Prospect Pipeline

The future of baseball has been on display this spring, with countless top-ranked prospects opening eyes with their performances on a daily basis.

However, with the start of the regular season around the corner, teams have started to trim their rosters by optioning prospects to a specific level or reassigning them to minor league spring training. This past week, Byron Buxton, Oscar Taveras and Francisco Lindor were the biggest names among prospects to be cut from big league camp.

Fantasy baseball is a made-up game that takes into account the real-life performances of players on the field. Just because fantasy is based on reality, though, doesn't mean the two always line up just so—especially when it comes to prospects.

After all, value on a baseball diamond can be a whole lot different than value on a fantasy roster, and owners in keeper and dynasty leagues deserve to know the difference.

Every year we try to convince ourselves that spring statistics mean something, using a player’s small sample of production in March to project his performance over a full season in the major leagues. It’s a fun exercise after the long, boring offseason, but deep down inside, we know it’s not a true predictor for future success.

However, all the cautionary tales and disclaimers associated with spring statistics are blatantly disregarded when the player is a highly touted prospect.

The New York Mets will be without ace Matt Harvey in 2014 as he recovers from Tommy John surgery. Luckily, the team still has a host of promising young arms to look forward to in right-handers Zack Wheeler, Noah Syndergaard and Rafael Montero.

The St. Louis Cardinals reached the World Series last season for the fourth time in the last decade, and they did so with a roster of mostly homegrown players. Even after losing Carlos Beltran to free agency, the Cardinals were viewed as potential contenders headed into 2014 given the holdovers from last year’s club.

Spring training statistics can be horribly misleading. With so many young, inexperienced prospects in big league camp, it’s imperative that all numbers be analyzed within context. At the same time, it’s hard not to get excited when a prospect makes an immediate impact.

All eyes were on Jose Abreu Friday afternoon, as the Cuban slugger made his highly anticipated White Sox debut after signing a four-year, $68 million contract during the offseason.

Hyun-Jin Ryu emerged as one of the top rookie pitchers in the National League in 2013, serving as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ third starter for the entire season and making all but one scheduled start. 

It may not count in the standings, but all eyes were focused on George Steinbrenner Field on Tuesday afternoon as the New York Yankees played host to Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston and the Florida State Seminoles. 

Now that teams have reported to spring training and taken part in full workouts, the games can begin, which means we get a chance to see what the best minor leaguers in baseball will do against proven stars. 

Sometimes prospects will parlay a strong spring into a surprise MLB job right out of camp, like Jackie Bradley did with Boston or Aaron Hicks did with Minnesota last year. It's often dangerous to put stock in spring numbers because of sample-size issues and shifts in competition.