Who will (and should) play in the 2012 MLB Futures Game

I don't know if anyone is like me, but I love minor league baseball. What's better than watching the top up-and-coming stars of baseball rise through the ranks before the reach the big leagues? Thus, one of my favorite displays of talent is the Futures Game, which usually occurs two days before the MLB All-Star Game. Each team gets an opportunity to showcase their top talent, and all the top prospects get a chance to shine on the big stage a little earlier than their big league call up. 

While everyone awaits the Futures Game roster, which will come later in June, I decided to make a list of who I think will (and should) be included. Now it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. Each MLB team must represented but no team may have more than two players. It's difficult to determine who should be playing in the game when you have to consider the difficulties of finding a foreign-born catcher that deserves to play in the game over a star pitcher. 

Without further ado, here's who will (and should) be in the 2012 Futures Game:

*Stats and ages are as of: June 5th, 2012

U.S.

P- Matt Barnes, Boston Red Sox (Age: 21)

• 5-1, 1.04 ERA, 11 starts, 60.2 IP, 8 BB, 81 K at A/hi-A

P- Trevor Bauer, Arizona Diamondbacks (21)

• 9-1, 1.96 ERA, 12 starts, 73.1 IP, 38 BB, 91 K at AA/AAA

P- Archie Bradley, Arizona Diamondbacks (20)

• 6-3, 3.92 ERA, 12 starts, 59.2 IP, 35 BB, 56 K at A

P- Dylan Bundy, Baltimore Orioles (19)

• 2-1, 0.68 ERA, 10 starts, 40 IP, 3 BB, 53 K at A/hi-A

P- Gerrit Cole, Pittsburgh Pirates (21)

•  4-1, 2.53 ERA, 11 starts, 57 IP, 19 BB, 56 K at hi-A

P- J.R. Graham, Atlanta Braves (22)

• 6-1, 2.71 ERA, 11 starts, 69.2 IP, 15 BB, 44 K at hi-A

P- Chris Heston, San Francisco Giants (24)

• 5-2, 0.68 ERA, 11 starts, 66.2 IP, 16 BB, 60 K at AA

P- Danny Hultzen, Seattle Mariners (22)

• 6-3, 1.44 ERA, 11 starts, 62.1 IP, 30 BB, 67 K at AA

P- Daniel Rosenbaum, Washington Nationals (24)

• 7-1, 1.75 ERA, 11 starts, 77 IP, 13 BB, 45 K at AA

P- Taijuan Walker, Seattle Mariners (19)

• 4-1, 2.68 ERA, 10 starts, 50.1 IP, 18 BB, 53 K at AA

P- Zack Wheeler, New York Mets (22)

• 5-2, 1.88 ERA, 9 starts, 52.2 IP, 21 BB, 60 K at AA

C- Travis D'Arnaud, Toronto Blue Jays (23)

• .332, 66 H, 13 HR, 37 RBI, 17 BB, 1 SB at AAA

C- Derek Norris, Oakland A's (23)

• .283, 51 H, 7 HR, 33 RBI, 13 BB, 4 SB at AAA

3B- Nick Castellanos, Detroit Tigers (20)

• .405, 87 H, 3 HR, 32 RBI, 22 BB, 3 SB at AA

2B- Delino DeShields Jr., Houston Astros (19)

• .254, 54 H, 3 HR, 20 RBI, 35 BB, 37 SB at A

SS- Billy Hamilton, Cincinnati Reds (21)

• .327, 73 H, 1 HR, 18 RBI, 31 BB, 63 SB at hi-A

3B- Mike Olt, Texas Rangers (23)

• .317, 64 H, 17 HR, 45 RBI, 33 BB, 3 SB at AA

1B- Anthony Rizzo, Chicago Cubs (22)

• .363, 70 H, 17 HR, 47 RBI, 19 BB, 2 SB at AAA

1B- Jonathan Singelton, Houston Astros (20)

• .298, 57 H, 11 HR, 38 RBI, 33 BB, 2 SB at AA

2B- Kolten Wong, St. Louis Cardinals (21)

• .313, 62 H, 4 HR, 21 RBI, 18 BB, 9 SB at AA

OF- Jackie Bradley, Boston Red Sox (22)

• .384, 73 H, 3 HR, 31 RBI, 42 BB, 13 SB at hi-A

OF- Khris Davis, Milwaukee Brewers (24)

• .324, 23 H, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 11 BB, 2 SB at AA

OF- Jared Mitchell, Chicago White Sox (23)

• .296, 58 H, 4 HR, 37 RBI, 38 BB, 11 SB at AA

OF- Wil Myers, Kansas City Royals (21)

• .337, 70 H, 20 HR, 48 RBI, 21 BB, 4 SB at AA/AAA

OF- Mason Williams, New York Yankees (20)

• .291, 55 H, 4 HR, 19 RBI, 15 BB, 14 SB at A

World

P- Edwar Cabrera, Colorado Rockies (24)

• 5-4, 3.20 ERA, 11 starts, 70.1 IP, 18 BB, 58 K at AA

P- Daniel Corcino, Cincinnati Reds (21)

• 2-3, 3.79 ERA, 11 starts, 57 IP, 27 BB, 55 K at AA

P- Jose Fernandez, Miami Marlins (19)

• 6-0, 1.50 ERA, 11 starts, 60 IP, 15 BB, 78 K at A

P- Pedro Hernandez, Chicago White Sox (23)

• 7-2, 2.91 ERA, 10 starts, 58.2 IP, 18 BB, 31 K at AA

P- Rafael Montero, New York Mets (21)

• 5-2, 2.43 ERA, 10 starts, 59.1 IP, 6 BB, 44 K at A

P- Ariel Pena, Los Angeles Angels (23)

• 3-4, 3.45 ERA, 11 starts, 62.2 IP, 24 BB, 65 K at AA

P- Felipe Rivero, Tampa Bay Rays (20)

• 5-4, 2.18 ERA, 11 starts, 62 IP, 14 BB, 56 K at A

P- Julio Rodriguez, Philadelphia Phillies (21)

• 3-1, 2.67 ERA, 11 starts, 60.2 IP, 28 BB, 55 K at AA

P- Enny Romero, Tampa Bay Rays (21)

• 1-3, 3.62 ERA, 11 starts, 54.2 IP, 30 BB, 41 K at hi-A

P- Yordano Ventura, Kansas City Royals (20)

• 3-4, 2.82 ERA, 11 starts, 54.1 IP, 19 BB, 67 K at hi-A

C- Carlos Perez, Toronto Blue Jays (21)

• .268, 45 H, 3 HR, 25 RBI, 20 BB, 3 SB at A

C- Gary Sanchez, New York Yankees (19)

• .302, 60 H, 8 HR, 41 RBI, 13 BB, 10 SB at A

1B- Jesus Aguilar, Cleveland Indians (21)

• .305, 56 H, 5 HR, 25 RBI, 21 BB, 0 SB at hi-A

2B- Jesus Arredondo, Los Angeles Dodgers (21)

• .257, 43 H, 0 HR, 10 RBI, 14 BB, 7 SB at A

SS- Javier Baez, Chicago Cubs (19)

• .290, 9 H, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 2 BB, 2 SB at A

2B- Cesar Hernandez, Philadelphia Phillies (22)

• .325, 67 H, 1 HR, 29 RBI, 13 BB, 9 SB at AA

SS- Francisco Lindor, Cleveland Indians (18)

• .273, 59 H, 4 HR, 21 RBI, 13 BB, 13 SB at A

SS- Jurickson Profar, Texas Rangers (19)

• .287, 62 H, 6 HR, 24 RBI, 24 BB, 7 SB at AA

3B- Miguel Sano, Minnesota Twins (19)

• .248, 51 H, 14 HR, 44 RBI, 33 BB, 5 SB at A

SS- Jean Segura, Los Angeles Angels (22)

• .285, 63 H, 3 HR, 21 RBI, 10 BB, 22 SB at AA

OF- Oswaldo Arcia, Minnesota Twins (21)

• .330, 61 H, 7 HR, 28 RBI, 18 BB, 1 SB at hi-A

OF- Yeison Asencio, San Diego Padres (22)

• .321, 18 H, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 4 BB, 1 SB at A

OF- Rymer Liriano, San Diego Padres (20)

• .293, 60 H, 2 HR, 31 RBI, 14 BB, 18 SB at hi-A

OF- Oscar Taveras, St. Louis Cardinals (19)

• .316, 65 H, 11 HR, 40 RBI, 17 BB, 5 SB at AA

OF- Christian Yelich, Miami Marlins (20) Willy Garcia, Pittsburgh Pirates (19)

• .267, 56 H, 7 HR, 37 RBI, 12 BB, 5 SB at A

TEAMS

Baltimore Orioles - Dylan Bundy

Boston Red Sox - Bryce Brentz, Matt Barnes

New York Yankees - Gaby Sanchez, Mason Williams

Tampa Bay Rays - Enny Romero, Felipe Rivero

Toronto Blue Jays - Travis D'Arnaud, Carlos Perez

Chicago White Sox - Jared Mitchell, Pedro Hernandez

Cleveland Indians - Francisco Lindor, Jesus Aguilar

Detroit Tigers - Nick Castellanos

Kansas City Royals - Wil Myers, Yordano Ventura

Minnesota Twins - Miguel Sano, Oswaldo Arcia

Los Angeles Angels - Jean Segura, Ariel Pena

Oakland A's - Derek Norris

Seattle Mariners - Taijuan Walker, Danny Hultzen

Texas Rangers - Jurickson Profar, Mike Olt

Atlanta Braves - J.R. Graham

Miami Marlins - Jose Fernandez, Christian Yelich

New York Mets - Zack Wheeler, Rafael Montero

Philadelphia Phillies - Cesar Hernandez, Julio Rodriguez

Washington Nationals - Daniel Rosenbaum

Chicago Cubs - Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez

Cincinnati Reds - Billy Hamilton, Daniel Corcino

Houston Astros - Jonathan Singleton, Delino DeShields Jr.

Milwaukee Brewers - Khris Davis

Pittsburgh Pirates - Gerrit Cole, Willy Garcia

St. Louis Cardinals - Oscar Taveras, Kolten Wong

Arizona Diamondbacks - Trevor Bauer, Archie Bradley

Colorado Rockies - Edwar Cabrera

Los Angeles Dodgers - Jesus Arredondo

San Francisco Giants - Chris Heston

San Diego Padres - Rymer Liriano

Do you agree? Disagree? Leave a comment below and we can discuss.

I don't believe Anthony Rizzo or Trevor Bauer will play in the Futures Game because of their inevitable call ups to the big leagues, but until they are officially on a big league roster, they will stay on the list. The list will be updated as injuries and call ups occur until the official roster is released.