Every Wednesday, Minor Matters will unveil its top 10 Thunder players to watch next season. Considering that the Tampa Yankees took home the Florida State League crown in 2010, there's no reason to believe that the upcoming season will have a shortage of talent around the diamond.

No. 8 - Brett Marshall

Bio: The Yankees chose Marshall in the sixth round of the 2008 draft, two picks ahead of Red Sox catching prospect Ryan Lavarnaway, and gave him $850,000 to break his commitment to Rice University. He had previously committed to San Jacinto Junior College (Andy Pettitte is an alumnus), but made the late switch to Rice (many players are alumni).

2010 Season: Out of college, Marshall told the Yankees that one of his goals was throwing 100 miles per hour. That seems to have been a poor choice. He had Tommy John surgery last July, and didn't re-emerge until June, when he did some rehab work in the GCL. He ultimately threw 72 innings with Charleston before a late-season bump to Tampa, where he will begin 2011.

What's Next: If I were 100 percent sure Marshall would be at Trenton sometime in 2011, he would be much higher. That said, there's a big ol' logjam at the upper levels, and a couple of other pitchers who could see promotions before Marshall. He'll start at Tampa, but with some movement, could see Double-A at the end of the year.