I don’t know about you, but I miss the rated rookies subset and I think when and if Donruss ever gets their MLB license back they should definitely start producing them again. So in the meantime, I thought it would be fun to create a rated rookie set for this upcoming season. Unfortunately I’m sure Donruss owns the rights to the name so I have to come up a new name. I have come up my own name, which I’m sure has already been used, but what the hell, I’ll call them RIDICULOUS ROOKIES!
The rules are simple. To qualify the player has to have finished in at least AA or higher at the end of the 2008 season. They can have MLB time but no more than 150 at bats or no more than 50 innings pitched. These are all players that should make an impact in 2009. If you have any graphics skills come up with a logo and I’ll send you some bad wax. I’ve got my list and I’m counting backwards from 20 to 1. Let me know what you think.
14 – Ridiculous Rookies – Carlos Carrasco
Player Name: Carlos Carrasco
Player’s Team: Philadelphia Phillies
Will he start the year in the majors this year?: Towards the middle of the year.
Position: starting pitcher
Outlook for this season: He flat out is a flame thrower, fully capable of a strikeout an inning. His big problem as his career minor league WHIP indicates is that he walks too many batters. He manages to keep them from scoring most of the time. But issuing that many free passes is going to kill him in the majors. He is 21 and finished his season in AAA for the Iron Pigs. I think this upcoming season, he will have to wait for an injury to make the Phillies roster, as their starting five are set. He should be the first one called up after an injury to the starters. He needs to lower his walks and he can stick, but that would be a big step for him.
His future: I have a hard time believing he would be anything more than a 2 or 3 in the rotation, but if he does indeed lower his walk totals and continues to strike out batters one per inning, then he might just have acepotential.
Card Values: They are really cheap. Even Bowman Sterling autogamers are going for a dollar. It’s worth a ganmble just in case. You probably won’t know what he is fully capable of for about 2 years.
