1. OF Josue De Paula | 21 | MLB | 2026

Listed at 6’3” 185 pounds, De Paula appears to be bigger than that to the naked eye–not that I’m walking around with inappropriate eyewear looking at teenage athletes. A left-handed hitter with great plate skills and impressive contact skills for a guy with his raw power, De Paula looked like the toughest out in LA’s lineup for a minute, posting a .500 on base percentage through 42 major league plate appearances. When I sent Grey my top prospects for 2027 redraft leagues on the eve of the postseason, I ranked De Paula first and thought he had all but displaced Teoscar Hernandez as the everyday left fielder. Grey was dubious that De Paula would get the playing time to secure that outcome. I thought they’d need him in the lineup to compete for a title and that they generally need to start infusing some youth into an aging offense. I genuinely thought he might become a star on the national stage this October. Dear reader, I was wrong. The Dodgers left De Paula on the bench as they got swept. Is that a harbinger of how they’ll deploy him next season? Certainly could be. They did have him skip Triple-A, so I suppose they could send him back there and leave him in Oklahoma City until some kind of injury opens a door for him. In 124 Double-A games this year, he hit 27 home runs and struck out just 87 times against 81 walks. A better hitting prospect does not exist right now.