"We really are excited about him and the live arm he has with control and how big he is," said Daniel Rodriguez, the Astros . During the course of working on the 2023 class, I became aware of about a half-dozen players set to sign in 2025 and 26 who already have verbal deals for north of $3 million. Nitpicking about his swing actualization is fine because were talking about one of baseballs best prospects, but the foundation of present skills and tools combined with Jones physical projection makes him a potential franchise-altering superstar. Busch has continued his long track record of excellent offensive performance so far in pro ball. Montgomery did not look good at shortstop during that stretch, falling short of the positions high bar in most facets (range, hands, arm strength). He has an ideal pitchers frame, his gorgeous delivery generated mid-90s velocity with huge riding life at the top of the zone, his changeup is one of the better amateur changeups most scouts have ever seen, and before his elbow blew out during his draft spring, his curveball looked like it had gotten better. His best offspeed is a plus slider, a tight, two-plane offering in the low-to-mid-80s. Back in Port St. Lucie to start 2022, Ramirez was red hot for the first month of the season, slashing a whopping .385/.423/.606 while cutting his strikeout rate by about 42% (from 31% to 18%), though his walk rate also dipped. Its fair to consider there to be subjective and persistent relief risk here related to Flores delivery and the length of his arm action. Considered too advanced for the teams Dominican complex, he made his stateside pro debut in 2019 and followed that up by posting a .941 OPS across two A-ball levels in 2021 while still a teenager. Players with a 40+ FV grade or above tend to be prospects who I think would go in the first two rounds of a draft, while the teenage 40 FV prospects are the sort Id ballpark in the $700,000 to $1 million bonus range as draft prospects, basically the slot amounts just after the second round. Last years class had a consensus Big 3 at the top in Wilman Diaz, Christian Hernandez, and Carlos Colmenarez. He fell behind some of the other high school infielders in his draft class due to doubts that Arroyo could stay at short as well as concerns about his hit tool. He walked at hefty 15% clip in June, three times as much as he had to that point in the season, and his strikeout rate barely moved even though he was running deeper counts. Its part of why hes projected with a below-average hit tool here even though hes performed at an above-average clip in the minors. Simon Juan, OF, Dominican Republic Mets ($1,900,000) More 17. His gigantic frame and plus arm are a big part of where the Salvador Perez comps are coming from. He still has two years before he technically has to be added to the 40-man, and theoretically the Phillies could use all that runway to keep developing him as a starter in the hopes that things click, but going on age 24 that feels like a bit of a pipe dream. Hes a well-rounded star and franchise cornerstone. His feel for contact and for the zone already gave him a high floor. He is the younger brother of Marlins prospect Jose Salas, and he could end up being the best player in the family. He can absolutely fly and will occasionally do some impressive stuff at the dish, especially when he bends out over the plate to whack breaking stuff away from him. He may just be a DH, which would obviously make it tougher for him to profile, but there may be elite on-base ability here and that plus the power might be enough for Julien to make an impact that way, too. But the best parts of Libbys game are offset by the fact that they dont fit with the rest of his profile, which puts a mild damper on it. Bradleys fastball utility, command, and athleticism enable deep projection on his secondary pitches into his 20s. Allens fastball has other traits that help it punch above its weight, and he commands it with machine-like regularity to the locations in which it is most effective. -- $500,000Alison Zacarias, RHP, D.R. He had among the highest average exit velocities in college baseball at a whopping 98 mph, though that came with what would constitute 40-grade peak exit velocities, around 105 mph (and with a BBCOR bat major league players average is 110 mph with wood). Hes a plus rotational athlete, his hands are exceptionally strong, he can drive his top hand through contact to punish pitches at the top of the zone and he sometimes alters his footwork and the bend in his lower half to dip down and barrel low pitches. A high-probability shortstop with a long-limbed, projectable frame, Hernandez was your traditional international amateur who excels in a workout environment. People with a track record or striking gold on a few lotto tickets tend to be more willing to pursue that path. Adan Sanchez, INF, Panama Cubs ($1,500,000) More 44. It's not very often that a prospect comes along that projects to have plus to double-plus grades on his hit tool, power, and speed. After a little bit of a slow start, Domnguez not only made relevant adjustments there but improved upon promotion to High-A, where he slashed .306/.397/.510 and struck out just 19% of the time. Diaz has plus, all-fields power and covers the outer third of the plate especially well. He also dealt with an eye condition that would later require surgery to strengthen the collagen fibers within his cornea, surgery he had in 2020 while he also reworked his mechanics. A massive part of fantasy baseball dynasty leagues always has been and always will be prospects. Look under the hood and there is cause for concern. Hes begun to solve the former problem by occasionally catching on one knee with one leg splayed out, la Carlos Ruiz, which allows him to be lower to the ground and present low pitches moving back toward the zone. Vargas is expected to show more raw power and rack up extra-base hits as he fills out his frame. A plus athlete, Neto does some acrobatic things at shortstop and when he puts his whole body into a throw, he appears to have plenty of arm for the left side. Across the 2022 calendar, Davis had nearly as many HBPs as he did extra-base hits, to which the wrist fracture likely contributed. It would be an above-average pitch were it simply in the low-to-mid-80s, but at this velocity, its a 70-grade weapon, and Espino has consistent feel for locating it down and to his glove side. A Massachusetts multi-sport prep standout (he was the Gatorade POY in football as a quarterback, as well as a lauded hockey player), Frelick emerged as a baseball prospect during his freshman season at Boston College when he hit .361/.438/.594 and went 22-for-24 on stolen base attempts in just 35 games. His traditional crouch can be a little high and make it tough for him to get to the ground to block balls, which he often tries to do with his hands rather than his whole body, and hell cost you a base now and then because of this. These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. That means the No. Jung had a rough 2022 that were chalking up to injury-related rust rather than severe skill regression. He is able . Davis has huge, plus-plus raw power, and will be a star if he can stay behind the plate or a solid everyday first baseman if he cant. MLB.com's free scouting report says Cols can "play all three outfield positions and projects to hit in the middle of the order." He makes up for mediocre twitch and range with outstanding instincts, elegant body control, lightning-fast hands and actions, and a plus arm. The floor for Ortiz looks something like Isiah Kiner-Falefa, a slick-fielding utilityman with plus bat-to-ball ability, but not enough power to be a true everyday option, essentially a 45-grade player. He has plus bat speed, and a compact, athletic swing that features a very flexible lower half and a fair amount of barrel variability. Domnguez also wasnt seen facing live pitching very much as an amateur, so while his showcase tools were evident, there wasnt as much confidence in his hit tool as is typical of a top-of-the-class prospect. He shows good plate discipline and doesn't swing and miss often. Power and arm strength have been Cartayas headline tools since his amateur days, and despite missing lots of time in the 2020-21 window due to the pandemic and injuries, he has still developed on defense and managed his strikeout tendencies, and played enough in 2022 to reinforce industry confidence in his plate discipline across a larger sample of plate appearances. : Tigers ($900,000) More 45. Johnson often ends his swing with his torso having made a full 180 degree rotation, sometimes swinging with such ferocious bat speed that he loses his balance and faceplants in the batters box. In 2021, he moved into the Aggies rotation, and while his fastball would peak at 95-98 mph, hed typically settle in at 92-94 as a starter and still had issues with walks. The offensive package, even with a bat-to-ball blemish (for now), is still befitting of a star-level talent at shortstop or third base, wherever Henderson ends up playing. His 39.8% strikeout rate was the highest in the minors among qualified pitchers last year, and he fanned 186 batters in just 113 innings. We get $200 to start the season. It has more details (and updated TrackMan data from various sources) than this article and integrates every teams list so readers can compare prospects across farm systems. According to Baseball America, four of the top 25 prospects in baseball are currently catchers that came from the international ranks. 10) and Yankees shortstop Oswald Peraza (No. An intense, cerebral presence on the mound, Liberatore made his big league debut in 2022, spending the back half of the season shuttling between the Cardinals rotation and Triple-A. His physicality perhaps gives him a better chance of withstanding that grind than most other prospects. He also altered his breaking ball usage (more sliders, fewer curves) and increased his changeup frequency, and was so advanced from a pitchability standpoint that Cleveland quickly saw fit to send him to Akron, where he spent most of his first pro season. His 40-man timeline presents the Cardinals with what would likely be a seamless transition from MVP candidate Paul Goldschmidt to Walker if they so choose, with Walker possibly DHing most days during Goldys contract year. Hope that his many late-bloomer characteristics (multi-sport, Northeast background, reps lost due to a 2019 knee surgery and then the pandemic) would lead to an eventual breakout in the power department buoyed his draft stock into the middle of the first round. Born in Venezuela and signed out of an Arizona junior college, Flores gained notice as a big time prospect throughout 2021, which he wrapped sitting 93-96 mph with a hammer breaking ball in the Fall League. Rodriguez is still a major league-ready impact prospect and is a prime American League Rookie of the Year candidate. In his first full season, Mayer slashed .280/.399/.489, hit 30 doubles and 13 homers, and was 17-for-17 on stolen base attempts as he continued the track record of premium offensive performance that hes displayed since he was a high school underclassman. Before he got hurt, there were folks in baseball who considered him a top 30 prospect, so his ceiling is big enough to include him on the top 100 now even though hes coming off injury. Williams was a two-way high school player who was talented enough to be considered a prospect as both a shortstop and a pitcher. March 1, 2023. Unless otherwise noted, clubs have not confirmed the deals. Plus, lvarez isnt nearly as chase-prone as Alfaro and has much more power than Bart, so he should outperform both. 5 Packs per Box, 5 Cards per Pack (Factory Sealed). He must turn 16 before he signs and be 17 before Sept. 1 the following year -- in practical terms, that means players born between Sept. 1, 2004, and Aug. 31, 2005, will be eligible to sign in the upcoming signing period. The curve has enough depth to have bat-missing utility below the zone and generate groundballs even when hitters sniff it out in mid-air. Arroyo is a hard-swinging shortstop who is off to a much more powerful offensive start than was anticipated when he signed out of high school. 2022-23 Southeast Standings. Just three days after signing, Jones suffered a left posterior labral tear while hitting, another glitch in the Matrix that seems to be causing every high-profile Diamondbacks prospect to suffer a severe shoulder injury. Its possible some of this is simply the growing pains of a teenage pitcher, and its also possible that this is what Jones stuff will be under the stress of a pro seasons worth of innings. Jameson sits 95-96 mph, touches 99, can add and subtract sink from his fastball, and his mid-80s slider is comfortably plus. Youll also notice that there is a Future Value outcome distribution graph for each prospect on the list. Considering how strong he is and how much contact he makes, there is a shocking dearth of measurable, high-quality contact happening here. Short levers enable Frelick to turn on inner-third fastballs and let him spray or spoil pitches that travel deep into the hitting zone, making him very tough to strike out. He has a shot to break camp with the big club and play a huge role on the next Orioles contender. If he develops into a plus shortstop defender with a well-rounded offensive game, hell easily be an impact big leaguer, and probably soon. Astros Future reported an agreement between Aparicio and the Astros on Jan. 27, 12 days after the 2022 international signing period opened. His hands work with natural lift, but Busch keeps their path short and on time, and he can move the barrel all over the zone. After a breakout 2021 season, Harrison managed to improve in virtually every column of his stat sheet in 2022. Projected signing teams, scouting reports and tool grades on just over 30 players from the 2023 class can now be viewed over on The Board. Twenty-five of the players on the 2021 Top 50 International Prospects list are from the Dominican Republic.