April 1, 2061
by Banjo Jackson
Nashville, TN
Last year the Bluebirds reloaded their farm system to be #1 in the BBA, and this offseason has seen Nashville become even stronger on the farm. 1B De-shi Kuo and 3B Francisco Calderón excelled as rookies last season. While Kuo was on my Hatchling Report in 2059, Calderon never made an appearance, but still won the Gillstrom award for the Bluebirds in 2060. Bob Loblaw was voted the best newcomer pitcher in the Frick League and also never appeared on the list. Goes to show how strong Nashville’s farm system really is when prospects outside the top-10 are still outperforming the rest of the league. Kuo, on the other hand, played a vital role in the Bluebirds success and saw himself getting more playing time throughout the year, finishing with a .970 OPS and making it easier to part ways with Juan Rivera and Wafid Bishr. While former prospects have gone on to become big time players in Nashville, their spots on the top 10 list were quickly filled with others hoping to crack the 27 man roster of the BBA Champs.
| Banjo's Rank | Position | Player | OSA Rank | ETA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | RHP | Bin-ying ‘Bye Bye’ Yen | 11 | 2061 |
| 2 | LF | Cüneyt 'Roomba' Tanju | 9 | 2065 |
| 3 | CF | Zee-loo Tsao | 14 | 2062 |
| 4 | SS | Luke Cage | 29 | 2063 |
| 5 | C | Michael Cantu | 108 | 2061 |
| 6 | RHP | Brent ‘Black Jack’ Chappel | 33 | 2063 |
| 7 | SS | Lau-po Chou | 89 | 2065 |
| 8 | CF | Carter ‘Fortnite’ Cramer | 31 | 2063 |
| 9 | 1B | Fernando Sanchez | 13 | 2061 |
| 10 | CF | Adolf Dragota | 140 | 2063 |
What I love most about this list is the parity of ETAs. Some of these names will be in Nashville as early as this season and there should be a steady flow of talent through at least 2065. Armando Ortíz will begin the season in Nashville’s rotation, but wasn’t in the top-10 last season, despite being on the list previously in 2059. Javier Basanta, who battled Ortiz for the final rotation spot, could easily be 10b on this list. He narrowly lost out the battle with Ortiz and will be the first name up if a pitcher goes down with a long injury. Jesús Romero is another snub, despite winning the AAA Platinum Stick Award two of the past three seasons. His ceiling isn’t quite as high as the others, but he should be a useful player for the Bluebirds. RF Ra’id Usamah was once a coveted prospect, but fell off the top-10 list this spring. It doesn’t look like he will ever be as good as we had hoped, but he is expected to make the Opening Day roster, regardless.
All of these players are expected to contribute at the BBA level at some point in the near future. Surely, this list is likely to change over time and several youngsters may have been snubbed, but these are the ten candidates most likely to contribute in the future. Hopefully we see many of these faces with the Bluebirds, but surely some will fall victim to a trades to help improve the team. Either way, they are all valued commodities for the organization and will help lead the way to more titles.
