Dice-K, Jay Bruce, Matt Wieters, Jayson Heyward, and now you can add Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout to the elite list of top prospects in all of Major League Baseball as MLB.com made the announcement Monday in their annual listing of the Top 50 Prospects in Baseball.
Trout, the 25th overall pick in the 2009 MLB draft, has drawn rave reviews as a five-tool player (average, power, base running, speed and fielding), and MLB.com even considered him a six-tool ball player with character being the sixth tool. Trout has even drawn comparisons to Charlie Hustle himself, Pete Rose.
Joining Trout in the top five were Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Jeremy Hellickson, Washington Nationals high school phenom Bryce Harper, Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Domonic Brown and the 2009 No. 2 overall pick, Seattle Mariners second baseman Dustin Ackley.
This past season, Trout played Single-A ball for Cedar Rapids, where he hit .362 with 6 home runs, 45 RBI and 45 steals in just 81 games. Trout was also named MVP for the Midwest Legue while with Cedar Rapids. At the MLB All-Star break, Trout played in the Futures Game played in Anaheim and was then promoted to Advanced Single-A ball in the California League, where in 50 games played he hit .306 with 4 HR and 19 RBI.
With being tabbed as the No. 1 overall baseball prospect in the land, Trout could make an appearance in The Show sooner rather than later, despite the Angels landing Veron Wells from the Blue Jays earlier in the week. Last year's No. 1 rated prospect, Jayson Heyward, played just three games at the Triple-A level before the Atlanta Braves signed him up before the start of the 2010 season.
Trout, who is just 19 years old, is expected to start the 2011 baseball season in Arkansas playing Double-A baseball.
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