MLB top 100 composite prospect rankings, takeaways
Five of the main outlets - MLB.com, Baseball America, The Athletic, ESPN, and Baseball Prospectus - have published prospect rankings, and as expected, there are some disagreements.
A total of 148 prospects were named across the five lists. Even further, only 59 players were named on all five, making them consensus top-100. We can create a composite top 100 by combining all of the lists and assigning equal weights to each.
In the event of a tie, the higher overall ranking was given to the player named on more lists.
While there are many disputes, every list starts with Wander Franco's name. For the second straight year, the 19-year-old shortstop - who has yet to make an appearance above High-A - is the league's consensus No. 1 prospect:
Rank | Player | Team | Pos. | High | Low |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Wander Franco | TB | SS | 1 | 1 |
2 | Adley Rutschman | BAL | C | 2 | 6 |
3 | Jarred Kelenic | SEA | OF | 3 | 6 |
4 | CJ Abrams | SD | SS | 5 | 11 |
5 | MacKenzie Gore | SD | LHP | 2 | 13 |
6 | Spencer Torkelson | DET | 1B/3B | 3 | 18 |
7 | Julio Rodriguez | SEA | OF | 3 | 24 |
8 | Ke'Bryan Hayes | PIT | 3B | 6 | 15 |
9 | Cristian Pache | ATL | OF | 3 | 18 |
10 | Ian Anderson | ATL | RHP | 5 | 18 |
11 | Sixto Sanchez | MIA | RHP | 4 | 25 |
12 | Dylan Carlson | STL | OF | 9 | 18 |
13 | Andrew Vaughn | CWS | 1B | 8 | 21 |
14 | Marco Luciano | SF | SS | 7 | 31 |
15 | Bobby Witt Jr. | KC | SS | 7 | 27 |
16 | Nate Pearson | TOR | RHP | 5 | 35 |
17 | Casey Mize | DET | RHP | 11 | 28 |
18 | Luis Patino | TB | RHP | 16 | 25 |
19 | Austin Martin | TOR | SS/OF | 14 | 38 |
20 | Randy Arozarena | TB | OF | 10 | 45 |
Best systems
Somewhat unsurprisingly, the Tampa Bay Rays have the best overall system, according to the composite rankings, with three players in the top 20. Franco's at one, Luis Patino - newly acquired from the San Diego Padres in the Blake Snell trade - is at No. 18, and ALCS MVP Randy Arozarena rounds out the top 20.
The Rays had 10 total players named across the five lists with four consensus top 100s. Meanwhile, the Detroit Tigers - with the second-best system - have five players, all of whom are consensus top 100s. Rounding out the top five systems are the Seattle Mariners, Miami Marlins, and San Diego Padres. Like the Tigers, the Marlins also have five consensus top-100 prospects, tied for the major-league lead.
Rank | Player | Team | Pos. | High | Low |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
21 | Riley Greene | DET | OF | 19 | 34 |
22 | Royce Lewis | MIN | SS | 15 | 46 |
23 | Alex Kirilloff | MIN | OF | 7 | 71 |
24 | Matt Manning | DET | RHP | 21 | 46 |
25 | Grayson Rodriguez | BAL | RHP | 22 | 55 |
26 | Joey Bart | SF | C | 23 | 41 |
27 | Asa Lacy | KC | LHP | 21 | 49 |
28 | Corbin Carroll | ARI | OF | 23 | 47 |
29 | Michael Kopech | CWS | RHP | 24 | 53 |
30 | Brandon Marsh | LAA | OF | 19 | 53 |
31 | Logan Gilbert | SEA | RHP | 33 | 47 |
32 | Daniel Lynch | KC | LHP | 17 | 70 |
33 | Luis Campusano | SD | C | 29 | 61 |
34 | Max Meyer | MIA | RHP | 28 | 51 |
35 | Tarik Skubal | DET | LHP | 20 | 99 |
36 | Triston McKenzie | CLE | RHP | 12 | 73 |
37 | Nolan Gorman | STL | 3B | 23 | 57 |
38 | Jasson Dominguez | NYY | OF | 32 | 66 |
39 | Vidal Brujan | TB | 2B | 26 | 67 |
40 | Nick Madrigal | CWS | 2B | 12 | NR |
Best prospect to go unranked
For the third straight year, Madrigal is the highest-ranked farmhand to go unranked on one list: The Athletic's Keith Law. The White Sox second baseman made his MLB debut last year, hitting .340/.376/.369 over 29 games in the pandemic-shortened campaign.
Rank | Player | Team | Pos. | High | Low |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
41 | JJ Bleday | MIA | OF | 20 | 89 |
42 | Spencer Howard | PHI | RHP | 27 | 65 |
43 | Drew Waters | ATL | OF | 32 | NR |
44 | Kristian Robinson | ARI | OF | 15 | 93 |
45 | Nolan Jones | CLE | 3B | 33 | 86 |
46 | Josiah Gray | LAD | RHP | 36 | 68 |
47 | Matthew Liberatore | STL | LHP | 37 | 80 |
48 | Jazz Chisholm | MIA | SS | 26 | 77 |
49 | Emerson Hancock | SEA | RHP | 31 | 68 |
50 | Ronny Mauricio | NYM | SS | 32 | 67 |
51 | Edward Cabrera | MIA | RHP | 20 | 81 |
52 | Jordan Groshans | TOR | SS | 34 | NR |
53 | Zac Veen | COL | OF | 43 | 86 |
54 | Francisco Alvarez | NYM | C | 19 | 84 |
55 | Nick Gonzales | PIT | 2B/SS | 39 | NR |
56 | Triston Casas | BOS | 1B/3B | 44 | 87 |
57 | Robert Hassell | SD | OF | 45 | 85 |
58 | Heliot Ramos | SF | OF | 32 | 83 |
59 | Jeter Downs | BOS | SS | 41 | NR |
60 | Forrest Whitley | HOU | RHP | 29 | NR |
Worst systems
The Washington Nationals finish with the worst farm system, with Jackson Rutledge and Cade Cavalli getting named once each near the bottom of lists.
Two other teams also only had a pair of prospects named near the bottom: The Milwaukee Brewers and Oakland Athletics. The only player to make the top-100 composite ranking between the three teams was Garrett Mitchell (96), who Milwaukee selected 20th overall in this past year's draft.
Rank | Player | Team | Pos. | High | Low |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
61 | Brennen Davis | CHC | OF | 51 | 78 |
62 | Deivi Garcia | NYY | RHP | 17 | NR |
63 | DL Hall | BAL | LHP | 49 | 97 |
64 | Josh Jung | TEX | 3B | 49 | NR |
65 | Garrett Crochet | CWS | LHP | 36 | NR |
66 | Keibert Ruiz | LAD | C | 53 | 80 |
67 | Trevor Larnach | MIN | OF | 37 | NR |
68 | Oneil Cruz | PIT | SS | 28 | NR |
69 | Alek Thomas | ARI | OF | 47 | 94 |
70 | Brailyn Marquez | CHC | LHP | 52 | NR |
71 | Ryan Mountcastle | BAL | 1B/3B | 28 | NR |
72 | Hunter Greene | CIN | RHP | 28 | NR |
73 | Quinn Priester | PIT | RHP | 52 | NR |
74 | Leody Taveras | TEX | OF | 26 | NR |
75 | Geraldo Perdomo | ARI | 2B/SS | 39 | 91 |
76 | Brendan McKay | TB | LHP/1B | 33 | NR |
77 | George Valera | CLE | OF | 48 | NR |
78 | Heston Kjerstad | BAL | OF | 62 | NR |
79 | Shane Baz | TB | RHP | 24 | NR |
80 | Xavier Edwards | TB | SS | 52 | NR |
The 2020 draft class
Despite becoming the first member of the 2020 draft class to make the majors, Crochet is not the highest-ranked prospect of those selections - he even went unranked on The Athletic's list. The left-hander, who was drafted 11th overall and maintained a 0.00 ERA over six innings, finished behind Spencer Torkelson, Austin Martin, Asa Lacy, Max Meyer, Emerson Hancock, Zac Veen, Nick Gonzales, and Robert Hassell.
Mitchell, Heston Kjerstad, Reid Detmers, and Mick Abel join the top 100 from the 2020 class after Crochet.
Rank | Player | Team | Pos. | High | Low |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
81 | Clarke Schmidt | NYY | RHP | 52 | NR |
82 | Jo Adell* | LAA | OF | 13 | NR |
83 | Nick Lodolo | CIN | LHP | 57 | NR |
84 | Ryan Jeffers | MIN | C | 57 | NR |
85 | Reid Detmers | LAA | LHP | 65 | NR |
86 | Mick Abel | PHI | RHP | 54 | NR |
87 | Josh Lowe | TB | 3B/OF | 59 | NR |
88 | Tyler Stephenson | CIN | C | 35 | NR |
89 | Dane Dunning | TEX | RHP | 60 | NR |
90 | Michael Busch | LAD | 1B/2B | 74 | NR |
91 | Matthew Allan | NYM | RHP | 75 | NR |
92 | Bo Naylor | CLE | C | 42 | NR |
93 | Simeon Woods Richardson | TOR | RHP | 69 | NR |
94 | Ivan Herrera | STL | C | 68 | NR |
95 | Shea Langeliers | ATL | C | 73 | NR |
96 | Garrett Mitchell | MIL | OF | 65 | NR |
97 | Taylor Trammell | SEA | OF | 72 | NR |
98 | Jordan Balazovic | MIN | RHP | 63 | NR |
99 | Jordyn Adams | LAA | OF | 75 | NR |
100 | Shane McClanahan | TB | LHP | 80 | NR |
* - Adell exceeded rookie eligibility during the 2020 season but was included on Baseball America's list. The other four lists did not include the Angels outfielder.