The 2024 MLB Trade Deadline and the 2024 MLB Draft are both in the rearview mirror now. We saw a huge number of trades on Tuesday that seemingly all involved MLB prospects. With all of the prospects changing teams and being added to organizations through the draft, it’s a great time to update the Top 400 MLB Prospect Rankings.

 

 

 

This brand-new list has taken out prospects who no longer count and add in all of the fantasy relevant prospects from the 2024 MLB Draft. Get a jump on all of the new names before your fantasy baseball leaguemates do!

MLB Prospects: Biggest Risers

  • Yilber Diaz
  • Brandon Sproat
  • Travis Sykora
  • Quinn Mathews
  • Staryln Caba
  • Spencer Schwellenbach
  • Jake Bloss
  • Nacho Alvarez Jr.
  • Chase Dollander
  • Jacob Wilson
  • Jesus Made
  • George Klassen
  • Hayden Birdsong
  • Caden Dana
  • Agustin Ramirez
  • Rece Hinds

MLB Prospects: Biggest Fallers

  • Jonatan Clase
  • Elijah Green
  • Arjun Nimmala
  • Mason Black
  • Roderick Arias
  • Walker Martin
  • Diego Cartaya
  • Everson Pereira
  • Druw Jones
  • Thomas Saggese
  • Robert Gasser
  • Victor Scott II
  • Trey Sweeney
  • Blaze Jordan
  • Mac Horvath
  • Ivan Melendez

2024 MLB Draft Prospects Added

  • Charlie Condon
  • Travis Bazzana
  • J.J. Wetherholt
  • Jac Caglianone
  • Chase Burns
  • Nick Kurtz
  • Braden Montgomery
  • Konnor Griffin
  • Hagen Smith
  • Bryce Rainer
  • Christian Moore
  • Seaver King
  • James Tibbs
  • Theo Gillen
  • Trey Yesavage
  • Cam Caminiti
  • Cam Smith
  • Kash Mayfield
  • Jurrangelo Cijntje
  • Vance Honeycutt
  • Dakota Jordan
  • Logan Evans
  • Kellon Lindsey
  • Tommy White
  • Kaelen Culpepper
  • Caleb Lomavita

 

 

 

MLB Prospect Rankings Process

Ranking prospects is more of a subjective undertaking than an objective one. Certainly, when there’s a fantasy baseball leaning to those prospect rankings. How is it subjective? Every time we look at a player’s tape, stats, and skills we can get a different view of their place in an organization, and the minors as a whole. However, that doesn’t really explain the process, does it? Not quite. So, when we’re talking about how we look at a pool of players and put numbers next to them, what all goes into that?

The biggest part of the evaluation and ranking is skills with an eye on a fantasy baseball leaning. The prospects that have the best package of skills, but also have shown them in games across multiple levels are higher in the rankings. That part should be self-explanatory to a degree. But there is more to the rankings than just that.

The next considerations usually come in a group — age, level, and league. The younger a player is and at a higher level, and a tough or fair league, the higher in the rankings they tend to be. Why? Well, two-fold. 

Firstly, if they’re young and at a high level it means the skills have already shown through well enough to earn promotion(s); secondly, if they suffer a slump or an injury, there’s more time for them to get back to their previous level of production and still be a fantasy asset for a long time. Going hand-in-hand with age is the level (aka Class-A, Double-A, Triple-A) a player is at or has reached. The rankings are based on how close they are to helping us in fantasy lineups. So, the closer to the majors the better. 

But, going along with that comes age. An older player performing well at a higher level isn’t necessarily as impressive as a younger one doing the same thing. Finally, the third part of this trifecta is league. Not every MiLB league is created the same. Clearly the levels are different, but within the levels the different leagues have different tendencies. 

For example, the International League in Triple-A is a pretty fair league between hitting and pitching but the Pacific Coast League, also in Triple-A, is way better for hitters. So, a pitcher putting up great numbers in the PCL is really pitching well compared to a pitcher putting up the same numbers in the IL.

Lastly, the organization they’re in and that team’s MLB roster is taken into account. Now, while it’s true there’s a saying “talent always finds a way to the top,” that’s not necessarily true. Some systems have a long history of developing their players and getting the most out of players who might’ve been average prospects. Some teams don’t. Just think about teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers, Tampa Bay Rays, San Diego Padres, Atlanta Braves, and Baltimore Orioles. They all tend to get the most out of their players as well as scout them better than most. 

Prospects in those systems will get a bump simply due to benefit of the doubt that they’ll turn into above-average fantasy baseball players. The downside of those systems is that players can wind up lower ranked than they would be in other systems simply due to depth and path. 

Compare Kyle Teel and Dalton Rushing, they have very similar skills and upside at catcher, yet no one is blocking Teel but Will Smith, and to a degree Freddie Freeman, is/are blocking Rushing. Hence the big difference in rankings. A player like Connor Norby who went from a loaded Orioles’ system to a sparse Marlins’ system got dinger a bit simply because of Miami not developing bats well and the MLB park downgrade.

See what I mean with it being subjective? All of those factors get rolled into one package for a player and shakes out into an order list of players. Does that mean that the top prospect will always be the most productive MLB player for fantasy? Do weathermen always get the forecast right? No, the same is true for prospects. Being higher on the list simply means you have a stronger chance of being a better fantasy baseball asset.