Format = Position Player | Age on 4/1/2024 | Highest Level Played | Estimated Time of Arrival
1. SS Adael Amador | 20 | AA | 2025
A plus hit tool combines with above average power and excellent plate skills to make Amador the easy number one in this organization. A switch-hitter at 6’0” 200 lbs, he slashed .302/.391/.514 with nine home runs, 12 stolen bases, 26 strikeouts and 31 walks in 54 games at High-A Stockton. His ten games in Double-A didn’t go as smoothly, but it’d be premature to care. More useful to note that he earned that promotion as a cherry on top of a good season than to parse the small sample. I have 2025 as the ETA here, but that’s partly because the Rockies figure to be out of contention by the time Amador might be ready to graduate Triple-A if he has another strong season.
2. OF Jordan Beck | 22 | AA | 2024
The 38th overall pick in 2022, Beck struck out 31.8 percent of the time in 50 Double-A games but still managed a 108 wRC+ thanks to a 13.5 percent walk rate and 21 extra base hits. Like the rest of his High-A cohorts, he’d been much better at Stockton, posting a 20.8 percent strikeout rate and a 150 wRC+. In total, he hit 25 homers and stole 20 bases in 126 games across two levels in his first full pro season. Can’t really complain about that just because of a few too many strikeouts against the best pitching he’d ever seen.
3. 3B Sterlin Thompson | 22 | AA | 2025
The 31st overall pick out of Florida in 2022, Thompson is a 6’4” 200 lb lefty bat in search of a position. The universal designated hitter was a boon for precisely this type of prospect, who might previously have been a first-base-only type who fell deep into the draft and then fumbled through his years trying to learn the 3 on the fly. Now, he’s a first round pick who bashes his way to Double-A while bouncing all around the diamond. The important thing for now is that he hit 14 homers and stole 17 bases in 94 games across two levels while slashing .293/.376/.487 with 74 strikeouts and 38 walks. He also managed the jump from Spokane (147 wRC+) to Hartford (111 wRC+) better than his cohort.
4. OF Yanquiel Fernandez | 21 | AA | 2025
6’2″ 198 lbs with a swift left-handed swing, Fernandez lit up High-A with 17 home runs and a 17.9 percent strikeout rate in 58 games along with a slash line of .319/.354/.605. He then went to Double-A and struck out 32.9 percent of the time while batting .206 in 56 games. Hartford aint a great place to hit, and he was 3.7 years younger than the league-average age, but as a corner-only defender who poses no threat on the base paths, he faces considerable pressure to save that strikeout rate soon or tumble down the organizational depth chart.
5. C 1B OF Hunter Goodman | 24 | MLB | 2023
A thick 6’1” 210 lbs, Goodman hit 34 homers in 116 minor league games across two levels in 2023. Nine came during his torrid 15-game stretch at Triple-A, prompting the club to call him up for some September seasoning. It did not go great. He struck out at a 31.2 percent clip and posted a 48 wRC+, but it’s notable that he played a bunch of first base and right field, where he figures to be an option to open 2024. A nice hail mary option for redraft leagues with an upside of spending enough games behind the plate to qualify there.
6. SS Dyan Jorge | 21 | A | 2026
A plus athlete across the board at 6’3” 170 lbs, Jorge hasn’t played a lot of baseball since the club signed him for $2.8 million in 2022, but he’s been good whenever he’s been on the field, controlling the strike zone, spraying liners all over the field and stealing bases in bunches. 2024 feels like an escalator for his fantasy value. He might open in High-A after 49 games in Low-A this year, and Colorado’s affiliate in Spokane tends to help kids produce big numbers. In-game power is Jorge’s missing piece, and it could come together in a hurry.
7. OF Zac Veen | 22 | AA | 2025
In a difficult year throughout the organization, Veen’s collapse might’ve been the most discouraging development. He returned to Double-A after hitting .172 for 32 games there last year and hit .209 with one home run in 46 games this time around. Part of the issue might be his steep uppercut of a bat path, but at this point it’s fair to wonder if he has the baseline hand-eye talent to remain relevant regardless of whatever he could work to improve.
8. C Drew Romo | 22 | AAA | 2024
The best thing about Romo for our game is that he’s almost certain to get a good long look at the starting job in Coors. Current starter Elias Diaz is 33 and a free agent after 2024. Romo is a plus defender and switch-hitter the club selected 35th overall in 2020. He hasn’t produced a notable offensive season yet, but his wRC+ outcomes of 104, 95, and 103 in his full season stops at Low-A, High-A, and Double-A tell the tale of a young hitter producing league average offense against older players. That’s pretty great consistency for a good defensive catcher. It’s not uncommon for a backstop to bottom out a time or two along the path. Can glance just ahead on our schedule to Diego Cartaya’s wRC+ of 71 for an example. Romo ended 2023 with four games at Triple-A and should contend for a roster spot during spring training.
9. OF Benny Montgomery | 21 | A+ | 2025
Montgomery’s enjoying a hot stretch in the Arizona Fall League, slashing .333/.436/.500 with three home runs and ten steals in 19 games. The success comes as a good time because while his teammates were tearing it up in High-A and getting promoted to Hartford, Montgomery was hitting .251 with ten homers, 18 steals and a 95 wRC+ in 109 games. Not the worst season ever, but his 27.2 percent strikeout rate and lack of improvement throughout the season weren’t encouraging. I’m worried this ranking is a bit low because a fully realized Montgomery playing half his games in Coors would be a starter in any sized fantasy league.
10. OF Robert Calaz | 18 | DSL | 2027
Power comes easily to the 6’2” 202 lb Calaz. The highest paid international signing of Colorado’s 2023 class at $1.7 million, Calaz features easy-to-see upside in a smooth right-handed stroke. I’m reminded a bit of Eloy Jimenez in that he’s already large and generating big offensive outcomes (.325/.423/.561 in 43 DSL games), and while he may not have the massive topside of an Eloy, he’s got the chance to bash his way through the system in a similar fashion, and like Sterlin Thompson on this same list, his defensive liabilities seem less limiting than ever in the era of the universal designated hitter.
Thanks for reading!
