Top 10 Prospects

The top future talents at the WBC among players unaffiliated with MLB teams

- By Kyle Glaser

The World Baseball Classic is more than just a tournament of nations. It’s also a showcase for the best unsigned players in the world to introduce themselves to an international audience and display their talent against top MLB players.

Yu Darvish, Aroldis Chapman, Yoenis Cespedes, Masahiro Tanaka, Yuli Gurriel and Hyun-Jin Ryu all starred in the WBC before going on to become MLB standouts. Daisuke Matsuzaka, Hisashi Iwakuma, Kenta Maeda, Kosuke Fukudome, Alexei Ramirez, Raisel Iglesias, Seung-Hwan Oh and dozens of others signed after the WBC and went onto successful MLB careers.

Here are the top 10 prospects at this year’s event who are currently unaffiliated with an MLB club. Many will make their way to MLB in the future, with some projecting to be future stars like Darvish, Cespedes or Chapman.

1. ROKI SASAKI, RHP, JAPAN

Age: 21

Sasaki became the latest Japanese pitching sensation when he threw a perfect game with 19 strikeouts last season and finished second in NPB in strikeouts as a 20-yearold. He has a fastball that sits 97-100 mph, a devastating splitter, an above-average slider and outstanding command of all his pitches. He projects to be a No. 1 starter in MLB and would be the undisputed first overall pick in this year's draft.

2. YOSHINOBU YAMAMOTO, RHP, JAPAN

Age: 24