Which Young MLBers Would You Rather Have at Each Position?

For the purposes of the debate, I narrowed the scope to guys that are 24 and younger:

C: Willin Rosario, Salvador Perez

Age really limits guys here, as there are very few young catchers in baseball. Perez has a pheonemal all around skill set but Rosario has clearly outperformed him to date.

Jesus Montero is so bad behind the plate, he's basically DH only. Rob Brantly and Derek Norris aren't doing much to inspire.

1B: Anthony Rizzo, Eric Hosmer or Freddie Freeman

Freeman has the most production of the three by a long shot.

So what you have here is a race for 2nd between Hosmer's overall package and potential against Rizzo's raw power.

Having watched both play a lot, I like Rizzo considerably more.

Matt Adams could get a nod if he got enough PT.

2B: Jose Altuve, Jedd Gyorko, Josh Rutledge, Jurickson Profar

Again, not a ton of choices. Altuve clearly has the best overall numbers and he plays good defense. He really slumped over the back half of 2012, but he's hitting again early.

Profar is easily the most skilled, but we haven't seen him play any significant amount.

SS: Jean Segura, Andrelton Simmons, Elvis Andrus, Starlin Castro, Didi Gregorious

This is probably the most compelling position. 4 young studs. Castro is the best pure hitter of the bunch, but also the worst defender by a mile.

Segura has the smallest sample but he's absolutely raked in 2013 to go with solid D.

Andrus and Simmons are probably two of the best three defensive SS in baseball, but both are off and on hitters.

Gregorious is off to a hot hitting start, but there's nothing in his minor league numbers to lead us to believe it'll stick.

I'd probably choose Andrus, though he's the oldest of the bunch.

3B: Manny Machado, Mike Moustakas, Will Middlebrooks, Nolan Arenado, Brett Lawrie

To me, this one is Machado hands down. He's just a natural.

Moose still has a lot of tools and plays a good 3B.

Middlebrooks is wretched on the hot corner, but probably has the most raw power of the group.

Arenado is slick fielding but hasn't done much at the dish so far.

Brett Lawrie's production still isn't matching his tools.

LF: Mike Trout, Starling Marte, Bryce Harper

Okay, okay, Marte doesn't belong... yet. But his total package may put him in the combination. He plays an excellent LF, hits for some pop and will swipe bags. He's got tools to be better than Carl Crawford.

Trout has one of the most tantalizing skill sets in all of baseball, though his early 2013 hasn't lived up to his lofty 2012, particularly on D.

Harper is maybe the most talented player in all of baseball. He will hit for power, draw walks, solid average, play a good LF and hustle his brains out.

CF: There's really not any stand out, young CF guys in baseball right now. Aaron Hicks gets rave reviews on D, but can't hit a lick right now.

RF: Jason Heyward or Giancarlo Stanton

Stanton has light tower power and plays a pretty solid RF.

Heyward has more of total package approach.

Both have dealt with various injuries.

SP: Matt Harvey, Chris Sale, Stephen Strasburg, Madison Bumgarner, Matt Moore

There's a couple other guys you could throw in here, but I tried to pick guys with at least a season (or close to in the case of Harvey) worth of work.

Bumgarner is, perhaps surprisingly the youngest and most experienced of the lot.

Stras probably has the most overall upside.

Harvey has been outright dominant since getting the call.

Moore had a so-so 2012, but is putting it together in 2013.

Sale made a run at the Cy last year, and is picking up right where he left off.

I think Bumgarner has the clear best career thus far, but I think I like Sale the most overall, mostly due to a slightly better K rate.