Format = Team Position Player | Age | Level | ETA
1. Red Sox OF Roman Anthony | 20 | AAA | 2025
2. Athletics 1B Nick Kurtz | 22 | MLB | 2025
3. Royals 1B Jac Caglianone | 22 | AAA | 2025
4. Brewers SS Jesus Made | 18 | A | 2028
5. Rangers SS Sebastian Walcott | 19 | AA | 2026
6. Padres SS Leo De Vries | 18 | A+ | 2027
7. Reds RHP Chase Burns | 22 | AA | 2025
Interesting times at the top. Made and De Vries both feel like a smart place to put your money during these volatile economic times. Kurtz and Caglianone get these spots partly for floor, but they’re also closer to the Torkelson-Vaughn vortex than anyone in the lower minors. Gotta try to account for all facets of reality, and in doing that, I can see Chase Burns making a Skenesian impact over the final stretch this season. The pitcher penalty felt pretty outdated as I watched him dominate. The only thing most people can agree on here is that Anthony represents the best combination of proximity, probability and potential.
8. Orioles C 1B Samuel Basallo | 20 | AAA | 2025
9. Giants 1B Bryce Eldridge | 20 | AA | 2025
10. Diamondbacks SS Jordan Lawlar | 22 | AAA | 2023
11. Cubs 3B Matt Shaw | 23 | MLB | 2025
I believe in Basallo, but it’s tricky to rock a rhyme that’s right on time, and Baltimore’s been missing the beat. Lawlar’s in a similar scenario. Laws seem pretty fluid these days in general. As does the future. I’ll miss the Eldridge puns once he’s graduated. Give the board game Eldritch Horror a try if you’re looking for a fun couple of hours.
12. Pirates RHP Bubba Chandler | 22 | AAA | 2025
13. Phillies RHP Andrew Painter | 22 | AAA | 2025
14. Dodgers RHP Roki Sasaki | 23 | MLB | 2025
15. Cubs RHP Cade Horton | 23 | MLB | 2025
Tough to punish Sasaki too much for pitching with a new baseball while adjusting to a new continent and perhaps pushing through an injury for a little while. Painter looks good on the road back. Chandler . . . I wrote a few jokes in bad taste here (too soon), so I’m just going to move along. I like him the best of this trio, talent wise, but he’s in the worst org of the three, but . . .
16. Dodgers OF Josue De Paula | 19 | A+ | 2027
17. Pirates SS Konnor Griffin | 19 | A | 2029
18. Red Sox SS Marcelo Mayer | 22 | MLB | 2025
19. Dodgers OF Zyhir Hope | 20 | A+ | 2027
20. Red Sox SS Franklin Arias | 19 | A+ | 2028
21. Phillies OF Justin Crawford | 21 | AAA | 2025
Here we are again. Griffin is an extreme talent and my favorite of the group, but he’s a Pirate, so Yarrrr. Arias is still underrated somehow, in the echo chamber sort of way. Hope and De Paula are monsters. They’re looking like the next jolt in a team that doesn’t need one.
22. Twins OF Walker Jenkins | 20 | AA | 2026
23. Guardians 2B Travis Bazzana | 21 | A+ | 2026
Injured dudes who should be higher than this and will be soon enough.
24. Cubs RHP Daniel Palencia | 23 | MLB | 2024
25. Orioles 3B Coby Mayo | 23 | AAA | 2024
I’m setting these two aside mostly because it interests me to pose the questions: Who would you prefer on a contending team? Who would you prefer on a rebuilding one? For me, it’s clearly Palencia either way, but I know I’m a closer-pusher, so I have to pump the brakes sometimes. Still, how could you trade Palencia out of a contending lineup to add an indefinite Mayo to your minor leagues. And even when he comes up next, will he hit? Will he stay? Gimme Palencia.
26. Tigers SS Kevin McGonigle | 20 | A+ | 2026
27. Blue Jays SS Arjun Nimmala | 19 | A+ | 2027
28. Cardinals SS JJ Wetherholt | 21 | AA | 2025
29. Mariners SS Cole Young | 21 | AAA | 2025 .409 w 5 HR 4 SB in last 22 games
30. Brewers RHP Jacob Misiorowski | 22 | AAA | 2025
31. Cubs C Moises Ballesteros | 21 | AAA | 2025
32. Rangers RHP Kumar Rocker | 25 | MLB | 2024
This part of the list feels pretty strong for this time of the year. McGonigle and Nimmala are hitters in search of their level. Neither should be in High-A much longer. The Cardinals being in contention gives them incentive to push Wetherholt, who’s at 128 wRC+ with more walks than strikeouts through 33 games. Skills wise, Young has graduated Triple-A. Just waiting for an opening now on a team that’s got plenty in waiting. Ballesteros is teetering close to the O’s zone in the sense that he has no path to playing time. The club even reached around him to grab Reese McGuire, who erupted early for two home runs in his first game. Rocker’s just as hard to rank, but he was great in his latest rehab start and has a path to a quick value boost.
33. Nationals RHP Travis Sykora | 20 | A+ | 2026
34. Tigers OF Max Clark | 20 | A+ | 2026
35. Brewers SS Luis Pena | 18 | A | 2028
36. Guardians OF Chase DeLauter | 23 | AAA | 2025
37. White Sox LHP Noah Schultz | 21 | AA | 2025
38. Twins 2B Luke Keaschall | 22 | MLB | 2025
39. Angels 2B Christian Moore | 22 | AAA | 2025
40. Athletics RHP Luis Morales | 22 | AAA | 2025
Here we break from the tram lines because I’m not as high on Shultz as others. Bad org plus he’s 6’10” and might need pretty good coaching to actualize. Clark’s another guy I’m just not that into, compared to what I perceive to be his value in the echo chamber. DeLauter is back on the field and hitting bombs after missing a couple months. Sykora, Pena and Morales are all in a hurry to jump up the list. Keaschall would be higher if healthy. Moore is playing like he’ll be higher a month from now. Keith Law skeeted some snooty snark when the club promoted him to Triple-A, but he was good in Double-A last year and had been playing well for a few weeks at the time of his promotion. He’s slashing .361/.455/.472 through nine games at the level.
41. Nationals 3B Brady House | 22 | AAA | 2025
42. Mariners C Harry Ford | 22 | AAA | 2026
43. Tigers 1B Josue Briceño | 20 | A+ | 2026
44. Rays OF Brailer Guerrero | 18 | A | 2028
45. Mets SS Jett Williams | 21 | AA | 2025
46. Dodgers C OF Dalton Rushing | 24 | MLB | 2025
House could soon provide shelter for those in search of some help at the hot corner. His 27.3 percent strikeout rate suggests it might take a while before he develops into a home, but he’s got ten home runs and a 120 wRC+ through 51 games, and Washington does not have a third baseman. Ford is cruising through a fun season in Tacoma, slashing .315/.431/.483 with six home runs and three stolen bases in 39 games. He’s still behind the plate, but they’ve moved him around in the past, so perhaps they have confidence he can kick in where they need him when they need him. Can’t have too many talented catchers. I’m not sure Dalton Rushing would agree with that. Probably fine to pump the brakes a bit and let a young backstop learn from the bench to ease the transition anyway. I suspect the level of information they have about opposing hitters and their own pitchers can be overwhelming compared to what catchers built gameplans around in the minor leagues. Briceño hit three home runs the other night. He’s shown an aptitude for getting hot, so this might not be an isolated incident. Looks like a middle-order force.
47. Yankees SS George Lombard Jr. | 19 | AA | 2027
48. Rays 1B Xavier Isaac | 21 | AA | 2026
49. Mariners OF Lazaro Montes | 20 | A+ | 2026
50. Reds RHP Luis Mey | MLB | 2025
Lombard Jr. has struggled to hit Double-A pitching, but he’s taking his walks (18.4%) and turns 20 tomorrow (June 2), so it’d be foolish to worry about his first 20 games at a level where he’s 3.7 years younger than the average age. Isaac missed some time with injury but is slugging .565 with six home runs and a 186 wRC+ through 22 games. He’s bounced around the rankings a bit, but development isn’t linear, and he too is younger than the league he’s in. Montes is almost at 100 High-A games as I research for the list (97 as I type). He posted a 120 wRC+ in 51 games there last year and has a 146 through 46 games this year. Should join the other young sluggers in his group at Double-A before long. I wanted to make sure Mey made the list because this is a fantasy list. People say closers come and go, but that’s not really the case. If you land a Robert Suarez or Felix Bautista at the right time, you have a closer now. Maybe until they retire. I remember one year Emmanuel Clase went at the end of the fifth round of a first-year-player draft (not to me) because he wasn’t yet the closer. Everyone knew he was a monster. Just thought the job would go to someone else (Karinchak or a veteran). I suppose he’s part of the reason I remember the lesson so well. The guy who got Clase has won that league five out of six seasons.
Thanks for reading!
Hi Itch,
If you could only add one of these pitchers, who would it be? Jonah Tong, Travis Sykora, Trey Yesavage?
My other question would be out of the MLB draft prospects such as Holliday, would you prioritize him or any other draft prospects over the likes of the tier of prospects like Konnor Griffin or Josue de Paula?
I guess your answer to part 1 would probably be Sykora, but I’d still love to hear your answer to part 2.
Where would you have Celesten? He’s lookin like a monster.
Itch,
Just wondering where you have Boston OF prospect Jhostynxon Garcia? Reason why I asked is because you mentioned him in a weekly report a long time ago. I think it was even last year. Anyway, I’ve been watching him ever since because I think Boston has done very well with developing prospects in recent years. So I noticed this past week that Keith Law had taken Garcia from unranked to #46 in his latest rankings. I was curious what you might do with him since you were the first person I know to write about him.
I had already grabbed Garcia in a couple of leagues when I saw this article, and I gotta admit I was disappointed you didn’t have him ranked. According to a yahoo update sent out this morning, Garcia is destroying Triple-A with 4 HR an 9 RBI in 11 games and batting around .365 or so. So where do you have Garcia now? Are you still bullish on him?
Oh I still like him. Just picked him up in a 15-teamer for $6, which felt like a bargain. Interesting to hear KLaw is fully aboard the bus. Garcia was a Jeopardy clue the other day, due to the nickname. Profile is on the rise. I had him 63rd as I toggled the pieces this time.
Hey, thanks for the quick reply!
Glad you’ve still got him up there in your rankings. You’re the one who found him for me lol, so I’d hate for you to be doing a U-Turn on him!
Yeah, $6 sounds like a steal at this point. Good on you. Also, yeah, “The Password” is a pretty cool knickname!
I’m a pretty faithful reader of you and Keith Law. Both of you seem to know your stuff! Thanks for the help!
Thoughts on Carson Williams and Aidan Smith? How would you rank those two along with Waldschmidt?
Williams strikes out too much for me, relative to his perceived value and/or spot on public facing lists that prize defense. Could say the same for Aidan Smith, at least this season. Rays really leaning into the pull and launch method.
Made and pena seem like two peas in a pod, why isn’t pena higher on your list at this point?
Thanks for all you do.
Good question. There’s just a lot of really good players, is the main answer that stuck in my head. He’s pulling the ball with power though without trading any contact, so maybe he should be even higher than 35th. I think you could jump him into the McGonigle/Wetherholt area without feeling too aggressive.
thoughts on ian seymour?
has been inquired about in this space more than any six-foot, 26-year-old Triple-A pitcher in recent memory
He’s good. Diverse arsenal with solid command from the left side gives him a good chance at a long-term rotation spot.
Abel (Phil). Just outside 50?
Yep.
Hey Itch – Curious why Delauter made the top 50 and not Emmanuel Rodriguez? I’ve kind of given up on both ever staying healthy, but if they both did stay healthy for the rest of their careers I would lean ERod over DeLauter.
I’ve never been in on ERod. Probably some confirmation bias, but it’s tough to strike out 35 percent of the time in Triple-A and remain an elite prospect. DeLauter’s never had that issue.
What are your thoughts, ranking wise, on Hunter Barco, Carson Benge, and Angel Genoa? Barco has been dominant. Also, a little surprised Logan Henderson didn’t make the list.
Benge, Genoa, Barco.
Thanks. Any of them very close to the top 50?
Yeah all three are easy top 100 guys.
Always a great read. You give me an edge in my Dynasty league where we expanded this season & now have 10 NAs.
Brailer Guerrero is available. My drop would be K Alcantra OR one of my NA pitchers (I have an abundance of hopefully up & coming SPs) McGreevy, N Meyer, Misiorowski, Sproat, T White, & Messick (as well Soroka, Birdsong, & Zebby)
so pick up Brailer? dropping Alcantra OR one of the SPs
Of the SP listed who would be the 1st drop in the near future?
I’d take Guerrero over Messick or Sproat.
Nice list, Itch. I’m interested to see how Sawyer Gipson-Long does in Jobe’s absence this week (I think he’s still a prospect). Can’t wait for Burns to get the call!
Thanks!
Yeah I’ll be tuning into SGL’s starts, too. Feels like a good chance he’ll succeed and stick.
Otto Kemp?
Having a great season. Not my tempo for this assignment. Will probably make a stash list or two before the season ends though.
Where’s Zebby on this list? 51?
He’s just beyond the 50-inning threshold. I’d probably have him in the Morales range.
I hadn’t realized he pitched that much last year – thanks.
Any guess on how long until Colby Thomas gets the call? Worth a stash in a 12 team if I am rebuilding? Thanks!
I’d think it’s pretty soon with the way they’re cycling through guys right now.
I don’t think I’d stash him though in a 12.
Thanks! Do you think Logan Henderson is worth holding in the same league? It’s a rebuilding year so roster space not really an issue.
Yeah I’d hold him. Then probably try to flip him when he’s back up and throwing well.
My thoughts exactly, thanks!
Itch, I need a sense check on something for my keeper league. I’m in 4th and short on SB and I’m being offered Turang for Griffin straight up, what are your thoughts on that deal? (For context, I’ve made several big move already giving up youth in Dominguez, Butler, Crochet and Kirby for Ohtani, Freeman, and Seager. I’ll be keeping Ohtani, FYI.)
I’d hold Griffin.
Thoughts on Ryan Waldschmidt? Is he close to this list?
Yep. Almost made it. Just tend to shy away from the guys who don’t swing much in the lower levels. Wish he’d be hitting better than .265 as a college draftee in High-A.
Great stuff Itch. I was looking at my preseason notes, and my Draft Day quote was next to Burns. Draft Day being the Costner movie…..Burns, no matter what!
Guy is wrecking AA ball!
Thanks, John!
Great pick!
Always good to have a hand-written note to keep you centered.
Two quick ones on the Mets. What is wrong with Fransico Alvarez? At one point he was a top 5 overall prospect. and then he did hit 25 homers in the big leagues. Last year was a wash out with the broken thumb. This year he had another hand injury, but he’d playing 4 or 5 days a week and doing nothing. Id send him to Syracuse and see if he can at least get hot, feel some success and than see if it picks up in NY. Second, Ronnie Mauricio is tearing up AAA, he’s knocking on the door for a call up. Just a matter of how long they let Mark Vientos fail. Im very disappointed by Vientos, drafted him, thought he’d build off last year into a 40 homer guy. He has huge power, but he’s messed around with his approach, to cut down on K’s. Now he looks like he’s back to chasing bad pitches, only without hammering the fastballs. On to Jett Willians…. JK. have a nice Sunday..
Hamate bone injuries tend to sap hitters power. That was his calling card. Maybe a next year thing for him.
Agreed it might help Alvarez to get back to dominating in the minors and then come back up. I think he’s probably made some slight adjustments to stay competitive through the injuries and is now a little out of whack.
Good read on Vientos. I do think he’s coming around, but yeah, Mauricio doesn’t need to be in Triple-A, and with Baty on board and Mauricio on the way, Vientos has some new pressure to perform
Orioles should showcase Mayo and see if Milwaukee is interested.
Brew Crew have an embarrassment of arms, makes so much sense.
He cant play 3B though. 1B …or maybe hide in LF? Brewers have the pitching for the sap but he needs a position.
Does seem like a pretty good fit.
The Brewers have a bunch of 1B/3B types in the minors already. Mayo makes no sense for them
What r your thoughts on Jerar Encarnacion? Does he have the upside to be a difference maker?
Thanks!
….and who would u rather have ROS in 5×5 NL Jerar or Max Muncy?
Jerar.
Super interested. Yes, he could make a big impact in the HR category.
Do you think Cleveland will call up DeLauter soon, ETA on him coming up? Also, will AZ stop giving Lawlar the Rockies prospect treatment? Thanks for your work!
I think they’ll get DeLauter up while he’s healthy this time, so long as he’s healthy for another month or so.
Sorry to say I was wrong about how the DBacks would handle Lawlar. I thought they’d, you know, set him to succeed. They’re a good team though, so at least they have an excuse Colorado doesn’t.