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I tend to dislike a lot of prospects. Not on a personal level of course. But I’ve played and coached and watched a lot of baseball, so it’s pretty common for me to dismiss a player at a glance. As I discussed in Wednesday’s article, Prospect News: Alek Manoah Debuts with Grown-Man GasI maintain a video-heavy research process to try and curb these first-blush reactions. My guiding principle as a teacher and coach is that anyone can make a leap in skill at any moment. We see it in baseball all the time. If you ignored JD Martinez, Justin Turner, and Max Muncy because of who they were in a previous life as a ballplayer, you missed out. These types of transformations are happening all the time, all the way down each system, on every side of the game. From throwing across the diamond to blocking breaking balls in the dirt to opening up early to pull an inside pitch out in front of the plate, players are bodies in motion, constantly evolving just to keep up. Take a glance at the statlines for Mookie Betts and Juan Soto this season. Hitting is incredibly hard. Baseball can be a nightmare when you’re caught in between, facing an adjustment phase or, like Francisco Lindor said today about studying himself from 2017, trying to imitate your past self and coming up just short. 

These rankings will look a little different, I suspect, from most you’ve seen. The biggest change will likely be the names you won’t find here. If a guy is hurt or slumping, I can probably find a better prospect for the top hundred in all of baseball. We can probably all find a better guy for our dynasty teams, too. For example, I cut Houston SS Jeremy Pena in a 15-teamer the instant I learned he was out for the season. I could have tried to shop him, I guess, but he’s still a free agent in that league today. Herein we see the most crucial aspect of succeeding in dynasty leagues: maximizing every roster spot, even in the short term, even if you’re rebuilding. I’m not recommending anyone go drop JJ Bleday or Cristian Pache or George Valera, but I am suggesting you make an effort to trade some prospects with established name value if their flaws are manifesting in their stat lines in ways that most leagues and ranking services are a little slow to spot. 

Well that was a much longer intro than I’d planned at the outset. Let’s get to the list.

Rank Player Position Age 4/1/21 Team ETA
1 Wander Franco SS 20 TB 2021
2 Vidal Brujan 2B 23 TB 2021
3 CJ Abrams SS 20 SD 2022
4 Julio Rodriguez OF 20 SEA 2022
5 Ke’Bryan Hayes 3B 24 PIT 2020
6 Corbin Carroll OF 20 ARI 2023
7 Bobby Witt Jr. SS 20 KC 2022
8 Spencer Torkelson 1B 21 DET 2022
9 Jarred Kelenic OF 21 SEA 2021
10 Marco Luciano SS 19 SF 2023
11 Alek Manoah RHP 23 TOR 2021
12 Francisco Alvarez C 19 NYM 2023
13 Alex Kirilloff 1B/OF 23 MIN 2020
14 Adley Rutschman C 23 BAL 2022
15 Noelvi Marte SS 19 SEA 2022
16 Jasson Dominguez OF 18 NYY 2025
17 Riley Greene OF 20 DET 2022
18 Jarren Duran OF 24 BOS 2021
19 Heriberto Hernandez OF 21 TB 2022
20 Luis Matos OF 19 SF 2022
21 Brennen Davis OF 21 CHC 2022
22 Triston Casas 3B 21 BOS 2022
23 Nick Pratto 1B 22 KC 2022
24 Hedbert Perez OF 19 MIL 2024
25 Greg Jones SS 23 TB 2023
26 Gunnar Henderson SS 19 BAL 2023
27 Liover Peguero SS 20 PIT 2022
28 Wilman Diaz SS 17 LAD 2025
29 Jeter Downs SS 22 BOS 2021
30 Grayson Rodriguez RHP 21 BAL 2022
31 Reid Detmers LHP 21 LAA 2022
32 Oswald Peraza SS 20 NYY 2022
33 Nick Lodolo LHP 23 CIN 2021
34 MacKenzie Gore LHP 22 SD 2022
35 Gilberto Jimenez OF 20 BOS 2023
36 Nick Gonzales 2B 21 PIT 2022
37 Simeon Woods-Richardson RHP 20 TOR 2021
38 Hunter Greene RHP 21 CIN 2022
39 Oneil Cruz SS 22 PIT 2021
40 Luis Patiño RHP 21 TB 2020
41 Sixto Sanchez RHP 22 MIA 2020
42 Zach McKinstry 2B/OF 26 LAD 2020
43 Shane McClanahan LHP 24 TB 2021
44 Alek Thomas OF 20 ARI 2021
45 Tyler Freeman SS 21 CLE 2021
46 Trevor Larnach OF 24 MIN 2021
47 Jordan Walker 3B 18 STL 2024
48 Michael Harris II OF 20 ATL 2023
49 Austin Martin 3B/OF 22 TOR 2022
50 Asa Lacy LHP 21 KC 2022
51 Max Meyer RHP 22 MIA 2021
52 Orelvis Martinez 3B 19 TOR 2023
53 George Kirby RHP 23 SEA 2022
54 Tyler Soderstrom C/OF 19 OAK 2023
55 Gabriel Moreno C 21 TOR 2021
56 Robert Hassell III OF 19 SD 2024
57 Edward Olivares OF 25 KC 2020
58 Jesus Sanchez OF 23 MIA 2020
59 Kristian Robinson OF 20 ARI 2022
60 Kyren Paris SS 19 LAA 2023
61 Michael Busch 2B/3B 23 LAD 2022
62 Korry Howell SS/OF 22 MIL 2022
63 Erick Peña SS/OF 18 KC 2025
64 Jhoan Duran RHP 23 MIN 2021
65 Josiah Gray RHP 23 LAD 2021
66 Royce Lewis SS 21 MIN 2022
67 Drew Waters OF 22 ATL 2021
68 Roansy Contreras RHP 21 PIT 2021
69 Quinn Priester RHP 20 PIT 2023
70 Cole Winn RHP 21 TEX 2023
71 Zac Veen OF 19 COL 2025
72 DL Hall LHP 22 BAL 2022
73 Miguel Vargas 3B 21 LAD 2022
74 Josh Jung 3B 23 TEX 2021
75 Blake Walston LHP 19 ARI 2023
76 Jose Garcia SS 23 CIN 2020
77 Daniel Espino RHP 20 CLE 2023
78 Jackson Kowar RHP 24 KC 2021
79 Ronny Mauricio SS 20 NYM 2023
80 Curtis Terry 1B 24 TEX 2021
81 Angel Martinez SS 19 CLE 2022
82 Heliot Ramos OF 21 SF 2022
83 Nolan Gorman 3B 21 STL 2022
84 Garrett Mitchell OF 22 MIL 2023
85 Joey Bart C 24 SF 2021
86 Spencer Howard RHP 24 PHI 2020
87 Cornelius Randolph OF 23 PHI 2021
88 Brandon Marsh OF 23 LAA 2021
89 Josh Lowe OF 23 TB 2021
90 Alec Burleson 1B 22 STL 2022
91 Gavin Sheets 1B/OF 25 CHW 2021
92 Taylor Walls SS 24 TB 2021
93 Heston Kjerstad OF 22 BAL 2023
94 Pedro Leon SS/OF 22 HOU 2022
95 Diego Cartaya C 19 LAD 2025
96 Jake Eder LHP 22 MIA 2022
97 Endy Rodriguez C 21 PIT 2023
98 Bubba Thompson OF 22 TEX 2022
99 Cristian Hernandez SS 17 CHC 2025
100 Daniel Lynch LHP 24 KC 2020

 

Thanks for reading!

I’m @thepropsectitch on Twitter.

PS: I hope to continue the conversation in the comments and plan to go a little deeper next week.