Minor Issues

It is amazing how fast fortunes change in the baseball biz. One minute, you are the No. 4 prospect in the game and competing for an Opening Day roster spot; the next, you are listening to your general manager tell reporters he envisions you spending all of 2012 in the minors.

Well, consider this a reminder that baseball is hard, and the jump from the minors to the majors is one with which even future All-Stars can struggle.

Phillies outfielder Domonic Brown might not have set the world on fire during his first couple of stints in the majors, but he is in good company in that regard. The accompanying table features the numbers of five prominent players in their first stint or two of big-league action.

Carlos Gonzalez, who started 2008 as a blue-chip prospect with the Athletics and had a strong start to the season before going into a long funk that resulted in his demotion to the minors. He was traded in the offseason along with Huston Street to the Rockies for what amounted to a half-season of Matt Holliday (ah, hindsight) then struggled during the first few months of 2009 before finally catching fire and going on to become one of the most dynamic outfielders in the NL.

Carl Crawford, who did not really break out in Tampa Bay until his third season with the Rays.

Aramis Ramirez, who had a slow start to his career with the Pirates before blossoming into one of the best offensive third basemen in the game.

Ben Zobrist, who was never a Baseball America Top 100 prospect, but who overcame his early struggles to become a key cog on Tampa Bay's remarkably cost-efficient roster.

And, last but not least, San Diego's Cameron Maybin, an uber-prospect who had a fast start with the Marlins before regressing, getting traded but remains a work-in-progress, albeit a progressing work-in-progress.

The chart has a variety of rate statistics from each player's first half-season (roughly) in the major leagues.