Me and my baby in ‘96. Tonight we’re gonna party like it’s 1996. It was late September back in ‘96, what a very special time for kids.

Not only are there a ton of great pop songs about that year, it happens to be the last time the Giants had an overwhelming youth infusion. Before you start drawing parallels to the team’s current situation — terrible team in ‘96, shocking turnaround in ‘97! — let’s take a toke off the wayback machine. How many of those fresh-faced rooks from ‘96 would actually ‘Stick around, heh, and make a difference in the team’s renaissance?

Here’s the roster.

Here are the 13 who made their major-league debuts in 1996:

Bill Mueller
Jacob Cruz
Jay Canizaro
Desi Wilson*
Dax Jones*
Wilson Delgado
Keith Williams*
Marcus Jensen
Doug Mirabelli
Steve Bourgeois*
Steve Soderstrom*
Dan Carlson
Osvaldo Fernandez (a Cuban defector)

Here are a few others who still qualified as rookies or nearly so:

Shawn Estes
Marvin Benard
Chris Hook*
Doug Creek

The ones with asterisks never played in the majors again after 1996. From this group came four useful players for the early-Sabean-era Giants: one starting pitcher (Estes), one starting outfielder (Benard), one starting infielder (Mueller), one backup catcher (Mirabelli).

Cruz, Jensen, Delgado and Creek eked out a few more years as second-stringers for other clubs. Jensen is notable because the Giants traded him for Brian Johnson, who hit one of the most famous home runs in team history. For argument’s sake, let’s predict that roughly 25% of the rookies who have made the roster this year will contribute to the big club in the next few years.

Today’s assignment: tell us which ones — no more than five, please — and feel free to explain your predictions.

I’ll start: Alex Hinshaw, John Bowker, Ivan Ochoa, and Merkin Valdez. Hinshaw’s stuff is legit; his control is not. But as a lefty, the team will cut him slack. Bowker’s swing is short and powerful. His main problem is pitch selection, which he knows he has to fix. I think he can. His 1B/OF flexibility also makes him more likely to stick. Ochoa’s been very impressive in the field and won’t need to hit much to justify a roster spot. Plus he gives the Giants breathing room to send Burriss back to the minors for seasoning. I pick Valdez more out of hope than reason. His injury history doesn’t bode well, but if, if, if he can stay healthy, he could be Felix Rodriguez-ish in the bullpen for a few years. (Felix circa ‘99–’01, that is.)

I almost included Pablo Sandoval, but when Posey signs, Sandoval will be blocked at catcher. He’ll have to hit like a first baseman to get significant time, and it’s too early to know if he can. I think he’s more likely to be trade bait in the next year or two.

(Photo courtesy of Salim Virji via a Creative Commons license.)