Jose Bautista took a long and circuitous route to major-league stardom, beginning as a 20^th-round pick out of Chipola College in 2000 by the Pirates. He was a Rule V pick by Baltimore in 2003 despite never having played above High-A and was passed around to Kansas City, Tampa Bay and the Mets before returning to Pittsburgh. Bautista was sent back to Double-A in ’05 and hit 23 homers before being promoted to brief stints in Triple-A and back in Pittsburgh.

Bautista spent a month in Triple-A to start 2006 before joining the Pirates and smacking 16 homers in 400 ABs. He continued putting up basically the same numbers for the next three years (low average, double-digit power) while being traded late in the ’08 season to the Blue Jays for minor-leaguer Robinzon Diaz. It wasn’t until the final month of the ’09 season that Bautista gave a hint that a breakout was near, hitting 10 homers in 29 games.

So in Bautista’s age-29 season, he enjoyed one of the all-time breakout seasons, smashing 54 homers with 124 RBIs. Toronto hitting coach Dwayne Murphy shortened his swing in the summer of ’09 and the results have been mind-boggling.

The traits we’ll be using to find The Next are age on opening day, major-league experience, prospect status, minor-league statistics and injuries. Bautista was 29 years old, in his sixth season (second full) and was never a top prospect.

One player fits the mold: Mike Morse. The right-hander will be 29 this season, is in his sixth season (first full), was never a top prospect and had a similar late-season surge as a 28-year-old.

Season numbers in their age-28 seasons:

Morse was drafted in the third round out of high school in 2000 by the White Sox. He was part of the package the Mariners got back in the Freddy Garcia deal in 2004 and finished that season with 17 homers between the two organizations in Double-A. Morse was suspended twice that year for testing positive for steroids, which he says stayed in his system long enough for a second positive test. Morse got 182 ABs in Triple-A in ’05 before being promoted to Seattle and hitting .278 in 230 ABs. He was suspended again in September for the previous year’s steroids tests, this time for 10 games.

Morse struggled in Triple-A in 2007 and got just 18 ABs with Seattle, but he hit .492 at spring training in ’08 to win a job in a right-field platoon with Brad Wilkerson. Misfortune struck when Morse dislocated his left shoulder diving for a ball and wound up having season-ending reconstructive surgery to repair a torn labrum after playing in just five games. He was back toiling in Triple-A in ’09, but the power started to emerge with 10 homers while hitting .312 in 260 ABs. Instead of getting another shot in Seattle, Morse was shipped off to the Nationals for Ryan Langerhans, then continued crushing Triple-A pitching with a .339 average and six homers in 165 ABs with Syracuse. Morse hit three homers in 52 ABs for the Nationals before finally making his mark in the majors with 15 taters in 266 ABs last season.

Like Bautista, Morse closed out his age-28 season with a bang, clubbing five homers in his final 42 ABs. Morse won the Nationals’ right-field job early this spring training by going 15 for his first 29 with five homers. Bautista won a starting job with the Blue Jays last year in spring training by hitting .439 with five homers.

Morse has seen his stock soar with his hot spring and inevitable comparisons to Bautista as fantasy owners look for this year’s power breakout. His average draft position is 79^th among outfielders, behind the likes of Pat Burrell and Ben Francisco, but I’ve seen him go as high as the 15^th round in mock drafts. If you can get Morse on the cheap, take a shot, but don’t get overly caught up in the hype – he could still wind up losing ABs to Roger Bernadina with a slow start. Draft him as a fifth outfielder and get a good backup, or ideally nab him for your bench and see if he stays hot in April.