It was bound to happen... 12U player rankings

Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera, the 2012 AL MVP winner, is widely considered the best player in the major leagues.

 

I think it's amusing that a Santa Cruz newspaper seems unaware of the existence of Mike Trout and Clayton Kershaw.  Cabrera might be the best hitter in the majors, but best player is a stretch.

12U rankings would be silly. I know a kid who was a beast from 9-13U. By 12 he was around 5'6" and very muscular and mature for his age. By 13, maybe 5'7" 140lbs and very strong and muscular for his age. Now 18, he's maybe 5'8" 160lbs and is generally small. This kid was dominant in baseball as a power hitter as a youth player and a running back that simply ran over the other kids. But he maxed out by middle school and was just average in high school.

 

There are other examples I can think of, but he stands out the most. He was just so good as a youth player, but really was just a kid who matured early.

 

FYI: USSSA and Travelballselect.com have been publishing national rankings in all age groups or years.

There are a lot of people that rank teams in the lower ages, but I don't think anyone ranks players like they do with the older age groups.

I think the Travel Ball Select website has 12u "All-American" and regional team selections.

 

The Santa Cruz Sentinel piece in the OP is about a site, Got'em Baseball, that does exactly that.  The guy who runs it ranks the top 60 players in NorCal for each group 10U through 14U.  He has said he's doing SoCal too but I don't think that has happened.

Why wait until 12? USSSA has 5U national championships. Start there.

My son was a ranked Hoop Scoop point guard as a ten year old. A friend, a former NBA player asked what I thought it meant. I told him it means I'm amused given my son is 4'6".

       
       


OP was asking about National Rankings.

The whole idea of ranking kids this young is just silly anyway.

       
       


I know, I heard a team flew in a few flame throwers from the Dominican to win it all!
One of the hit a 225 foot bomb off the tee.
They called him the next David Ortiz.

Originally Posted by jacjacatk:

Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera, the 2012 AL MVP winner, is widely considered the best player in the major leagues.

 

I think it's amusing that a Santa Cruz newspaper seems unaware of the existence of Mike Trout and Clayton Kershaw.  Cabrera might be the best hitter in the majors, but best player is a stretch.

 

So if you had the opportunity to have any of those 3 for next season, who would you rather have?

 

Hahahahaha... oh man 

 

You forgot to mention they are really 7 year olds with birth certificates saying they are 5.

 

Trout, and that's even if it's for just next season.  If I'm starting a team from scratch and can pick from those 3, it's not even close.

Really, 12yo?  You can't be serious!

 

Wow, I literally just fell out of my chair laughing.