Florida Marlins’ fans have yet another up and coming athletic freak on the verge of hitting the south beaches like a hurricane. Mike Stanton just turned 20 years old and is already creating a buzz in south Florida similar to the buzz all star Miguel Cabrera once received.

Drafted in 2007 in the 2nd round, Stanton forfeited a scholarship to play the outfield at powerhouse USC and jumped right into professional baseball. His first season was really just testing the waters, but it didn’t take long before the Marlins knew they could potentially have someone special to watch every day. This guy is basically a monster when it comes to physical tools and raw power. He stands a pretty short 6’5 and weighs a staggering 240 lbs and from what I’ve seen- he’s just flat out ripped. I pity the mugger who tries to rip him off one day.

In 2008, Stanton exploded onto every scouts prospect to watch chart with a ridiculous 39 home runs and 26 doubles in only 450 AB’s. His OBP of .381 was nothing to sneeze at either, and to combine that with his 600 plus slugging- your looking a .991 OBS which again is unbelievable for a kid that young. That raw power isn’t the only thing that excites the Marlins brass. The kid is just an outstanding athlete. He can play the outfield like an absolute defensive stud, and has an above average to good arm. He was so good, he was the golden piece in the potential Manny Ramirez to the Marlins rumors at the deadline, and something tells me the Marlins said no chance to that one. Most 19 year olders aren’t the centerpiece of a potential deal for a future Hall of Famer.

Is there anything this kid can’t do? Well- IMO he could absolutely work on his plate discipline. He tends to swing and miss more than I’d like but most young kids do. That’s a teachable thing and everything I’ve gathered is that Stanton is a real hard worker and extremely coachable. Even though he has high strike out totals- that doesn’t really concern a ton of people who are looking at this kid as the complimentary piece to super star Hanley Ramirez. He has shown he can take a walk in the right situation, but he won’t be making his money drawing a ton of walks. All of this shows his maturity and willingness to grow and become an even more complete player.

He struggled a bit at AA hitting only .231 with 100 K’s but his raw power and amazing tools are going to be able to propel him all the way up the bigs and soon as he still mashed 28 bombs this year between the 2 levels. Stanton is currently playing with the Solar Sox in the AFL (Arizona Fall League) and doing quite well, but the numbers are to small of a sample size to make a big deal out of it. The numbers don’t matter as much when it comes to growth, and that’s all teams want to see during the offseason.

I can see Stanton hitting Florida by June  or earlier if he continues to improve at the rate he’s improving. It isn’t out of the realm of possibility he breaks camp as a big leaguer, and it also isn’t out of the question to hold him back for one more year. Florida doesn’t want to rush him if they absolutely don’t have too- but I have a feeling this freak of nature is going to push the envelope. All aboard the Stanton express- anyone else care to join me?