Joey Gathright

Gathright remains one of the fastest guys in baseball, and injuries to the Royals' outfield opened up enough playing time for him to show off that prowess in 2008. He stole 21 bases with just 279 at-bats, and was caught only four times. The bad news is that he still has zero power, and is too impatient at the plate (just 20 walks last season, 94 in his career). With the Cubs, he'll likely vie for a fifth outfielder role - as the Milton Bradley acquisition moves Kosuke Fukudome into a timeshare with Reed Johnson in center.

Gathright has been known one of the fastest guys in the game throughout his career, but one of the worst at getting on base, making him a reserve outfielder and professional pinch runner. He finally put it all together in 2007, hitting .341 with four triples and 10 doubles in a career-high 228 at-bats, while earning himself an everyday outfield job. The arrival of Jose Guillen crowds the Kansas City outfield a bit, but if Mark Teahen moves back to the infield, Gathright should still hold onto his job, and hopefully steal more bases than the nine he nabbed in 2007.

The Royals really wanted Gathright to become the team's leadoff hitter and center fielder of the present and future when they brought him to Kansas City in exchange for young lefty J.P. Howell. The jury is still out on Gathright, who hit just .162 in the leadoff spot, striking out 21 times in 18 games. His overall average was his lowest in three major league seasons, but his selectivity improved greatly, which gave him a career-best .321 on-base percentage. The outfield situation in Kansas City is going to get crowded with young players very quickly, so Gathright will have to improve greatly to avoid a life as a fourth outfielder and pinch runner.

He is considered by many to be the fastest human in a baseball uniform. However, Tampa Bay is just about convinced that Gathright can't play center at Tropicana Field, and his on-base average in the bigs didn't improve in 2005. (And, unlike teammates Jorge Cantu and Carl Crawford, Gathright has nowhere near enough power to compensate.) Check in the spring to see if Gathright will get regular playing time, and then bid appropriately for his steals (and nothing more) on auction day.

Gathright might be the fastest baseball player alive. He was 134-for-176 in steal attempts (76 percent) in just 262 career minor league games before coming up to the bigs last year. That makes him, at worst, as valuable as Alex Sanchez if he gets playing time, since he's delivered an OBP of .384 or better at each minor-league stop. With limited power, he'll have to do the same in the majors to remain a big leaguer. The signing of Danny Bautista by the Devil Rays lessens the likelihood that Gathright starts regularly. He hurt his shoulder in the AFL, but it doesn't seem that will keep him out of spring training.

Gathright led the minors in steals (69-for-85, 81 percent) for most of last season before missing the last few weeks with a dislocated shoulder. Offseason surgery went well and he should be ready for spring training. Unlike the historical caricatures of prototypical Devil Rays prospects, Gathright showed great plate discipline in 2003 (combined 64-to-46 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 425 ABs at two levels last year). In other words, he's a Carl Crawford who can actually take a pitch. He'll start 2004 back at Double-A, but he's on the Rays' fast track.

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