Ramon Nivar

Nivar sunk like a stone in 2004 after rocketing through the minors in 2003. His bad .263/.289/.372 season at Triple-A Oklahoma City and poor base stealing instincts (14-for-28) don't bode well. He's splitting time between second base and center field now and his early season numbers in the Dominican winter league show some return to form. He basically came out of nowhere in 2003; he could disappear just as quickly if he doesn't turn it around soon.

Nivar burst onto the prospect scene by hitting .347 at Double-A, stopping briefly at Triple-A and earning a promotion to Texas, where he proceeded to hit .211 in 90 at-bats. His base-stealing instincts are poor for a speedy runner, and he doesn't draw any walks or strike out that often. The easy comparison is Luis Castillo, minus the walks, which isn't all that valuable. Nivar's approach at the plate is simple - he's going to try and beat the ball in the ground, run like hell for 90 feet, and let an arbiter decide if he was safe or not. His season will come down to 20 close plays at the end of the year, which will either add or subtract 30 points from his batting average.

He was widely considered to be a future utility type player (under his 'old' name of Ramon Martinez) before bursting onto the prospect scene early in 2003. There's some question how his contact, slap-hitting ways will translate to the big leagues.