1. Bryce Harper, c-3b, Braves Scout Team. Harper, the top prospect in the 2011 draft class, may not even catch much on a Braves roster that includes Tucker Barnhart (Brownsburg, Ind.), Cameron Garfield (Murrieta Valley, Calif.) and Andrew Susac (Roseville, Calif.), three potential high-round catching prospects in the 2009 class. But Harper will play some third base, perhaps DH and he’ll definitely hit. How his phenomenal showcase tools translate to game action at this level of competition will be interesting to watch.

2. Brooks Pounders, rhp-1b, ABD (Calif.) Bulldogs. ABD used Pounders (Riverside, Calif.) as an all-purpose reliever at the WWBA summer championship in Marietta, Ga., in July and the team’s lack of consistent pitching meant that he was used frequently. He’ll also bat next to power-hitting Matt Davidson in the ABD order, giving the Bulldogs the most lethal 3-4 punch in the tournament.

3. Brian Goodwin, of, Dirtbags. The North Carolina-based Dirtbags often fall just short in major national-level tournaments because they never seem to have an offensive center piece—just as ABD can’t quite seem to get over the hump because of a lack of dominant pitching. Goodwin (Rocky Mount, N.C.) might be the most talented offensive player the Dirtbags have ever put on the field—and, if he isn’t, third baseman Wil Myers (Thomasville, N.C.) could be. Both are fringe first-rounders for the 2009 draft. If either Goodwin or Myers makes a run at the MVP award, it will bode well for the Dirtbags chances.

4. Luke Bailey, c, Texas Scout Team Yankees. Some scouts thought Bailey had the best summer season of any high school prospect in the 2009 class—and he’s moved right to the top of an unbelievably-talented group of senior catchers. He ranks right with Austin Maddox (see above). How Bailey hits and manages a formidable Texas Scout Team pitching could determine if that team will challenge for the championship.

5. Mychal Givens, rhp-ss, Winning Inning. Givens is the top-ranked two-way talent in the country and such versatility is at a premium in an event like Jupiter, where the winning team is normally required to play eight games in four days. Givens will impact games on the mound, on defense and at the plate. He’ll be joined in the Winning Inning (Fla.) lineup/pitching rotation by Keyvius Sampson, another top two-way talent who could have just as big an impact.

6. Yordy Cabrera, ss-rhp, All-American Prospects. See Mychal Givens above. Cabrera is the Givens-equivalent of the 2010 class, only with more pop in his bat. He was the dominant player for the champion All-America Prospects at the 65-team WWBA Fall Underclass Championship two weeks ago in Fort Myers, Fla.

7. Austin Maddox, c-rhp, East Cobb Astros. It’s rare for the Astros to go “outside the family” for top talent, so when Maddox’ name appeared on the East Cobb roster it was a significant addition. No one comes more talented than Maddox, especially if he can contribute his 94-mph fastball to an unusually shallow East Cobb pitching staff.

8. Dan Aldrich, of, Diamond Devils. Aldrich (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) doesn’t quite compare as a prospect to most of the other names on this list as he ranks only No. 70 on PG Crosschecker’s ranking of the top high school seniors. But the lefthanded-hitting slugger has always hit at WWBA events, and put on one of the top performances in WWBA history in leading South Carolina’s Diamond Devils to the 2008 WWBA 17-and-under summer championship.

9. Colton Cain, 1b-lhp, Dallas Tigers. Scouts may focus more on the talented Coppell (Texas) High trio of shortstop Chad Kettler, outfielder Jacob Morris and catcher Jonathan Walsh, all potential top three-round picks next June. But Cain’s performance on both sides of the ball will likely do more to dictate the Tigers success in the tournament. The big Waxahachie, Texas, lefthander is one of the top performance players in the country.

10. Tyler Matzek, lhp, Braves Scout Team. This is more of a hedge pick as it is pretty unlikely that one pitcher on an absurdly-deep 15-plus man Braves pitching staff will have a special impact on the championship. A year ago, the Braves used 17 pitchers in running the table. But Matzek’s two chief competitors for top high school pitcher on the 2009 prospect lists, lefthander Matt Purke (Spring, Texas) and righthander Jacob Turner (St. Charles, Mo.), are among the few projected first-rounders not scheduled to be in Jupiter. An especially strong performance by Matzek could shake up the top of the rankings.

By exiting quietly from this year’s National League division playoffs, the Chicago Cubs may have missed their best shot yet at shedding their inglorious, century-old tag as the most futile team in baseball history—if not all of professional sports.

But the Cubs hardly have a track record synonymous with losing quite like the Philadelphia Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays, this year’s World Series participants who may be baseball’s real Lovable Losers. While the Cubs missed a golden opportunity to win their first Fall Classic in 100 years, the Phillies and Rays have a history of losing that runs so deep that it makes the Cubs’ ineptitude through the years seem mild by comparison.

The Phillies have won just one World Series in their 126-year history—in 1980. They are the only major league franchise to lose more than 10,000 games over their lifetime. Over a 31-year stretch from 1918-48, the Phillies had a winning record once (two games over .500 in 1932). They even sandwiched their last World Series appearance in 1993 between six straight losing seasons leading up to it and seven more right after.

Tampa Bay’s futility began with its entry into the American League East in 1998 and continued through the next 10 seasons. The Rays finished last nine times in their first decade of existence, and were a mere three games out of the cellar in their only tangible sign of on-field improvement. In each of the last two years, Tampa Bay has been awarded the No. 1 pick in the June draft—the only team ever to earn such selections in consecutive years. No other franchise, expansion or otherwise, has been so inept in its first 10 years of existence.

So with all due apologies to the Cubs and their legion of fans, this year’s World Series, which opens Wednesday in St. Petersburg, is the ultimate match-up between the two biggest losers that our game has known.

But a Rays-Phillies Series could turn into a classic, if history is any indication. The 1991 World Series matched the Atlanta Braves and Minnesota Twins, two teams that had finished last in their respective divisions a year earlier. And yet the Braves-Twins World Series was one of the best, most exciting ever, with the Twins winning in extra innings in the seventh and deciding game.

The Rays also not only went from worst to first this season, but their 192-percentage point improvement from 2007 to 2008 ranks as the second greatest single-season swing ever for a team in the World Series. Only the 1946 Boston Red Sox, who went from 71 wins the previous year to 104 a year later as several of their star players returned from World War II and were restored to the lineup, showed a greater one-year improvement than Tamp Bay.

The accompanying Top 10 chart highlights the World Series participants that have recorded the greatest one-year improvement. The year the team appeared in the Series is noted (along with its record), as well as the team’s record a year earlier and the percentage improvement overall.

Of note, the 1919 Chicago White Sox of Black Sox Scandal fame made the list. But the 1969 Miracle Mets didn’t crack the top 10 as their sudden rise to World Series champions represented only the 11th greatest one-season turnaround.