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With the season less than two weeks away, the staff here at Fake Teams have been releasing some of their bold predictions for the 2013 season. You can find Ray's 30 bold predictions for the 2013 season, along with FantasyNinja8's bold predictions by position, and today the prospect staff here at Fake Teams has put together their bold predictions regarding some of the top prospects in the minors. I reached out to our writers to provide a few bold predictions, and you can find them all below. In some cases, there may be more than one per team, but there is at least one per team. Do we expect any of these to come true? Not particularly likely. But it's not impossible, and could be a major turning point in how each of them are viewed should they come to pass.
National League East
Christian Bethancourt finally figures out what he is doing at the plate, hitting .275/.350/.470 with 15 home runs at AA this year, and ends up as a top 50 prospect after the season - Jason Hunt
Outfielder Marcell Ozuna hits 29 home runs in Double-A, but more importantly he cuts back his strikeouts and improves his walk total - Andrew Ball
Noah Syndergaard struggles while working on his secondary pitches and fails to take the leap many are expecting. He's not done as a prospect, but will just be another example that very few of these guys progress linearly - Craig Goldstein
Rafael Montero dominates AA and AAA, pitching 155 innings while striking out 143 batters and walking just 22. Oh, and his 1.98 ERA (2.37 FIP) will also be kind of impressive as well - Kevin Nielsen
Domonic Brown performs well enough while Delmon Young is on the shelf that he doesn't have to platoon when Young returns. He's not what we thought he was this year, but he takes a big step toward getting there. While we're on the subject of busted prospects making good, let's throw Julio Teheran in there too - Craig Goldstein
Shortstop Roman Quinn, aided by Billy Hamilton's mid-season promotion, leads the minor leagues in stolen bases with 87 - Andrew Ball
3B prospect Anthony Rendon is traded at the deadline to acquire additional starting pitching for the stretch run, and is promoted to the Majors immediately upon the trade. - Jason Hunt
National League Central
Javier Baez and Jorge Soler torch any and all pitching put in front of them, each hitting over 25 home runs this year. Both reach AAA before the end of the season - Jason Hunt
Robert Stephenson dominates the lower minors, reaching Double-A and securing a spot as a top 25 prospect heading into 2014 - Craig Goldstein
Victor Roache only gets 190 minor-league at-bats but he proves plenty healthy and effective, belting 18 HR and 12 Doubles between Low-A and High-A - Kevin Nielsen
Josh Bell has a healthy and miserable season at the plate, hitting .250/290/380 with just 9 HR in over 400 at-bats - Kevin Nielsen
Tyrell Jenkins has a true breakout season and is the #1 prospect on nearly all Cardinals lists heading into 2014 - Kevin Nielsen
National League West
Adam Eaton leads the National League in runs scored with 110, hits .305 with 12 home runs and 40 stolen bases, running away with the NL Rookie of the Year award - Jason Hunt
Right-handed pitcher Eddie Butler shoots up prospect rankings, posting a sub-3.00 ERA and more than a strikeout per inning in his full-season debut - Andrew Ball
Yasiel Puig is an entirely mixed bag at the plate this season, stealing 25 bases and hitting 32 home runs at AA, but with a .240 batting average and just 18 walks against 145 strikeouts in 130 games - Jason Hunt
Robbie Erlin wins NL Rookie of the Year, producing better statistics than fellow rookies Gerrit Cole, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Tyler Skaggs, Julio Teheran, and Zack Wheeler - Kevin Nielsen
Chris Stratton is in the Giants' rotation by season's end, after posting a 2.90 ERA between AA and AAA along with 140 strikeouts in 123 innings pitched in the minors - Jason Hunt
American League East
Kevin Gausman beats Dylan Bundy to the Orioles' rotation, appearing for a spot start or two in June before locking down a spot right around the trade deadline. He'll make 14 starts in the Majors this year - Craig Goldstein
Christian Walker proves his doubters wrong, smacking 22 HR between A and A+. His 60 BB to 80 K along the way further solidify his prospect status - Kevin Nielsen
Injuries and ineffectiveness combined with stellar production at AA lead the Red Sox to promote Matt Barnes to the rotation in mid-May. He goes 11-6 down the stretch with a 3.85 ERA and 125 strikeouts in 148 innings pitched - Jason Hunt
Corey Black cruises through A+ and AA (as a SP) and, reminiscent of Joba Chamberlain in 2007, makes it to the Yankees bullpen in September to pitch some important innings for them in dominant fashion - Kevin Nielsen
Hak-Ju Lee continues to show a passive approach at the plate, and finishes the season at AAA with a .245/.305/.295 slash line with only 15 stolen bases in 450 at bats. Despite this, he is still promoted to the Majors for the month of September - Jason Hunt
Alberto Tirado is given a full-season assignment in Low-A despite being just 18 years old. In 122 innings pitched, he posts a 100:25 strikeout to walk ratio and makes a pair of postseason starts for the Jays' High-A affiliate - Jason Hunt
American League Central
Jared Mitchell is promoted to the Majors midseason, and hits 8 home runs, steals 15 bases, and hits .265 from July 31st onward - Jason Hunt
Jose Ramirez hits .320/.390/.470 between A+ and AA with 10 HR, 20 SB, and solid defense at 2B. Having already drawn comparisons to Jose Altuve, he starts to be compared to Dustin Pedroia in some ways - Kevin Nielsen
Despite being on the Tigers postseason roster, outfielder Avisail Garcia spends the entire season in the minors due to a refusal to make adjustments at the plate - Andrew Ball
Nick Castellanos hits .270 with just 8 HR, 3 SB, and a 4:1 K:BB ratio in 465 minor-league at-bats. He is traded after the season - Kevin Nielsen
Sam Selman is sent to AA immediately, and dominates to the tune of 103 strikeouts in just 68 innings pitched before being promoted to AAA. He finishes the season with the Royals for three starts in September, and is expected to be one of the five starters for 2014 - Jason Hunt
Trevor May shows improved command and pitches 90 innings for the Twins, striking out 84 with a 3.75 ERA and 1.3 WHIP - Kevin Nielsen
American League West
Jarred Cosart is called up at midseason, and plugged into the closer's role following the trade of Jose Veras. Down the stretch he goes 15 for 16 in save opportunities with a K/9 rate over 11 - Jason Hunt
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
The Angels continue to empty the farm system, this time sending Kaleb Cowart and C.J. Cron in a midseason trade to help shore up their starting pitching. It helps though, as the Angels win one of the wild card berths - Jason Hunt
Michael Choice hits .275 with 33 HR between AA and AAA, earning himself a cup of coffee with the A's during their September playoff chase - Kevin Nielsen
Mike Zunino takes over the catching duties in Seattle around the All-Star break, earning some ROY votes for his play. He will be worthy of starting in 12-team mixed leagues - Andrew Ball
Nick Franklin and Brad Miller each hit over .280 with 10+ HR through the first half of the season in the minors before taking over at 2B and SS for Dustin Ackley and Brendan Ryan at mid-season - Kevin Nielsen
Joey Gallo continues his power binge, hitting 41 home runs and driving in 115 runs between Low-A and High-A, leading all minor leaguers in both categories - Jason Hunt
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Jason Hunt is a contributor for Fake Teams and Big Leagues Magazine. Follow him on Twitter at @jasonsbaseball.
Craig Goldstein is a contributor for Fake Teams and The Dynasty Guru. Follow him on Twitter at @cdgoldstein.
Andrew Ball is a contributor to Fake Teams and Beyond the Box Score. Follow him on Twitter at @andrew_ball.
Kevin Nielsen is a contributor to Fake Teams.