bosox79 said:
For real prospects, 24 is not young for AAA. 23 isn't really, either.
Your definition of "real" prospects is overly strict. By your definition, the following players were not real prospects:
Kevin Youkilis (MLB bWAR of 32.7) - Age 24 when he first made AAA.
John Valentin (MLB bWAR of 32.5) - Age 24 when he first made AAA.
Wade Boggs (MLB BWar of 91.1) - Age 23 in his second season of AAA. Made the Majors at 24.
On the same 1981 Pawsox team as Wade Boggs... 23 year old Bruce Hurst (who hade cups of coffee in MLB in 80 and 81 - MLB bWAR of 35) and 23 year old Bobby Ojeda (who also had MLB cups of coffee in 80 and 81 - MLB bWAR of 24.7)
Hall of Famer Randy Johnson was still in AAA when he was 24.
Jed Lowrie has put up some nice numbers when healthy. He didn't make the majors until 24 (8.9 MLB bWar)
Junichi Tazawa made a brief appearance for Boston when he was 23... but didn't really catch on (after surgery) until he was 26. He's put up 4.7 bWar in the past 4 years.
These are just quick and dirty looks at a small subset of players. Clearly you DON'T mean "real." Perhaps, elite. Or Upper echelon. Or some other status that is much more strict than "real."