Since 1998, ESPN The Magazine has named someone their “NEXT” athlete. It’s the person who, according to ESPN, “is a future leader or trailblazer in their sport.” They just named Buster Posey their NEXT athlete for 2011. Buster Olney has a nice writeup of Posey here.
I think Posey has as bright a future in baseball as anyone. But for his sake, I hope that ESPN has changed its criteria for choosing its Nexteroo. The last two baseball players chosen: Joba Chamberlain and Kaz Matsui.
Yeah, well, the title isn’t the NEXT good athlete. Just NEXT.
