ESPNTheMag.Com Presents: All-World Power Rankings

Who's gonna be the "breakout player" for MLB in 2009?

by Ted Bauer

Getty Images

No idea if the Reds will be good this year, but this guy should be.

We rolled out a pretty diverse (in terms of multimedia) Tim Lincecum feature package today. Our friends over at Insider have done "Breakout Pitchers" () and "Breakout Hitters." () Seems time for us to give it a whirl.

TOP 5
RANK (YESTERDAY)		WHAT	WHY
	1 (14)	JAY BRUCE (REDS)	If you Google "breakout 2009 MLB players," Bruce is all over the joint. Check out this list, for example. He doesn't have a ton of protection in the lineup, honestly, but he's a masher and should have a good season.
	2 (410)	JUSTIN UPTON (DIAMONDBACKS)	He might be a candidate for No. 1 on this list. The D-Backs are an intriguing team. Do you think they have an outside shot to win it all? They could. If Upton gets to the playoffs and goes nuts like his bro did last year, that'd be cool. Hey, here's a video we did with 'em!
	3 (21)	MATT JOYCE (RAYS)	AL East is confusing: Yanks spent huge money, Red Sox have great (if healthy) pitching, but the Rays are the defending league champs. Joyce could win the RF job and be a key factor in the three-team shuffle. We did a department piece on him last issue; ya gotta be an ESPN Insider to read it, but go here.
	4 (127)	ELIJAH DUKES (NATIONALS)	Seems more mature now. Played half the season last year and had 13 HR and 44 RBI. Nationals lineup isn't bad: Lastings Milledge, Josh Willingham, Nick Johnson, Ryan Zimmerman. He could string together some nice numbers. Here's a good article on him.
	5 (899)	MAX SCHERZER (DIAMONDBACKS)	He might be too high on this list, but we're putting him here more in a "needs to breakout for the sake of the Diamondbacks" way. He could become the No. 3 guy in that rotation behind two consistently above average (great?) pitchers.

HONORABLE MENTION
RANK (YESTERDAY)		WHAT	WHY
	18 (144)	CAMERON MAYBIN (MARLINS)	Marlins are another interesting team; read this Jayson Stark tidbit about 'em. Maybin seems like a potentially dynamic player and that lineup has some protection in it.
	28 (701)	BILLY BUTLER (ROYALS)	Always challenging to put a Royal on a list like this (we actually think Alex Gordon could "break out" this year, as in "live up to his potential"), but Butler has a sweet stroke and we tend to think Dayton Moore is a smart dude.

RISING AND FALLING
MOVEMENT		WHAT
		DANA EVELAND (ATHLETICS) (Team's gonna surprise people, we think.)
		DELMON YOUNG (People put him on these lists, but we would say he's already "broken out.")