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Bopping 1B -- Carp his .791 last season -- and his previous 12 months in the minors hit more than 40 HRs. The question with Carp is more - can he get healthy? Since this is his first injury of note, I'm thinking the club simply rushed him back too soon, making a bad situation worse. Let's see if he shakes off the rust and belts a few in the next two months before concluding the club doesn't have a bopping 1B.
The OF of Saunders, Guti, Wells is actually not bad. Saunders "might" just turn into a 30 HR guy, (and he's pretty much already shown his new swing makes him a 20-HR guy). The questions about Guti are larger, of course ... but we're still talking small sample sizes for the kids.
Franklin is supposed to be the SS of the future - and Ryan is the place holder. Will Franklin be ready by 2013?
You do a great job of noting that it often takes YEARS for pitchers to learn the ropes and gel into successful players. The same thing is true with hitters. The Ms youth movement is effectively 12 months old at this point. Many of the kids are just now reaching 500+ MLB PAs. Some will implode like Smoak. Others will probably succeed. The problem is, nobody knows which are which until after the fact.
Was there anyone on the planet who said prior to 2012 that the top 4 hitters for the Ms this season would be:
Jaso
Wells
Saunders
Seager
The "stars" have failed and the "scrubs" have succeeded. It won't always be quite so chaotic, but any import at this point is either blocking a prospect or will be within 9 months.