Editor's note: Former San Diego Padres star Tony Gwynn names the top young hitters heading into the 2003 season:

Albert Pujols, Cardinals
Pujols is by far the best young hitter in baseball. He can hit for power and average, and in today's game, for overall productivity, it's important to possess a combination of the two.

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In each of his two seasons in the big leagues, Pujols has hit over 30 home runs and and driven in more than 100 runs. Despite his youth, 23, he never tries to force the issue and takes what pitchers give him. And he's not afraid to hit the ball the other way or hit behind in the count. In fact, as 2001's Rookie of the Year, people worried that he was so polished that he might have peaked too early in his career.

But he backed up his great rookie season with an MVP-like season in 2002. Pujols is very consistent and has yet to hit a rut. That's because his mechanics are so good. He just goes up to the plate, looks for a ball he can handle, and hits it.

Regardless of a pitchers velocity, or if he's Randy Johnson, Pujols doesn't get flustered and change his swing. He just settles in and hits strikes. And if it weren't for a guy named Barry Bonds, Pujols may have been last year's NL MVP.

Eric Chavez, A's
At 25 years old, Chavez is the same caliber player as Pujols. The only knock on Chavez is that he lacks that extra bit of discipline that puts Pujols in another class. Sometimes that lack of patience hurts Chavez because he feels like he can hit everything.

As a result, he'll chase the high ball or the breaking ball and will sometimes venture out of the strike zone. That said, Chavez capitalizes quickly on mistakes and hits the ball a ton as evidenced by his 34 homers and 109 RBI. His upside is incredible and he's shown such improvement that it looks like the A's may decide to sign him to a long-term deal in the next year or two instead of reigning AL MVP Miguel Tejada.

Adam Dunn, Reds
At 6-foot-6, it's easy to be fooled by Dunn's immense size but he's big, athletic and can run and throw. Dunn is another young hitter who fits the mold of an all-encompassing talent. He's shown the ability to play all three outfield spots as well as first base and he exhibits a lot of discipline at the plate. But he's also shown the power to hit to all fields and handle both left and right-handed pitchers.

When he's swinging well, Dunn is a legitimate 40 home run contender and having a healthy Ken Griffey, Jr. in the lineup will only help him. Teams already don't want to pitch to him, but with Griffey in there, they'll have to pick their poison.

Austin Kearns, Reds
Kearns had a very impressive rookie season that was cut short by a banged up arm. I liked what I saw from him last year, he was very productive and skilled before his injury and showed a great upside. He hits the ball to all fields and showed enough to make you realize that he's going to be a quality young player. Hopefully, he'll be healthy this year so we can see exactly what kind of a player he really is.

Alfonso Soriano, Yankees
Like Chavez, Soriano could benefit from better plate discipline. But it's difficult to argue with a guy who hit 39 home runs -- an amazing number for a leadoff hitter.

Like a lot of sluggers, Soriano hits a lot of home runs, but strikes out a lot also; he struck out 157 times last season. If he becomes more patient, he will force pitchers to give him something to hit and then he'll be a terror at the plate. But when you add his base stealing prowess and his ability to score runs, you start to see the complete package.

Tony Gwynn is the head baseball coach at San Diego State and an analyst for ESPN.