The Best Of........

It's a Wednesday evening and I am not doing anything really, so I decided to give you some of my "best of" lists around baseball.  First up is the best MLB players by age....

BEST PLAYER BY AGE

20-Bryce Harper, OF, Washington Nationals
21-Manny Machado, 3B, Baltimore Orioles
22-Mike Trout, OF, Los Angeles Angels
23-Giancarlo Stanton, OF, Miami Marlins
24-Matt Harvey, SP, New York Mets
25-Clayton Kershaw, SP, Los Angeles Dodgers
26-Andrew McCutchen, OF, Pittsburgh Pirates
27-Carlos Gonzalez, OF, Colorado Rockies
28-Troy Tulowitzki, SS, Colorado Rockies
29-Joey Votto, 1B, Cincinnati Reds
30-Miguel Cabrera, 3B, Detroit Tigers
31-Yadier Molina, C, St. Louis Cardinals
32-Jose Bautista, OF, Toronto Blue Jays
33-Matt Holliday, OF, St. Louis Cardinals
34-Cliff Lee, SP, Philadelphia Phillies
35-Grant Balfour, RP, Oakland Athletics
36-Carlos Beltran, OF, St. Louis Cardinals
37-David Ortiz, DH, Boston Red Sox
38-Hiroki Kuroda, SP, New York Yankees
39-Derek Jeter, SS, New York Yankees
40-Bartolo Colon, SP, Oakland Athletics
41-Raul Ibanez, OF, Seattle Mariners
42-Jason Giambi, DH, Cleveland Indians
43-Mariano Rivers, RP, New York Yankees

There you have it, the best player by age.  Feel free to dispute my picks if you so feel.  Next up is the best players by country (Had to be born there).

BEST PLAYER BY COUNTRY

Australia-Grant Balfour, RP, Oakland Athletics
Brazil-Yan Gomes, C, Cleveland Indians
Canada-Joey Votto, 1B, Cincinnati Reds
Colombia-Julio Teheran, SP, Atlanta Braves
Cuba-Yasiel Puig, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers
Curacao-Andrelton Simmons, SS, Atlanta Braves
Dominican Republic-Robinson Cano, 2B, New York Yankees
Italy-Alex Liddi, IF, Seattle Mariners
Japan-Yu Darvish, SP, Texas Rangers
Mexico-Adrian Gonzalez, 1B, Los Angeles Dodgers
Netherlands-Didi Gregorious, SS, Arizona Diamondbacks
Nicaragua-Everth Cabrera, SS, San Diego Padres
Panama-Mariano Rivera, RP, New York Yankees
Puerto Rico-Yadier Molina, C, St. Louis Cardinals
South Korea-Shin-Soo Choo, OF, Cincinnati Reds
Taiwan-Wei-Yin Chen, SP, Baltimore Orioles
United States-Mike Trout, OF, Los Angeles Angels
Venezuela-Miguel Cabrera, 3B, Detroit Tigers

There are your best players by country of birth.  Some interesting representatives, including Italy and Taiwan.  Other countries like Germany have had players debut this year (Donald Lutz), by I only went by guys who are on active rosters.

Let's dip into the top prospects for each team now

BEST PROSPECT BY TEAM


Arizona Diamondbacks-Archie Bradley, SP, AA Mobile BayBears
Atlanta Braves-Christian Bethancourt, C, AA Mississippi Braves
Baltimore Orioles-Kevin Gausman, SP, AAA Norfolk Tides
Boston Red Sox-Xander Boegaerts, SS, AAA Pawtucket Red Sox
Chicago Cubs-Kris Bryant, 3B, A+ Daytona Cubs
Chicago White Sox-Erik Johnson, SP, AAA Charlotte Knights
Cincinnati Reds-Robert Stephenson, SP, AA Pensacola Blue Wahoos
Cleveland Indians-Francisco Lindor, SS, AA Akron Aeros
Colorado Rockies-Jonathan Gray, SP, A+ Modesto Nuts
Detroit Tigers-Nick Castellanos, OF, AAA Toledo Mud Hens
Houston Astros-Carlos Correa, SS, A Quad City River Bandits
Kansas City Royals-Yordano Ventura, SP, AAA Omaha Storm Chasers
Los Angeles Angels-Kaleb Cowart, 3B, AA Arkansas Travelers
Los Angeles Dodgers-Julio Urias, SP, A Great Lake Loons
Miami Marlins-Andrew Heaney, SP, AA Jacksonville Suns
Milwaukee Brewers-Johnny Helweg, SP, AAA Nashville Sounds
Minnesota Twins-Byron Buxton, OF, A+ Ft. Myers Miracle
New York Mets-Noah Syndergaard, SP, AA Binghamton Mets
New York Yankees-Gary Sanchez, C, AA Trenton Thunder
Oakland Athletics-Addison Russell, SS, A+ Stockton Ports
Philadelphia Phillies-Jesse Biddle, SP, AA Reading Fightin Phils
Pittsburgh Pirates-Jameson Taillon, SP, AAA Indianapolis Indians
San Diego Padres-Austin Hedges, C, AA San Antonio Missions
San Francisco Giants-Kyle Crick, SP, High A San Jose Giants
Seattle Mariners-Taijuan Walker, SP, AAA Tacoma Rainiers
St. Louis Cardinals-Oscar Taveras, OF, AAA Memphis Cardinals
Tampa Bay Rays-Jake Odorizzi, SP, AAA Durham Bulls
Texas Rangers-Jorge Alfaro, C, A+ Hickory Crawdads
Toronto Blue Jays-Aaron Sanchez, SP, A+ Dunedin Blue Jays
Washington Nationals-Lucas Giolito, SP, Rookie Gulf Coast League Nationals

There is my top prospect for each team.  Go look them up and get excited for your teams' future.  For my last list, I'm gonna stick with prospects, but I'm gonna get Cubs specific for you Chicago fans.  I will give the top 20 guys, and while I will most likely do a longer and more descriptive list in the off-season, here is what you get for now

CHICAGO CUBS TOP 20 PROSPECTS

1. Kris Bryant, 3B, A+ Daytona Cubs
2. Javier Baez, SS, AA Tennessee Smokies 
3. Albert Almora, OF, A Kane County Cougars 
4. Jorge Soler, OF, A+ Daytona Cubs
5. Arismendy Alcantara, 2B, AA Tennessee Smokies
6. Mike Olt, 3B, AAA Iowa Cubs
7. Pierce Johnson, P, A+ Daytona Cubs
8. CJ Edwards, P, A+ Daytona Cubs
9. Dan Vogelbach, 1B, A+ Daytona Cubs
10. Arodys Vizcaino, P, Disabled List
11. Jeimer Candelario, 3B, A Kane County
12. Rob Zastryzny, P, A Kane County
13. Kyle Hendricks, P AAA Iowa Cubs
14. Gioskar Amaya, 2B A Kane County
15. Christian Villanueva, 3B AA Tennessee Smokies
16. Trey Masek, P, A- Boise Hawks
17. Zach Rosscup, P, AAA Iowa Cubs
18. Paul Blackburn, P, A- Boise Hawks
19. Jae-Hoon Ha, OF, AAA Iowa Cubs
20. Matt Szczur, OF, AA Tennessee Smokies