A small note before turning to baseball.

I get e-mails from time to time from our troops abroad. E-mail access is a wonderful thing. If there is anyone out there serving with the Enterprise or Carl Vinson battlegroups, hello from Kansas. We're behind you all the way. Same goes, of course, for Army, Air Force, and Marine personnel. Good luck; the country is behind you.

Now, let's return to baseball.

Several impressive rookies and young players populate the rosters of the playoff teams. I decided to take a look at some of the major rookies, concentrating especially on where they came from and what I see for them in the future.

Cleveland Indians
C.C. Sabathia, LHP, first-round pick, 1998, California high school

The power lefty turned just 21 in July, but led the Indians with 17 wins and was second only to Bartolo Colon in overall effectiveness. Frankly, I was surprised at how well he pitched. I thought he'd need at least half a season of Triple-A before refining his control sufficiently to survive in the majors. But he didn't just survive; he dominated at times. He benefited from good run support, and I remain concerned that control and workload issues may slow his progress. Remember the ghost of Jaret Wright, Indians fans. If Sabathia stays healthy, he should make steady progress into a consistent dominator.

Danys Baez, RHP, undrafted free agent, 1999, Cuba

Baez was supposed to be in the 2000 starting rotation, but was unimpressive in spring training and ended up spending the year in the minor leagues. He was converted to relief this year and did fine work out of the bullpen, where his lack of a changeup was not a handicap. His numbers are solid, and I expect him to remain an effective major-league pitcher for the next several years. He could close for some teams.

David Riske, RHP, 56th-round pick, 1996, Green River Community College (Wash.)

I generally root for 56th-round picks. I love it when low draft choices make good. Riske's 1.98 ERA in 26 contests was not supported by poor control numbers, but I do think he can be an effective middle relief pitcher in the long run. He was effective against both lefties and righties this year, and if he keeps that up he should be able to move up a couple of notches in the bullpen hierarchy.

St. Louis Cardinals
Albert Pujols, 3B, 13th-round pick, 1999, Maple Woods Community College (Missouri)

I was very impressed with Pujols in the Midwest League last year, and again in the Arizona Fall League. But did I expect him to hit .329 and slug .610 in the major leagues? No, but no one else did, either. I love his walk rate, and I do not consider his numbers a fluke; he will continue to hit, maybe not this good every year, but consistently excellent with some MVP-caliber seasons. By any measure, Pujols was a steal in the 13th round. It is conceivable he could be the best bat drafted in '99, and at the least he'll be better than most (if not all) of the players drafted in the first round.

Bud Smith, LHP, fourth-round pick, 1998, Los Angeles Harbor Junior College

Smith proves that you don't have to have a blazing fastball to succeed, and again shows that non-first round picks can be very special. He has outstanding control of his stuff, a bulldog attitude, and mechanics that promise good health for the future if he isn't abused. I continue to believe that the John Tudor/Jimmy Key comparisons are apt and 15 years from now, young finesse pitchers may end up being compared to Smith.

Houston Astros
Roy Oswalt, RHP, 23rd-round pick, 1996, Mississippi high school

If he stays healthy, Roy Oswalt will win at least one Cy Young Award. This is one guy I can say that I wasn't surprised about; after seeing him in the Texas League and looking at his numbers, I was convinced he was headed for stardom. He is another testament to great scouting. He was just a 23rd-round pick, a "draft-and-follow" who went to junior college before the Astros signed him. People have always liked his arm, but he is short for a right-hander and that is a turnoff for traditional scouts. The Astros are more interested in arm strength and results than height measurements, and Oswalt is a big payoff for their philosophy.

Seattle Mariners
Ichiro Suzuki, OF, free agent, 2001, Japan

A no-brainer compared to Oswalt or Pujols, Suzuki should remove the last doubts about the quality of Japanese position players.

Joel Pineiro, RHP, 12th-round pick, 1997, Edison Community College (Florida)

Seems to be a lot of CC guys in this playoff group, eh? Piniero is another guy who caught me by surprise. His minor-league track record is very mixed, and he's had trouble staying healthy. His work for the Mariners was the best pitching he's done so far in his career, and serves as a good example of pitcher unpredictability, as well as a testament to his own efforts. I think he'll backslide a bit next year, with a 3.50 ERA more likely than another 2.03 mark. But if he avoids the doctors, he should remain effective.

Atlanta Braves
Jason Marquis, RHP, supplemental first-round pick, 1996, New York high school

I've always liked his fastball/curveball combination. He posted a 3.26 ERA as a starter, and he should be ready to be in the rotation from the beginning next year. Marquis may need a bit more refinement with his control, but he is very comparable to a young John Smoltz. He is a good example of Atlanta's ability to take relatively risky high school talents and turn them into useful pitchers.

New York Yankees
Alfonso Soriano, 2B, free agent, 1998, Dominican Republic

I was worried about how his weak strike zone judgment would impact his game. It did have some negative effect, witness his poor .304 on-base percentage. But his power/speed combination is useful, and he's young enough to get better. Will he? Well, I'm always suspicious of guys with 29/125 BB/K ratios, so Soriano won't be one of my favorites until he improves that.

Oakland A's
Mark Mulder, LHP, first-round draft pick, 1998, Michigan State University,
Barry Zito, LHP, first-round draft pick, 1999, Southern Cal

Neither Zito nor Mulder are rookies, of course, but they (along with Tim Hudson) show that the Oakland farm system has figured out how to develop pitchers, after years of failing to do so. Note that all three came from four-year colleges (Hudson went to Auburn and was drafted in the sixth round as a senior).

The sample size is miniscule, but it does show that talent comes from a variety of places. Note the presence of three "unconventional" acquisitions on the playoff teams: Soriano, Suzuki, and Baez all being international free agents signed under unusual circumstances.

Not every team can afford to get into bidding wars for such players. I don't think that "Competitive Balance" is as out of whack as the owners claim it is, but it is true that teams like the Athletics (or Twins, or Royals) have much smaller margins for error than the rich teams. The Yankees got a useful player in Soriano, but they also blew a wad on Andy Morales. A smaller market team couldn't do that without badly hurting the bottom line.

Basically, I don't think there is anything wrong with baseball that smarter personnel decisions, combined with extra revenue sharing (with some sort of salary floor to keep Carl Pohlad from fattening his wallet with Steinbrenner's money) couldn't fix.

John Sickels is the author of the 2001 STATS Minor League Scouting Notebook. He lives in Lawrence, Kansas, with his wife, son, and two cats. You can send John questions or comments at JASickels@aol.com, or you can visit his homepage at hometown.aol.com/jasickels/page1.html.