it.

John Rodriguez, Sr. chimed in on what he thinks of McDonald:  “Can you believe little Stevie is still only 22?  He hates it when I call him "Stevie", but come on… he's twenty-two!  Without a doubt, he's the heart and soul of our organization.  I knew he was going to be a good one when we drafted him, but I don't think any of us realized he'd be this good, this fast.”

George was the 2^nd round draft pick of the Aurora Borealis in the inaugural draft.  Standing at only 5’10”, Thompson shows off a blazing 98 MPH fastball with a changeup/slider compliment.  Whatever he’s doing, it seems to be working.  Thompson is the career leader in strikeouts with 753.  He has pitched 543 innings in his young career and only given up 371 hits.  The only bad thing you could say about him is that his walk totals are a touch high, but when you are striking out as many as George you can give up a few walks and still be dominant.  I have to think the defense gets a little bored out there when this guy pitches.

John Rodriguez, Sr.’s thoughts on George:  “Who else?  George has gotten better and better each year.  Of course he's known for the Ks, but what's impressed me the most is the time he's put into the training room to build his endurance.  All those wind sprints are paying off, too; he's gone from a paltry 4.75 innings per start in 2007 to 6.17 in 2008 and 6.51 this year.  He's been around so long, you forget the kid is still just 25.”

Scott Miller, GM of the Underground, gave us his thoughts as well: “George is special because he has closer stuff in a starter’s body.  You just don’t see that everyday.  Whenever we have a day off, I’ll check to see if he’s pitching and watch it on my PEBA Extra Innings package.”

2. Orlando Germán – Age: 23 – CF – .283/.359/.456

Orlando was drafted in the 6^th round of the Inaugural Draft by the London Underground.  Before he could legally drink, he was manning center field at Wembley Stadium.  He showed promise that year, hitting .266/.337/.430 before tearing a rib cage muscle, ending his season.  Germán came back in ’08 and showed some improvement with a 29.4 VORP and 30 steals to go along with an All-Leather Award in center.  ’09 was the true break out year for Germán, as everything seemed to click to the tune of a .303/.389/.502 batting line.  He put up his first 20 home run year along with his first 50 stolen base season.  Germán has an amazing ability to play centerfield with great range and an above average arm.  He is also one of the best base stealers in the league.  There are very few holes in his game, as he even switch hits, handling lefties just as well as righties.

Here is what Kevin Lewis, GM of the Featherheads, had to say about Germán:  “Germán is the very definition of a 5-tool player.  It's hard to criticize his game because he does everything well.  What I like about him is that he does this at a very premium position.  Traditionally, centerfield is not a supreme offensive position.  Germán changes all that.  Offensively, he brings a ton of versatility.  You can have him leadoff or put him in the 3-hole.  He can drive in runs or generate runs by using his legs.  He is the complete package and would be my first choice in starting a team.  I believe pitching and defense wins, but if you were to start a team with one player you have to go with a position player because he is out there every single game whereas a starter is every 5 games.”

1b. Dean O'Monahan – Age: 25 – SP – 41-12 / 2.79 ERA / 151 BB / 441 K / 1.15 WHIP

Dean was the second round draft pick of the Charleston Statesmen in the ’07 Inaugural Draft.  Dean is a lefty who shows three plus pitches and tops out at 93 on the gun.  He spent most of ’07 slicing up the minors before getting a cup of coffee at the end of the year.  Dean moved into the starting rotation for ’08 and showed great promise with a 39.6 VORP and 179 punch-outs in 187 2/3^rd innings.  If fans thought they saw great improvement between ’07 and ’08, they were totally floored by what they saw in ’09.  O’Monahan put up one of the single greatest pitching performances in PEBA history.  26 wins against 3 losses only scrapes the surface of this great year.  A 1.07 WHIP and 233 Ks to go along with only 9 home runs allowed in 227 innings shows a dominance only the very elite will ever hope to attain.  He has had some problems with finger blisters, but it is about the only negative you can say about him.

GM Lewis shared his thoughts about O’Monahan:  “O'Monahan is virtually an automatic win every time he gets the ball.  Not only is he a winner but he is a leader.  He is the type of pitcher I want leading my staff.  The movement on his pitches is filthy.  Plus the guy even throws a screwball!  The thing I like best about O'Monahan is that he is a pitcher.  He does not try to overpower you with a 95 MPH baseball.  He picks a batter apart like a surgeon.  He mixes speeds well and keeps you off-balance.”

1a. Markus Hancock – Age: 23 – SP – 14-17 / 3.14 ERA / 74 BB / 230 K / 1.14 WHIP

Markus was selected in the 2008 first year player draft by the Tempe Knights.  Hancock was no doubt the elite talent that year, coming out of the St. John's Kaisers baseball program.  He has a 4-pitch repertoire, showcasing mid 90s heat.  He has a great frame and outstanding endurance.  He also shows great intelligence and a work ethic that was praised by many scouts.  With that resume, Hancock rocketed his way through the minors, making only 9 starts total between AA and AAA.  He got the call to Tempe that same year and struggled, to put it mildly.  He went 0-6 with a 6.94 ERA, 24 BB and 20 Ks.  There was much speculation about whether or not he should be on the big club so soon.

2009 showed that Hancock did belong.  In fact, he became one of the elite pitchers in the SL.  Hancock’s greatness comes through with his impeccable control (2.14 BB/9) while also having the ability to throw it by people (9.00 K/9).  A 63.7 VORP in his first full season will also turn some heads.  The scary thing about Markus is that he hasn’t hit his full potential.  To emphasize his dominance, Hancock pitched a gem on September 29^th against the Yuma Bulldozers.  In 8 innings, he gave up 6 hits, 1 walk and 18 strikeouts to set the all-time record.  True aces are so valuable in this game and Tempe has themselves someone they can build around for the next decade.

GM Lewis puts it well when he speaks of Hancock: “Markus Hancock is what I like to call a wonder child.  It barely took him a year of minor league seasoning before he was ready for the big show.  His maturity and growth is very impressive.  I would have to say he is the best 25 (years old) and under in PEBA.  If you put him in Aurora or New Orleans, he'll probably be the talk of baseball.  He'd have 25 wins if he was playing for those teams.  He is a smart pitcher who works hard.  You put those two attributes together with talent and you got something special.  Sure everyone can work hard and learn, but not everyone can have talent.  The stuff that Hancock has is just pure natural talent.”

Well, there you have it folks.  The 25 best young players in the PEBA.  Do you agree with the list?  Care to share your thoughts?  We had fun writing the article and hope it starts some lively debate about the best young players the PEBA has to offer.