10 Takeaways From Our 2025 Top 10 MLB Prospects Rankings

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Image credit: DETROIT, MI - SEPTEMBER 25: Detroit Tigers pitcher Jackson Jobe (21) pitches in the ninth inning in his major league debut during the Detroit Tigers versus the Tampa Bay Rays game on Wednesday September 25, 2024 at Comerica Park in Detroit, MI. (Photo by Steven King/Icon Sportswire)

Top 10 prospect rankings provide a crystal clear snapshot of where each farm system in baseball stands in the new year.

To take advantage of this perspective, we explored many angles of Top 10 prospects composition, including player age, signing status, means of acquisition, original organization and more.

In this way we studied the present to discern the future. Here are 10 key things we learned from studying Top 10s.

Note: This piece reflects all offseason trades involving Top 10 prospects.

Top 10 Prospects For Every Team

Ranking the Top 10 MLB prospects in every organization, complete with full scouting reports, tool grades & more for 300 players.

The Padres have the youngest group of Top 10 Prospects

At this time last year, the Padres’ system was headlined by nine players who no longer count as prospects for San Diego. Jackson Merrill graduated with honors after a standout rookie season, but the other eight prospects were traded in 2024. 

During spring training, San Diego dealt righthanders Drew Thorpe and Jairo Iriarte and outfielder Samuel Zavala to the White Sox for Dylan Cease. In May, the Padres traded outfielder Dillon Head and others to the Marlins for Luis Arraez.

Finally, in late July the Padres completed two deadline deals. In one, they  traded lefthander Robby Snelling, righthander Adam Mazur and third baseman Graham Pauley to the Marlins for Tanner Scott. In the other, they traded righthander Dylan Lesko to the Rays for Jason Adam.

To replenish the organization’s prospect stock, the Padres turned to six teenagers they signed in 2024. Dominican shortstop Leodalis De Vries is the headliner as the No. 1 prospect. Mexican righthander Humberto Cruz ranks No. 4. The other four are draftees out of high school: lefthanders Kash Mayfield (first round) and Boston Bateman (second), shortstop Cobb Hightower (third) and third baseman Kale Fountain (fifth).

The Diamondbacks and Guardians have the most position players in their Top 10s

Arizona and Cleveland both went 9 for 10 in terms of placing position players in their Top 10 prospects rankings. 

The D-backs’ top 10 features the organization’s first-round picks from the past four drafts: shortstop Jordan Lawlar (2021), outfielder Druw Jones (2022), second baseman Tommy Troy (2023) and outfielders Slade Caldwell and Ryan Waldschmidt (2024). 

The Guardians’ position contingent includes first-rounders Chase DeLauter (2022), Ralphy Velazquez (2023) and Travis Bazzana (2024). Bazzana was the No. 1 overall pick last July and finished the season as teammates with Velazquez at High-A Lake County, the Minor League Team of the Year

Honorable mention: The Orioles, Mariners and Tigers have eight position players ranked among their top 10.

The Braves have the most pitchers in their Top 10

For a third year in a row, the Braves have the most pitcher representation in their Top 10 prospects ranking.

Atlanta’s top prospect is hard-hitting catcher Drake Baldwin, while third baseman Nacho Alvarez Jr. ranks fourth. Every other Braves top prospect is a pitcher, including five who were drafted out of high school, such as 2021 seventh-round righthander AJ Smith-Shawver and 2024 first-round lefthander Cam Caminiti.

Honorable mention: The Blue Jays, Padres and Pirates have six pitchers ranked among their top 10.

The D-backs, Reds, Tigers and White Sox have the most first-round picks ranked top 10

Four organizations have a total of five players ranked inside the top 10 who were drafted in the first round: the D-backs, Reds, Tigers and White Sox.

Arizona’s quintet is listed above, in the note about most position players in the top 10. 

The Reds’ top three prospects are all first-round pitchers: righthanders Rhett Lowder (2023) and Chase Burns (2024), as well as Chase Petty, the Twins’ 2021 first-rounder whom Cincinnati added in the 2022 Sonny Gray trade. The Reds’ other first-rounders are 2022 picks Cam Collier and Sal Stewart, the latter of whom technically was a compensatory pick tacked on to the end of the first round.

Detroit counts Jackson Jobe (2021), Jace Jung (2022), Max Clark (2023) and Bryce Rainer (2024) as homegrown first-round picks, while 2021 Yankees first-rounder Trey Sweeney joined the organization in the Jack Flaherty trade in July 2024.  

The White Sox top 10 leads off with five consecutive first-rounders, including the organization’s own trio of Noah Schultz (2022), Colson Montgomery (2021) and Hagen Smith (2024) in the top three spots. Prospects four and five are catcher Kyle Teel (2023) and outfielder Braden Montgomery (2024), both Red Sox first-rounders traded to Chicago in December 2024 as headliners in the Garrett Crochet trade. 

The Tigers have the best batter-pitcher prospect duo

Righthander Jackson Jobe (2021) and outfielder Max Clark (2023) rank as Detroit’s top two prospects. Each was drafted with the third overall pick in his draft. Each was the BA High School Player of the Year as a senior.

Now, they form the most promising batter-pitcher combination in the 2025 prospect set. 

Jobe recorded a 2.36 ERA in 91.2 innings last season, primarily at Double-A Erie, before making his MLB debut late in the season. The Tigers carried him on their postseason roster, where he made two additional appearances.

Clark played at the Tigers’ two Class A affiliates last season, batting .279/.372/.421 with nine home runs and 29 stolen bases.

The White Sox have more Top 10 prospects acquired in trades than any other organization

Half of the White Sox’s Top 30 Prospects that appear in the 2025 Prospect Handbook were acquired in trades. That includes six in the top 10 alone, a higher total than any other organization this year.

Kyle Teel, Braden Montgomery and Chase Meidroth are all products of the offseason Garrett Crochet trade with the Red Sox. Drew Thorpe and Jairo Iriarte were added in the Dylan Cease trade with the Padres in March 2024. The White Sox added catcher Edgar Quero in a July 2023 trade with the Angels that sent Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez to Anaheim.

The Rangers and Red Sox have the most international free agents ranked top 10

The Red Sox maintain a presence in Venezuela, the home country of Boston top 10 prospects Franklin Arias, Luis Perales and Jhostynxon Garcia. Dominican second baseman Yoeilin Cespedes and outfielder Miguel Bleis round out the international contingent.

The Rangers also have five international free agents ranked among their top 10 prospects, headlined by Bahamian shortstop Sebastian Walcott. Dominican righthanders Emiliano Teodo and Winston Santos, Venezuelan shortstop Yolfran Castillo and Mexican outfielder Alejandro Osuna bring Texas’ IFA total to five players inside the top 10.

The Padres are the original signing organization for the most Top 10 Prospects

Just as they were a year ago, the Padres are the original signing organization for the most Top 10 prospects. This year, the total is 18 players originally signed by San Diego.

The list includes all 10 of the Padres’ top prospects heading into 2025. The other eight players who originally signed with San Diego are as follows: 

• Power-hitting Cubs outfielder Owen Caissie was part of the December 2020 trade that sent Yu Darvish from Chicago to the Padres.

•  The Padres traded righthander Jairo Iriarte to the White Sox as part of the Dylan Cease trade in March 2024.  

• Guardians lefthander Joey Cantillo was part of the August 2020 Mike Clevinger trade.

• The Dodgers acquired righthander River Ryan from the Padres in a trade for Matt Beaty in March 2022. 

• The Marlins added righthander Adam Mazur, lefthander Robby Snelling and outfielder Dillon Head in two 2024 trades that sent Luis Arraez and Tanner Scott to the Padres.

• Nationals righthander Jarlin Susana is one of two remaining prospect-eligible players—Robert Hassell III is the other—remaining from the August 2022 Juan Soto trade. Washington big leaguers CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore and James Wood were also part of the Soto deal.

Scouts Jackson Laumann and Matt Price each signed four players ranked as Top 10 Prospects

The Royals’ Matt Price is listed as the signing scout for four players who rank in top 10s. Three of those players were Royals 2021 draft picks: righthander Ben Kudrna (second round), catcher Carter Jensen (third) and lefthander Noah Cameron (seventh). 

The fourth Price signee is third baseman Cayden Wallace, whom Kansas City traded to the Nationals in the July 2024 Hunter Harvey trade. 

Kudrna and Jensen were drafted out of Kansas City-area high schools. Cameron attended Central Arkansas and Wallace played at Arkansas.

Mariners scout Jackson Laumann signed four prospects in Seattle’s top 10, including the system’s top two prospects: Ohio prep shortstop Colt Emerson and Pennsylvania prep shortstop Cole Young. Young and Emerson were the Mariners’ first-round picks in 2022 and 2023.

Laumann also is credited as the signing scout for former Pittsburgh righthander Logan Evans and former Virginia Commonwealth masher Tyler Locklear.

The University of Florida produced the most players who currently rank as Top 10 prospects

A total of six former Florida Gators rank as Top 10 prospects heading into the 2025 season. That total is higher than any other college program.

The list of Florida alum: first baseman Jac Caglianone (first round, 2024) Mets righthander Brandon Sproat (second, 2023), Braves righthander Hurston Waldrep (first, 2023), Mets righthander Christian Scott (fifth, 2021), Pirates lefthander Hunter Barco (second, 2022) and Orioles outfielder Jud Fabian (second, 2022).

Eight additional college programs count four players as Top 10 prospects: Arkansas, Louisiana State, Miami, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas Tech, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest.

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