Alex Bregman

This is what 80-grade plate skills look like: a 17.2 BB% and 12 K% over 690 PA as a 25-year-old. It was Bregman's second straight year with more walks than strikeouts, and he added 10 home runs to his 2018 total. Batting mostly 2-4 in one of the American League's most prolific offenses, Bregman finished with 234 runs-plus-RBI, ranking fourth in MLB, and added a handful of steals en route to a second-place finish in the MVP voting. There is some evidence to suggest he was one of the biggest beneficiaries of the juiced ball, but you're not buying Bregman for 40-plus homers. You're buying him because he has arguably the highest four-category floor in the game for anyone not named Mike Trout or Nolan Arenado. Bregman has reached 155 games played in each of the last three years and the Astros will be returning most of their offense around him. He maintains shortstop- and 3B-eligibility heading into 2020.

Bregman's coming-out party in the 2017 World Series may have moved his draft-day price to an uncomfortable level, but he rewarded investors by blossoming into one of the sport's top hitters. A more selective approach has been the key, as he bumped his BB/K from 0.29 to 1.13 in the span of two years. Bregman made the most of the contact gains, too, raising his ISO by 55 points en route to a 31-homer campaign. While Bregman lost out on some steals, he was still an asset on the bases with 10 thefts, atoning for the decline there with big outputs in the other major counting categories. The year-to-year growth he's already shown makes it tough to bank on Bregman reaching another level, but his age and the support of a stacked lineup at least make it a possibility. He underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow in January and is expected to be limited at the start of spring training, potentially pushing him out of the first round.

Bregman took a while to find his footing at the big-league level, but he grew very comfortable by the end of 2017, finishing with a .315/.367/.536 line in the second half. He carried that momentum into the postseason and showed his mettle with homers off Chris Sale (2), Clayton Kershaw and Kenley Jansen en route to a World Series win. Bregman puts the ball in play consistently (15.5 percent strikeout rate) and he walked at an above-average clip last season (8.8 percent) while making hard contact with roughly one-third of his batted balls. At 23 years old, he has good instincts on the basepaths (17-for-22) and has already cemented himself into the two hole in one of baseball's best lineups. There's a ton to like here even at an inflated cost coming off the postseason run; think Anthony Rendon-lite with more speed and shortstop eligibility, and without the injury history.

Bregman has been in professional baseball for all of two seasons, and all he has done is hit. He had more walks than strikeouts at the minor league level and hit .300/.388/.503 with 24 homers and 20 steals in the minors in what equated to a full season of 679 plate appearances across all levels. He held his own at the major league level after just 83 plate appearances at Triple-A. Following a 2-for-42 start in the majors, Bregman hit .313/.354/.577 the rest of the way, showing his ability to quickly adjust against top-level pitching. He is projected to hit in the top third of the lineup between George Springer and Jose Altuve which should help him become a very productive third baseman in 2017.

Following three successful seasons at LSU (.334/.407/.517) where he established himself as one of the top college hitters available, Bregman was selected by the Astros with the second overall pick in the 2015 first-year player draft. In 66 games between Low-A Quad Cities and High-A Lancaster last season, Bregman hit .294/.366/.415 with four home runs, 34 RBI and 13 steals with a 30:29 K:BB. The 21-year-old played shortstop in college and throughout his first professional season, but his future position probably hinges on the health of Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve when he is ready to debut. The Astros could also look to deal Bregman if he is ready for primetime and they don't have a spot for him. A ticket to Double-A Corpus Christi is likely at some point in 2016, if not to begin the year, but a jump to the majors will likely have to wait until 2017 unless there is an injury in the big league infield.