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2007 Always more of an athlete than a baseball player, Barton hit .326/.424/.506 between Cleveland`s two A-level teams in 2005 . . . and a nation yawned. Last year, he kept hitting, and people began to take notice. He hit for average, he hit for power, he stole 41 bases at a better than 80 percent success rate, he drew walks, and he even proved to be capable in center field. What else do you want, a trip to Europe? The only real negative for Barton is his age--because he spent a full four years at the University of Miami, he`ll turn 25 a month into the 2007 season. Still, this is an undrafted college player who almost certainly is going to have some semblance of a big league career, and that`s a rare thing. 2006 A non-drafted free agent out of the University of Miami, Barton has excellent patience and decent pop, but acquired a poor defensive reputation in right field despite having decent foot speed. Even worse, his bat cooled significantly after a late-June promotion to Kinston, bad news for a player who will turn 24 in April.
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