7 Top 100 Prospects Blocked From Everyday MLB Roles In 2025

Roman Anthony, OF, Red Sox (No. 2)

Our No. 2 prospect just reached Triple-A Worcester in August 2024, so he’s not going to grow stale if he spends more time in Worcester. But Anthony’s readiness may not be as important as being assured that there’s the opportunity for him to get regular at-bats once he reaches Boston.

Anthony has had a strong start to the spring (.306/.500/.385 ), but if everyone is healthy, there’s plenty of depth to work through. 

Wilyer Abreu has yet to play this spring with a gastrointestinal illness. If he’s not ready for Opening Day, Anthony could make a case for a short-term fill-in role. The Red Sox would have to make a 40-man roster move to do so, however, so it may not make sense if it’s for a brief fill-in role.

Anthony himself battled an illness that caused him to miss a week of playing time. He’s cleared to play again, but he is working to try to regain weight loss during that bout.

If/when Abreu is healthy, the combination of him, Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela and Masataka Yoshida gives Boston a solid and experienced outfield. Anthony should push his way into the lineup at some point in 2025, but the Red Sox have enough depth to not rush that move. However if Anthony (and/or Kristian Campbell, who also has outfield experience) makes the Opening Day roster, they would be eligible for a PPI draft pick if they won the American League Rookie of the Year award.

Jordan Lawlar, SS, Diamondbacks (No. 13)

Lawlar may not the highest-ranked player on this list, but he is the most notable example of a Top 100  prospect with upper-level MiLB time and no clear path to regular MLB playing time this year. He was supposed to be entering his second season as a big league regular by now. Instead, he’s the poster child for blocked prospects.

At this moment, he needs to prove he can stay healthy. But he also needs an opportunity, and that appears to be a significant challenge.

D-backs’ beat writer Nick Piecoro laid this out in detail on our Deep Dive into the team’s farm system. There just doesn’t seem to be a spot for Lawlar in the short-term unless an injury occurs.

Arizona exercised a $15 million option to bring third baseman Eugenio Suarez back for 2025. Suarez, 33, hit .256/.319/.469 with 30 home runs as the team’s everyday third baseman in 2024. Shortstop Gerardo Perdomo, 25, hit .273/.344/.374 while producing 3.5 bWAR in a 2024 season in which he missed time with a knee injury. He signed a four-year, $45 million extension with a club option for a fifth season that could keep him in Arizona through 2030.

“Ever since the 2023 postseason, seeing what Perdomo meant to the team, what he meant defensively, the steadiness he brings and the ability to get on base from the bottom of the lineup,” Piecoro said. “I think that position was Perdomo’s going forward.”

Second baseman Ketel Marte, 31, is signed through 2027 with a team option for 2028. He’s considered one of the best second baseman in baseball, and is coming off a .292/.372/.560 season that produced 6.8 bWAR.

Lawlar first reached the majors in September 2023. Promoted on Sept. 7, he became the club’s everyday shortstop that day, starting the majority of the games for the next week while Perdomo slid over to third base to try to fix the team’s lack of production at the hot corner.

That experiment didn’t last long. Lawlar didn’t hit, and in the final weeks of the season with the team pushing for a playoff spot, Evan Longoria returned to third base while Perdomo slid back to shortstop. Lawlar made the playoff roster, but as a pinch runner/pinch hitter/defensive replacement.

Lawlar’s 2024 season was wrecked by injuries, most notably thumb and hamstring problems that limited him to just 23 games. The team’s 2021 first-round pick, Lawlar injured his labrum right after signing and barely played that year. The following season, he fractured his scapula while playing in the Arizona Fall League.

So Lawlar’s first task is to get at-bats at Triple-A Reno and stay healthy. He’s performed when healthy, but he’s yet to top 105 games in a season.

But even if he is healthy, if the D-backs’ infielders stay healthy, as well, Arizona will have to get creative to figure out a spot for the No. 13 prospect in the game.

Suarez is on a one-year deal, so Lawlar seems to be a logical choice to be the club’s third baseman of the future. He has played both shortstop and third base in spring training this year and is hitting .250/.280/.542.

When it comes to the present, however, Lawlar is likely set for a return to the minors.

Coby Mayo, 3B, Orioles (No. 29)

Mayo has played four games at first base, two at third and two at DH this spring as he attempts to showcase his versatility. Logically, he’s the Orioles’ backup plan at all three spots, but it’s also hard to see how he’ll find a spot in the Baltimore lineup without an injury or trade.

Even with Anthony Santander departing in free agency, the Orioles have a plethora of corner outfield/first base/DH options.

First basemen Ryan O’Hearn and Ryan Mountcastle will likely share DH/first base duties. Outfielders Tyler O’Neill, Colton Cowser and Ramon Laureano could also get DH at-bats. Backup catcher Gary Sanchez is available, too.

Mayo is also an option at third base if Jordan Westburg went down (or if Westburg and Jackson Holliday moved positions in case of an injury to Gunnar Henderson). But Baltimore also has the reliable Ramon Urias as a backup, while outfielder/infielder Jorge Mateo should be back before long.

Mayo is hitting .115/.143/.154 so far this spring in 21 plate appearances, and he hit .098/.196/.098 in a 46 plate-appearance cameo in Baltimore last season, so he has work to do to claim a job. But Mayo has also hit .279/.376/.543 with 76 extra-base hits in 657 Triple-A plate appearances, so it’s hard to say he will benefit from much more time in Triple-A.

Dalton Rushing, C/OF, Dodgers (No. 30)

Rushing moved to the outfield nearly full-time in August 2024, but that appears to have been a short-term move to ensure he was big league ready if a need arose during the postseason. There was no need, it turned out, as Teoscar Hernandez hit three home runs to become a playoff fixture in left field.

Hernandez re-signed with the Dodgers for three more years, which as solidified the outfield. With that in mind, Rushing has played catcher exclusively in big league spring training games, getting into four games while also slotting in at DH five times. 

There just isn’t a need for him to get more left field experience for a team that has Hernandez, Michael Conforto, Chris Taylor, Enrique Hernandez, Andy Pages and James Outman.

Instead, Rushing, who is hitting .250/.684/.375 with a remarkable nine walks in 19 plate appearances this spring, is likely to focus on catching and potentially a bit of first base time this year at Triple-A Oklahoma City. If Will Smith and Austin Barnes remain healthy, there’s no spot in Los Angeles, but few teams will boast as good of a backup plan as having one of the best catching prospects in the game sitting ready in Triple-A.

And if Freddie Freeman missed significant time, having Rushing as a first-base option would also be a luxury most teams would covet.

Alex Freeland, SS, Dodgers (No. 46)

Freeland is a shortstop, which gives him the kind of positional versatility that helps provide multiple avenues to a big league job. But with the Dodgers, all avenues appear blocked.

Mookie Betts is set to be the team’s everyday shortstop. This remains a big ask for the long-time second baseman/right fielder. 

If Betts proves incapable of handling the role, Freeland could earn a shot if the Dodgers don’t trade for a shortstop and decide the combination of Miguel Rojas, Enrique Hernandez and Tommy Edman is insufficient. But if Betts is solid at shortstop, Rojas is a good-glove veteran who could serve as the backup infielder. Hernandez, Edman, Hyeseong Kim and Chris Taylor give the team multiple other versatile infielders, and Max Muncy is pencilled in at third base.

Freeland had an excellent 2024, but he hit only .243/.335/.396 at Triple-A Oklahoma City, so some further MiLB time isn’t a bad idea. It’s hard to earn a spot in the Dodgers’ lineup, but Freeland’s versatility and bat could make him an option as a mid-season promotion.

Freeland is hitting .300/.417/.600 this spring.

Owen Caissie (No. 64) & Kevin Alcantara (No. 71), OF, Cubs

If Chicago hadn’t acquired Kyle Tucker, these two Top 100 Prospects could be battling for a spot in the Cubs’ outfield. Instead, they are almost assured of returning to Triple-A Iowa.

That’s not particularly a problem. Alcántara did get a brief callup in 2024, but he has just 148 Triple-A plate appearances on his resumé and could continue improving his approach at the plate. Caissie did spend all season at Triple-A last year, but he could also use further time to improve his contact skills, which improved in 2024 but remain the biggest question he faces in terms of his MLB role.

But with Tucker, Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Seiya Suzuki ticketed for the big league outfield, and the recent additions of veterans Justin Turner and Jon Berti as depth pieces, it will take some sort of change/injury for either outfielder to get a call to Chicago.

Alcántara is hitting .273/.333/.364 this spring while playing all three outfield spots. Caissie is recovering from a groin strain that kept him from getting in a game before he was optioned to the minors.