USA – Baltimore Orioles prized catcher Matt Wieters has been tabbed as the top prospect in Baseball America’s 20th annual Top 100 Prospects list which was announced recently.

Wieters is expected to make the big-league club this season after an outstanding minor league debut in 2008. The 22-year-old on-base plus slugging percentage between two minor league levels last season was an eye-catching 1.054.

Former Vanderbilt standout and current Tampa Bay Rays southpaw David Price came in at number two followed by St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Colby Rasmus. A pair of Atlanta Braves, right-hander Tommy Hanson and outfield Jason Heyward, round out the five best prospects entering the 2009 season.

Price, 23, fanned 109 in 110 minor league innings, between three levels last season. The 22-year-old Rasmus led Russell County High to Alabama and national championships in 2005, when he also was a first-round pick.

Hanson, 22, tallied 49 strikeouts in just 29 innings in the Arizona Fall League, when he became the first pitcher to win the league MVP award. Heyward, just 19, was the 14th overall pick in the 2007 draft where the Braves grabbed him after the projected Top 10 pick fell into their laps.

Baseball America’s Top 20 Prospects

01 – MATT WIETERS, ORIOLES (C)
02 – DAVID PRICE, RAYS (LHP)
03 – COLBY RASMUS, CARDINALS (OF)
04 – TOMMY HANSON, BRAVES (RHP)
05 – JASON HEYWARD, BRAVES (OF)
06 – TRAVIS SNIDER, BLUE JAYS (OF)
07 – BRETT ANDERSON, ATHLETICS (LHP)
08 – CAMERON MAYBIN, MARLINS (OF)
09 – MADISON BUMGARNER, GIANTS (LHP)
10 – NEFTALI FELIZ, RANGERS (RHP)
11 – TREVOR CAHILL, ATHLETICS (RHP)
12 – PEDRO ALVAREZ, PIRATES (3B)
13 – MIKE MOUSTAKAS, ROYALS (3B)
14 – BUSTER POSEY, GIANTS (C)
15 – DEXTER FOWLER, ROCKIES (OF)
16 – MIKE STANTON, MARLINS (OF)
17 – LARS ANDERSON, RED SOX (1B)
18 – LOGAN MORRISON, MARLINS (1B)
19 – ALCIDES ESCOBAR, BREWERS (SS)
20 – GORDON BECKHAM, WHITE SOX (SS)

Please visit Baseball America for complete list of Top 100 Prospects.

Tags: Prospects