We’ve had a Draft, a Trade Deadline and more than half a season of Major and Minor League Baseball games. It’s time to update the prospect rankings.
MLB Pipeline has released a brand-new Top 100 Prospects list, fresh with 2025 Draft picks and updated spots for some of baseball’s best young talents. The team Top 30 rankings have also gotten a fresh coat of paint for all 30 farm systems.
Here’s a breakdown of the updated Top 100:
1. Konnor Griffin, SS/OF, Pirates
2. Kevin McGonigle, SS, Tigers
3. Leo De Vries, SS, Athletics
4. Sebastian Walcott, SS/3B, Rangers
5. Jesús Made, SS, Brewers
6. JJ Wetherholt, SS/2B, Cardinals
7. Bubba Chandler, RHP, Pirates
8. Samuel Basallo, C/1B, Orioles
9. Max Clark, OF, Tigers
10. Andrew Painter, RHP, Phillies
Complete Top 100 »
Griffin holds onto the top spot after moving up there in our lighter pre-Trade Deadline update. The 2024 ninth overall pick entered pro ball with the potential for plus power and plus-plus speed and has shown a much-improved hit tool from his amateur days, getting him closer to the five-tool ideal profile at a premium position at just 19 years old. He’s one of two Pirates in the Top 10, joining 22-year-old fireballer Bubba Chandler, who has been knocking on Pittsburgh’s door all summer.
McGonigle slides up to No. 2 as he continues to show arguably the Minors’ top hit tool as a career .319 hitter in the Tigers system. De Vries — famously moved from the Padres for Mason Miller at the Deadline — gives the A’s their first Top 10 prospect ever since MLB Pipeline began ranking such players in 2004. Owner of wicked bat speed as a switch-hitter, Made was recently promoted to High-A after having only turned 18 in May, making him younger than many high school picks in this year’s Draft. Speaking of age, Walcott — a 6-foot-4 shortstop with monster power and a rocket arm — is one of only 11 players since 2006 to get more than 400 plate appearances at Double-A at 19 or younger, joining Mike Trout, Manny Machado and fellow Top 10 prospect Basallo on that list.
Discounting 2025 Draft picks, there were 29 players who didn’t make our preseason Top 100 but have joined the party in the months since that initial release. The biggest riser is Brewers infielder Luis Peña, who joined Made in skipping straight to Single-A at 18 years old this spring and has since risen to High-A. Peña is hitting .301/.374/.471 with seven homers and just a 14.0 percent strikeout rate in 76 games in his first season stateside.
Here are the 10 highest-ranked newcomers on the midseason list:
16. Luis Peña, INF, Brewers
20. Carson Benge, OF, Mets
25. George Lombard Jr., SS, Yankees
28. Payton Tolle, LHP, Red Sox
37. Nolan McLean, RHP, Mets
42. Ryan Sloan, RHP, Mariners
44. Jonah Tong, RHP, Mets
55. Eduardo Quintero, OF, Dodgers
58. Gage Jump, LHP, Athletics
59. C.J. Kayfus, 1B/OF, Guardians
The top of this year’s Draft hasn’t reached the heights of recent classes; for instance, no one’s coming close to reaching Paul Skenes’ initial ranking of No. 3 in 2023. But 12 total picks from last month’s process have cracked the list, equal to the total from last year’s Draft:
17. Ethan Holliday, SS, Rockies (No. 4 overall pick)
18. Eli Willits, SS, Nationals (No. 1)
22. Kade Anderson, LHP, Mariners (No. 3)
27. Seth Hernandez, RHP, Pirates (No. 6)
34. Liam Doyle, LHP, Cardinals (No. 5)
36. Jamie Arnold, LHP, Athletics (No. 11)
39. Aiva Arquette, SS, Marlins (No. 7)
41. JoJo Parker, SS, Blue Jays (No. 8)
79. Billy Carlson, SS, White Sox (No. 10)
89. Steele Hall, SS, Reds (No. 9)
94. Kyson Witherspoon, RHP, Red Sox (No. 15)
96. Tyler Bremner, RHP, Angels (No. 2)
There have been 59 holdovers from the preseason list to the midseason update. Twenty-nine of the remaining 41 were Major League graduates, like top two talents Roki Sasaki and Roman Anthony, while the other 12 fell off the list.
Here are the 10 highest risers from the preseason list, headlined by Tigers first baseman/catcher Josue Briceño — last year’s Arizona Fall League Triple Crown winner who continues to hit for average and power in his healthy age-20 campaign:
+63: Josue Briceño, 1B/C, Tigers (No. 95 to 32)
+62: Trey Yesavage, RHP, Blue Jays (No. 88 to 26)
+56: Zyhir Hope, OF, Dodgers (No. 75 to 19)
+53: Sal Stewart, 3B/2B, Reds (No. 84 to 31)
+52: Franklin Arias, SS, Red Sox (No. 76 to 24)
+51: Jesús Made, SS, Brewers (No. 56 to 5)
+42: Konnor Griffin, SS/OF, Pirates (No. 43 to 1)
+39: Eduardo Tait, C, Twins (No. 93 to 54)
+37: Michael Arroyo, 2B, Mariners (No. 98 to 61)
+36: Arjun Nimmala, SS, Blue Jays (No. 87 to 51)
Shortstops, get your shortstops here.
A record 30 shortstops appear on this year’s list, and no previous ranking comes especially close. The previous high on a preseason or midseason list was 24, last reached on the 2022 midseason Top 100 when Gunnar Henderson was still the best prospect at the six. Each of our top six prospects in this update man that specific premium position.
Obviously, not all 30 will play short in the Majors, with many sliding around the dirt or even potentially moving to the outfield. But the position is considered the captain of the infield for a reason, and it shouldn’t come as a shock that so many players with the athleticism to handle shortstop would be capable, if not great, prospects in other areas.
At the other end of the spectrum, there is only one true third baseman on this Top 100: Reds prospect Sal Stewart. That’s a first in the history of MLB Pipeline Top 100 rankings. Typically, teams want to give players as many looks at shortstop as they can before sliding them down the defensive spectrum; for example, Top 20 prospects Leo De Vries, Sebastian Walcott and Ethan Holliday have all been mentioned as potential future third basemen. But until that move occurs on the field, we count them where they have the most experience/where they were announced on Draft Day.
Speaking of the Draft, 75 members of the Top 100 entered pro ball through that process while 25 came as international signees. Ten different countries are represented on the list, led by the United States (73) and followed by the Dominican Republic (11), Venezuela (seven), Canada (two), Panama (two), Australia (one), the Bahamas (one), Colombia (one), Cuba (one) and the Netherlands (one).
Our actual Farm System Rankings will come out later this week, but one note might stand out when looking at individual organizations: the Mariners lead the way with nine Top 100 prospects. That’s the most by any club on a preseason or midseason list since the Padres boasted 10 at the start of the 2019 season.
The Reds and White Sox fall in line next with six apiece, followed by the Brewers, Dodgers and Twins with five each. Every farm system has at least one player on the Top 100 following this recent update, and 27 of the 30 have at least one player in the Top 50.
Another way of breaking down the list is to look at Prospect Points (100 for the No. 1 prospect, 99 for No. 2, etc.). Here are the top 10 teams through that measure, along with their best prospects in parentheses:
1. Mariners, 429 (Colt Emerson, SS/3B, No. 11)
2. Tigers, 326 (Kevin McGonigle, SS, No. 2)
3. Dodgers, 310 (Josue De Paula, OF, No. 12)
4. Pirates, 282 (Konnor Griffin, SS/OF, No. 1)
5. Brewers, 276 (Jesús Made, SS, No. 5)
6. Mets, 273 (Carson Benge, OF, No. 20)
7. Twins, 224 (Walker Jenkins, OF, No. 14)
8. Guardians, 217 (Travis Bazzana, 2B, No. 15)
9. Athletics, 206 (Leo De Vries, SS, No. 3)
10. White Sox, 204 (Braden Montgomery, OF, No. 33)
