Every Thursday, Minor Matters will unveil its Top 10 opposing players for the 2011 season. Yes, the Thunder are clearly the most interesting topic on this blog, but wouldn't be nice to hear about the next Matt Wieters, Carlos Santana or Stephen Strasburg to come through the Eastern League. Yeah, I thought so too.

No. 1 - Reese Havens

Bio: A second baseman, Havens was selected by the Mets with the 22nd pick of the 2008 draft, a class that included such notables Gordon Beckham, Buster Posey, Brian Matusz, Pedro Alvarez, Ike Davis, Andrew Cashner, Justin Smoak and Ryan Perry.

2010: Havens earned a quick promotion from St. Lucie to Binghamton, but after just 18 games with the B-Mets he re-aggravated a strained oblique (while playing in Trenton) and missed the rest of the season. Still, in just 32 games between High- and Double-A, Havens homered nine times in 125 at-bats, and put together a slash line of .312/.386/.978.

What People Are Saying:

"Havens has the kind of power and patience rarely seen in a middle infielder. His quick, compact swing generates plenty of power, with some scouts seeing him as a Dan Uggla light-type player capable of 20-plus home runs per year."
-- Kevin Goldstein, Baseball Prospectus

"Havens has good power for a middle infielder and slugged 14 home runs in the pitcher-friendly Florida State League. He also has an advanced idea of the strike zone and recognizes pitches well, though he has batted just .247 in each of his two seasons."
-- Baseball America, Adam Rubin

When You Can See Him: Havens and the B-Mets come to town on May 12-15, June 10-12 and August 9-11.