Here are MLB Pipeline's 2024 Top 100 Prospects
After Gunnar Henderson and Corbin Carroll graduated from the first two spots on MLB Pipeline’s 2023 preseason Top 100 to Rookies of the Year, the names have changed atop our new 2024 list but the scenario remains the same. Orioles infielder at No. 1? Check. Wondrously tooled outfielder at No.
After Gunnar Henderson and Corbin Carroll graduated from the first two spots on MLB Pipeline’s 2023 preseason Top 100 to Rookies of the Year, the names have changed atop our new 2024 list but the scenario remains the same.
Orioles infielder at No. 1? Check. Wondrously tooled outfielder at No. 2? Bingo.
The No. 1 choice in the 2023 Draft, Skenes is one of 18 players from that deeper-than-usual class to make the Top 100. Four outfielders from that crop also were considered worthy of a top overall pick, and they all rank prominently: Wyatt Langford (fourth by the Rangers, No. 6), Dylan Crews (second by the Nationals, No. 7), Walker Jenkins (fifth by the Twins, No. 10) and Max Clark (third by the Tigers, No. 13).
Let’s break down the 2024 Top 100 in a variety of ways:
The Top 10
Three different Orioles have ranked atop our preseason or midseason Top 100 in the last three years: Adley Rutschman (mid-2021), Henderson (pre-2023) and Holliday (mid-2023, pre-2024). At Nos. 5 and 6, the Rangers’ Evan Carter and Langford are the highest-ranked teammates on a preseason list since the Tigers’ Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene (Nos. 4 and 5) in 2022.
1. Jackson Holliday, SS/2B, Orioles
2. Jackson Chourio, OF, Brewers
3. Paul Skenes, RHP, Pirates
4. Junior Caminero, 3B/SS, Rays
5. Evan Carter, OF, Rangers
6. Wyatt Langford, OF, Rangers
7. Dylan Crews, OF, Nationals
8. Ethan Salas, C, Padres
9. Colson Montgomery, SS, White Sox
10. Walker Jenkins, OF, Twins
Complete Top 100 »
Biggest rises
Our new list features 43 players who didn’t make our preseason Top 100 a year ago (not including the 18 2023 draftees who were in college or high school at the time). Rays third baseman/shortstop Junior Caminero made the largest leap over the last 12 months, going from unranked to No. 4 after slamming 31 homers between High-A and Double-A and making his big league debut during his age-19 season. Other prominent newcomers include Padres catcher Ethan Salas (No. 8), Orioles catcher/first baseman Samuel Basallo (No. 17), Tigers third/second baseman Colt Keith (No. 22) and Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony (No. 24).
Several players who did make the 2023 preseason Top 100 also made huge jumps. The biggest climb belongs to Rays shortstop Carson Williams, who went from No. 72 to No. 20 on the heels of recording 23 homers and 20 steals while reaching Triple-A in his age-19 season. Five other prospects moved up at least 40 spots: Guardians outfielder Chase DeLauter (No. 82 to No. 31), Orioles outfielder Heston Kjerstad (No. 80 to No. 32), Twins outfielder Emmanuel Rodriguez (No. 88 to No. 42), Padres right-hander Dylan Lesko (No. 100 to No. 56) and Rockies shortstop Adael Amador (No. 68 to No. 28).
Furthest falls
A year ago, the Dodgers’ Diego Cartaya placed No. 14 and looked on the verge of becoming the best catching prospect in the game. Instead, he slashed .189/.278/.379 in Double-A and fell off the Top 100, making him the highest-rated prospect from 2023 to disappear from the list. Other guys who slid all the way off include Rockies outfielder Zac Veen (No. 27 at this time last year), Nationals outfielders Robert Hassell III (No. 35) and Elijah Green (No. 46) and Mets catcher Kevin Parada (No. 36).
Guardians right-hander Daniel Espino can make an argument for having the best pure stuff of any mound prospect, but he pitched just 18 1/3 innings in 2022 and missed all of last year following shoulder surgery, which is why he took the biggest plunge among players who remained on the list, No. 16 to No. 100. Injuries also were the impetus in Diamondbacks outfielder Druw Jones dropping from No. 15 to No. 78 and Phillies righty Andrew Painter sliding from No. 6 to No. 27. The only other prospects to move down at least 20 spots were Reds shortstop Edwin Arroyo (No. 44 to No. 67) and Rays third/second baseman Curtis Mead (No. 33 to No. 55).
Demographics
Outfielders (26) edged out right-handed pitchers (23) and shortstops (23) for the most spots on the Top 100. Those positions were followed by third basemen (nine), catchers (seven), left-handed pitchers (six), first basemen and second basemen (three each).
Eighty of the Top 100 Prospects entered pro ball via the Draft, including 49 first-rounders and the last two No. 1 overall selections in Holliday and Skenes. Mets outfielder/first baseman Ryan Clifford (No. 97) was the lowest pick, an 11th-rounder in 2022, though he dropped because of signability and received a $1,131,530 bonus, the equivalent of late-second-round money. Twenty signed on the international market, with Salas landing the largest bonus at $5.6 million in 2023.
Eighteen members of the Top 100 already have been traded since turning pro, most prominently Caminero. The Rays snagged him from the Guardians in exchange for Tobias Myers while looking to clear space on their 40-man roster in November 2021.
Seventy-seven Top 100 Prospects were born in the United States, 10 in the Dominican Republic, five in Venezuela, two in Canada and one each in Australia, the Bahamas, Cuba, Curaçao, Panama and Puerto Rico.
Farm reports
The Cubs lead all farm systems with seven Top 100 prospects, highlighted by outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong (No. 16) and right-hander Cade Horton (No. 26). The Orioles have six Top 100 guys, while the Padres, Pirates and Reds have five each.
A quick, if imprecise, manner of measuring the strength of star talent in an organization is to calculate what we refer to as Prospect Points (100 points for the No. 1 prospect, 99 for No. 2 and so on). The Orioles have the most Prospect Points with 444, with the Cubs (375) and Padres (308) the only other systems to surpass 300.
The Top 10 organizations in terms of Prospect Points, with their best prospect in parentheses:
Orioles, 444 (Jackson Holliday, SS/2B, No. 1)
Cubs, 375 (Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF, No. 16)
Padres, 308 (Ethan Salas, C, No. 8)
Brewers, 288 (Jackson Chourio, OF, No. 2)
Tigers, 284 (Max Clark, OF, No. 13)
Rays, 267 (Junior Caminero, 3B/SS, No. 4)
Red Sox, 249 (Marcelo Mayer, SS, No. 15)
Nationals, 234 (Dylan Crews, OF, No. 7)
Rangers, 234 (Evan Carter, OF, No. 5)
Twins, 233 (Walker Jenkins, OF, No. 10)
Jim Callis is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him @jimcallisMLB. Listen to him on the weekly MLB Pipeline Podcast.