Precocious Ethan Salas Could Set Top 100 Record
Image credit: Padres catcher Ethan Salas (Photo Courtesy of Gail Verderico)
As you probably noticed, Padres catcher Ethan Salas has moved into the Top 10 on our newly updated Top 100 Prospects rankings. He currently ranks No. 6.
That’s a lofty ranking for a player who just turned 17 at the start of June. But it’s actually way more unusual than you may think.
While we now update our Top 100 Prospects rankings monthly during the season, we still treat the offseason Top 100 as canon. That’s the list we refer to when we look at whether a team has set a record for most players on a Top 100 or other notable events. It’s the Top 100 ranking we’ve been doing for more than 30 years now, dating back to 1990.
So instead of saying that Ethan Salas has broken a record, we will say this. If Padres catcher Ethan Salas remains in the Top 10 when we unveil our preseason Top 100 Prospects rankings this offseason, he will become the youngest player we have ever ranked in the Top 10.
The current record holder is Rays shortstop Wander Franco, who was 17 and 10 months old when he ranked No. 4 on the 2019 Top 100 Prospects list. Salas will be 17 and seven months when the 2024 Top 100 Prospects rolls out.
Here’s a look at the 10 youngest Top 10 Prospects in Baseball America Top 100 Prospects history. Unless Salas advances to No. 1 by next January, Harper should remain as the youngest No. 1 prospect in BA history, because by 2025, Salas will be older than Harper. But if Salas ranks in the top 10 this and next year, he could rank on this top 10 youngest list twice, as he would be 17.7 years old in January 2024 and 18.7 years old in January 2025.
| Name | Rank | Age |
| Wander Franco | 4 | 17.9 |
| Bryce Harper | 1 | 18.3 |
| Delmon Young | 3 | 18.4 |
| Justin Upton | 2 | 18.4 |
| Julio Urias | 10 | 18.5 |
| Alex Rodriguez | 6 | 18.5 |
| Ben Grieve | 10 | 18.7 |
| Andruw Jones | 1 | 18.8 |
| Joe Mauer | 7 | 18.8 |
| Felix Hernandez | 2 | 18.8 |
Here’s another way to look at it. Here is what our Top 100 Prospects list looked like when Salas was born on June 1, 2006. While almost all of these players are retired, Astros righthander Justin Verlander sat at No. 8 on the list. Now it seems conceivable that Verlander may still be pitching when Salas reaches the majors.
| Rank | Player | Position | Org |
| 1 | Delmon Young | OF | TB |
| 2 | Justin Upton | SS | ARI |
| 3 | Brandon Wood | SS | LAA |
| 4 | Jeremy Hermida | OF | FLA |
| 5 | Stephen Drew | SS | ARI |
| 6 | Francisco Liriano | LHP | MIN |
| 7 | Chad Billingsley | RHP | LAD |
| 8 | Justin Verlander | RHP | DET |
| 9 | Lastings Milledge | OF | NYM |
| 10 | Matt Cain | RHP | SF |
| 11 | Prince Fielder | 1B | MIL |
| 12 | Howie Kendrick | 2B | LAA |
| 13 | Alex Gordon | 3B | KC |
| 14 | Andy Marte | 3B | CLE |
| 15 | Ryan Zimmerman | 3B | WAS |
| 16 | Ian Stewart | 3B | COL |
| 17 | Conor Jackson | 1B | ARI |
| 18 | Jarrod Saltalamacchia | C | ATL |
| 19 | Andy LaRoche | 3B | LAD |
| 20 | Carlos Quentin | OF | ARI |
| 21 | Nick Markakis | OF | BAL |
| 22 | Jon Lester | LHP | BOS |
| 23 | Chris Young | OF | ARI |
| 24 | Bobby Jenks | RHP | CWS |
| 25 | Troy Tulowitzki | SS | COL |
| 26 | Joel Guzman | SS/3B | LAD |
| 27 | Felix Pie | OF | CHC |
| 28 | Daric Barton | 1B | OAK |
| 29 | Billy Butler | OF | KC |
| 30 | Hanley Ramirez | SS | FLA |
| 31 | Cameron Maybin | OF | DET |
| 32 | Carlos Gonzalez | OF | ARI |
| 33 | Jeff Clement | C | SEA |
| 34 | Scott Olsen | LHP | FLA |
| 35 | Joel Zumaya | RHP | DET |
| 36 | Mike Pelfrey | RHP | NYM |
| 37 | Jonathan Papelbon | RHP | BOS |
| 38 | Homer Bailey | RHP | CIN |
| 39 | Phil Hughes | RHP | NYY |
| 40 | Anibal Sanchez | RHP | FLA |
| 41 | Anthony Reyes | RHP | STL |
| 42 | Russell Martin | C | LAD |
| 43 | Neil Walker | C | PIT |
| 44 | Mark Rogers | RHP | MIL |
| 45 | Adam Loewen | LHP | BAL |
| 46 | Erick Aybar | SS | LAA |
| 47 | Adam Miller | RHP | CLE |
| 48 | Dustin McGowan | RHP | TOR |
| 49 | Ryan Braun | 3B | MIL |
| 50 | Andrew McCutchen | OF | PIT |
| 51 | Brian Anderson | OF | CWS |
| 52 | Jason Hirsh | RHP | HOU |
| 53 | Jeremy Sowers | LHP | CLE |
| 54 | Craig Hansen | RHP | BOS |
| 55 | Scott Elbert | LHP | LAD |
| 56 | Edinson Volquez | RHP | TEX |
| 57 | Jered Weaver | RHP | LAA |
| 58 | Jason Kubel | OF | MIN |
| 59 | John Danks | LHP | TEX |
| 60 | Jeff Mathis | C | LAA |
| 61 | Elvis Andrus | SS | ATL |
| 62 | Troy Patton | LHP | HOU |
| 63 | Jonathan Broxton | RHP | LAD |
| 64 | Adam Jones | OF/SS | SEA |
| 65 | Marcus Sanders | SS/2B | SF |
| 66 | Kenji Johjima | C | SEA |
| 67 | Dustin Nippert | RHP | ARI |
| 68 | Cole Hamels | LHP | PHI |
| 69 | Yusmeiro Petit | RHP | FLA |
| 70 | Jeff Niemann | RHP | TB |
| 71 | Brad Snyder | OF | CLE |
| 72 | Thomas Diamond | RHP | TEX |
| 73 | Gio Gonzalez | LHP | PHI |
| 74 | Javier Herrera | OF | OAK |
| 75 | Matt Moses | 3B | MIN |
| 76 | Jay Bruce | OF | CIN |
| 77 | Dustin Pedroia | 2B/SS | BOS |
| 78 | Kendrys Morales | 1B | LAA |
| 79 | Jason Hammel | RHP | TB |
| 80 | Josh Johnson | RHP | FLA |
| 81 | Hayden Penn | RHP | BAL |
| 82 | Blake DeWitt | 3B | LAD |
| 83 | Cliff Pennington | SS | OAK |
| 84 | Justin Huber | 1B | KC |
| 85 | Mark Pawelek | LHP | CHC |
| 86 | Eric Duncan | 3B/1B | NYY |
| 87 | Ricky Romero | LHP | TOR |
| 88 | Cesar Carrillo | RHP | SD |
| 89 | Andre Ethier | OF | LAD |
| 90 | Nick Adenhart | RHP | LAA |
| 91 | Glen Perkins | LHP | MIN |
| 92 | Ryan Sweeney | OF | CWS |
| 93 | Anthony Lerew | RHP | ATL |
| 94 | Ronny Cedeno | SS | CHC |
| 95 | Tom Gorzelanny | LHP | PIT |
| 96 | Matt Kemp | OF | LAD |
| 97 | Chris Volstad | RHP | FLA |
| 98 | Chuck James | LHP | ATL |
| 99 | Nolan Reimold | OF | BAL |
| 100 | Anthony Swarzak | RHP | MIN |
