McLean dazzled in 48.0 innings over eight starts during his big league debut last season, posting a 2.06 ERA and 1.04 WHIP while striking out 57 batters. He is expected to slot near the top of the 2026 rotation, perhaps right behind Peralta.
The other two prospects on the list will likely open 2026 in the minors.
Tong showed flashes during his first taste of the majors in 2025, but his arsenal can use some refining. The expectation is that he'll begin the season with Triple-A Syracuse, where he made just two starts before his promotion to the bigs late last season.
As far as Ewing, he had a breakout season in 2025, slashing .315/.401/.429 (.830 OPS) across three levels, ending with Double-A Binghamton. The speedy Ewing smacked 10 triples and 26 doubles while swiping 70 bases.
Williams and Sproat ranked No. 32 and No. 73, respectively.
The Royals have signed veteran right-handed pitcher Aaron Sanchez to a minor league deal, according to FanSided reporter Robert Murray. Sanchez was an All-Star back in 2016, but hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since 2022. The 33-year-old did not pitch in affiliated baseball last season, but he impressed scouts in the Dominican Winter League, winning Pitcher of the Year honors with a 1.55 ERA in eight starts.
Sanchez was originally a first-round pick by the Blue Jays in 2010 and faced the Royals in the 2015 ALCS as a reliever. He went 15-2 with a league-best 3.00 ERA in 2016, earning his only All-Star appearance. It was also the only season he made as many as 30 starts in a year. His season was limited in each of the next two years with blister issues in 2017 and a right-hand contusion in 2018. He struggled in 2019 and was traded to the Astros, where he suffered a torn capsule in his right shoulder, keeping him out the entire 2020 season.
When he returned, he showed positive signs in 2021 in 35.1 innings with the Giants, posting a 3.06 ERA, but he was ineffective the next year with the Nationals and Twins. He spent time in the Diamondbacks and Blue Jays organizations in 2023 and 2024, but did not pitch in the big leagues. Sanchez was not much of a strikeout pitcher in his prime, but succeeds with high groundball rates, often over 50 percent.
Sanchez will receive $1.35 million if he makes the big league roster, with incentives for games pitched. He has opt out clauses on April 15 and May 15.
The people have spoken and switch-hitting outfielder Jaison Chourio is our No. 10 Cleveland Guardians prospect. Chourio won a nailbiter, earning 24.5% of the vote, beating out Daniel Espino (22.4%), Khalil Watson (16.8%) and Jace LaViolette (16.8%). He drops seven spots from No. 3 in 2025.
Chourio was signed in the 2022 international class out of Venezuela for $1.2 million. He debuted in the Dominican Summer League that same year, putting up impressive numbers, slashing .280/.446/.402 with nearly twice as many walks as strikeouts.
In 2023, the switch hitter debuted stateside in the Arizona Complex League and he put up even better numbers, slashing .349/.476/.463 while stealing 19 bases in 39 games, good for an elite 147 wRC+. His performance earned him a late-season promotion to full-season ball, where he played nine games with the Lynchburg Hillcats.
Jaison spent his entire 2024 season with the Hillcats, although he likely would have earned a late-season promotion to High-A Lake County if he hadn’t fractured his wrist in late August. Despite the injury, he was named the Carolina League MVP after putting up some impressive numbers, slashing .269/.414/.398 with a career-high five home runs while stealing a whopping 44 bases in 98 games played, good for a 144 wRC+. He walked more than he struck out and also represented Cleveland in the 2024 Futures Game.
The 2025 season expected to be one where Chourio cemented himself as one of the best young outfield prospects in baseball, but it never happened. He missed about three weeks in May with a right shoulder strain. During his rehab stints, he left at least two games after tweaking the injury and even though he never hit the IL again after returning June 6, it appeared the injury bothered him the rest of the season. Chourio struggled mightily at High-A Lake County, slashing .235/.380/.284, hitting just two home runs and six doubles in 79 games played.
I’m going to chalk up the entire 2025 season to the fact that he dealt with nagging injuries because his numbers before that were too good. There’s no other discernable reason for his ISO to drop by 66% in one year. Chourio also is still just 20 years old and given the track record of his older brother, who is one of the best young outfielders in the game with the Milwaukee Brewers, it’s far too early to give up on him.
Now, it’s time to determine who is number 11 in the Guardians’ loaded farm system and you now have a whopping 10 players to choose from! Your options are below:
Impressed at the complex league, then hit the ground running in a late season promotion to Single-A before running out of steam late in his age-17 season. Loaded with potential.
Chourio was lining up to be Cleveland’s top prospect after a sensational 2024, but he was slowed in 2025 by a nagging shoulder injury and had a very average season. He’s looking to bounce back in 2026.
Daniel Espino, RHP (Age 25) 2025 (AAA): Threw 0.2 innings in one start for Columbus at the end of the season. 2025 (AFL): 4 G, 4.2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 2.14 FIP, 33.3 K%, 14.2 BB%, 1.50 WHIP
Espino has long been an object of wistful dreaming for Guardians’ prospect aficionados with his upper 90’s fastball and slider that might be even better than the heater. The question is whether he can ever be healthy enough to make the big leagues, where his path is probably now as a reliever.
Venezuelan prospect who broke out in with increased velocity in 2025, putting up nearly identical numbers at both High-A Lake County and Double-A Akron. Gomez was added to Cleveland’s 40-man roster.
Acquired from Pittsburghin the Spencer Horwitz trade, Hartle was one of Cleveland’s most successful starting pitchers in its minor league system in 2025. Stands 6-foot-6, but doesn’t have a ton of velocity.
Cleveland’s first round pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, the 6-foot-6 LaViolette instantly becomes one of the top power hitting prospects in the system. Strikeouts and contact have been an issue, however.
Cleveland’s 3rd round pick in 2024 out of high school, Oakie got off to a rough start in the Complex League, but then absolutely dominated when promoted to Single-A Lynchburg with a pair of 11 strikeout performances.
Absolutely dominated Double-A to begin 2025 looking well on his way to repeating his tremendous 2024 season, but then struggled after an early-season promotion to Triple-A. Remains on the 40-man roster.
One of Cleveland’s most impressive hitters in its minor league system during his stint at High-A Lake County as a 20-year-old. Rosario has a unique combination of speed and power, but will need to overcome his strikeouts.
Former top prospect returned from a torn knee and put up good enough numbers to finally make his MLB debut with Cleveland in 2025. Hit a memorable home run against the Detroit Tigers in the playoffs.
Acquired in the Josh Bell trade, Watson had his best season in 2025 after switching to the outfield from shortstop. Possesses a unique blend of speed and power mixed with great athleticism.
Our list so far: 1. Chase DeLauter, LHH OF 2. Travis Bazzana, LHH 2B 3. Parker Messick, LHP 4. Ralphy Velazquez, LHH 1B/RF 5. Angel Genao, SH SS 6. Braylon Doughty, RHP 7. Cooper Ingle, LHH C 8. Khal Stephen, RHP 9. Juan Brito, SH 2B/1B/RF/3B 10. Jaison Chourio, SH OF
With the 2025 Texas Rangers season having come to an end, we shall be, over the course of the offseason, taking a look at every player who appeared in a major league game for the Texas Rangers in 2025.
Today we are looking at outfielder Evan Carter.
Two years ago, one of the popular topics of conversation was which of the Rangers young stud outfielders you preferred — Evan Carter or Wyatt Langford?
Langford was the 3rd overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, tore through four levels in the minors in the two months after he signed, and posted an aggregate .360/.480/.677 slash line, making him a consensus top ten prospect heading into 2024.
Carter, meanwhile, went from being a national punchline when the Rangers took him in the second round in the 2020 draft to stud prospect (when he was healthy) to September callup, slashing .306/.413/.645 in 23 games to help get the Rangers to the playoffs, and then putting up a .300/.417/.500 slash line in the playoffs to help the Rangers win their first World Series title, making him a consensus top ten prospect heading into 2024.
During spring training in 2024, we did a Rangers Reacts survey on whether you were more excited about Langford or Carter. Langford won, but it was close, and there wasn’t really a wrong answer. The future looked bright with those two manning the outfield.
Heading into spring training 2026, the picture is much different. Langford has had his ups and downs in his first two seasons, has had a couple of injured list stints, has struggled with consistency…but he’s still put up a slash line of .247/.335/.423, good for a 121 OPS+, in 1130 plate appearances, while stealing 41 bases in 50 attempts and, surprisingly for a guy whose defense was considered mediocre in college, has been excellent defensively. In two seasons, Langford has accumulated 9.5 bWAR, and didn’t turn 24 until November.
Carter, meanwhile…Carter has had his ups and downs as well, but there have been more downs than ups. He missed most of 2024 due to back issues, started the 2025 season in the minors as he worked on a new swing to ease the pressures on his bat, got called up in early May, and ended up spending time on the injured list three different times, the final one being the result of being hit by a pitch and suffering a broken wrist, which ended his season.
Carter ended up playing in just 63 games in the majors in 2025, after logging just 45 games in 2024.
I saw someone describe 2025 as another lost season for Carter. I understand the sentiment, but I don’t really see it that way.
Yes, Carter played just 63 games, but unlike in 2024, he was pretty good in those 63 major league games. He slashed .247/.336/.392. He stole 14 bases in 16 attempts. He was excellent defensively.
Carter’s 1.9 bWAR for the season was the sixth highest among position players on the Rangers. And yes, that says something about the rest of the lineup, to a degree, but a 1.9 bWAR is generally considered a pretty decent season. Doing it Craig Gentry-style, in just 220 plate appearances, well, that makes it all the more remarkable.
(And if you don’t like bWAR, Carter put up a 1.4 fWAR, which, again, is pretty impressive for 63 games and 220 plate appearances).
The concerns about Carter coming up were whether he could stay healthy and whether he would hit lefties. Those concerns haven’t changed. The back issues, which have plagued him his entire career, were what had him spending the first six weeks of the 2025 season in AAA. He spent two weeks on the injured list in 2025 with a quad strain, and then, as mentioned above, missed the final month-plus with the broken wrist. Even if you want to chalk up the broken wrist as a fluke, the durability concerns with Carter remain.
And lefties? Carter was 2 for 23 with 4 walks and a HBP against lefties in 2025, an .087/.250/.087 slash line. For his career, Carter has an .083/.191/.083 slash line against lefthanded pitchers in 68 plate appearances. Evan Carter has yet to record an extra base hit against a lefthanded pitcher in the majors. (The regular season, anyway — he doubled off of Jake Diekman in the playoffs in 2023).
But even with those concerns, Evan Carter is a special player. He’s put up a 4.1 bWAR in 131 career games, all of them before he turned 23 years old (his 23rd birthday was the day the Rangers moved him to the 60 day injured list last year).
Maybe he’s always going to have durability concerns. Me, I’d be happy if the Rangers could get 130 healthy games out of him per season.
And maybe he’s always going to struggle against lefties. I have no doubt he’s going to put in the effort to improve against them, though, and again, he’s just 23 years old. Growth and improvement should be expected.
Maybe I’m just setting myself up for disappointment. Maybe the Grady Sizemore comps are all too accurate.
But I’m keeping the faith in Evan Carter. I’m asking the Baseball Gods to keep him healthy. Not even Cal Ripken Jr. healthy, or even Marcus Semien healthy. As I said, I’ll take 130 games a year from him.
Just give us that. Give us 130 healthy games a year from Evan Carter. Do that, and we will get to experience a special player.
Jacob Reimer’s father, Brandon, played baseball at Concordia University in the late ‘90s and took every opportunity to ensure that his son would pursue the same sport, installing a batting cage in their home and enrolling him on various little league and travel ball teams. Jacob initially began his high school baseball career in 2019 on the Yucaipa High School junior varsity baseball team, but by the end of the season, he had been promoted to the varsity team. He lettered over his next three seasons and ended his time with the Thunderbirds hitting .398 with 8 home runs in his final season there.
Reimer was selected by the Mets in the fourth round of the 2022 MLB Draft and had to choose between going professional or honoring his commitment to University of Washington. His desire to be a pro won out, and the infielder signed with the organization for $775,000, almost $250,000 over the MLB-assigned slot value of $507,500. The Mets assigned him to the FCL Mets in August and he appeared in 7 games with them, hitting .261/.414/.478 with 1 home run, 0 stolen bases, 6 walks to 3 strikeouts. That winter, Amazin’ Avenue ranked him the Mets’ 14th top prospect.
Reimer was assigned to the St. Lucie Mets to begin the 2023 season and hit a solid .280/.412/.392 with 10 doubles, 1 home run, 3 stolen bases, and 44 walks to 61 strikeouts for them in 75 games, missing a bit of time in late June and early July due to an injury. At the beginning of August, the 19-year-old was promoted to the Brooklyn Cyclones and finished the rest of the season in Coney Island, hitting .203/.354/.279 in 25 games with 1 home run, 0 stolen bases, and 17 walks to 22 strikeouts.
Ranked the Mets’ 9th top prospect by Amazin Avenue coming into the 2024 season, Reimer pulled his hamstring in March during spring training. His recovery took longer than expected, beginning his rehab assignment in mid-July rather than in June as initially believed, and after his rehab assignment ended, it only took another few weeks before he was placed back on the 7-Day Injured List. Ultimately, he only appeared in 14 games for the Brooklyn Cyclones and went 9-46 in those 14 games, with 3 doubles, 8 walks, and 7 strikeouts. The Mets sent the infielder to the Arizona Fall League a not only did he get a few more reps with the bat to get some of the rust off, but he also started learning a little left field. He appeared in 17 games for the Scottsdale Scorpions and went 11-53 with 1 triple, 2 home runs, 1 stolen base, and 15 walks to 13 strikeouts.
Amazin’ Avenue ranked Reimer the Mets’ 21st top prospect coming into 2025 and the infielder had a season that fully reestablished his top prospect bona fides to all. Assigned to the Cyclones to begin the year, the 21-year-old appeared in 61 games for Brooklyn and hit .284/.384/.502 with 18 doubles, 4 triples, 8 home runs, 11 stolen bases in 13 attempts, and 32 walks to 52 strikeouts. He was promoted to Double-A Binghamton in late June and finished his season with the Rumble Ponies. In 61 more games with them, he hit .279/.374/.479 with 14 doubles, 1 triple, 9 home runs, 4 stolen bases in 5 attempts, and 26 walks to 60 strikeouts. In total for the season, he appeared in a cumulative 122 games and hit .282./.379/.491 with 32 doubles, 5 triples, 17 home runs, 15 stolen bases in 18 attempts, and drew 58 walks to 112 strikeouts.
Listed at 6’2”, 205-pounds, Reimer stands open at the plate, holding his hands high at the eyes and wrapping his bat behind his head angled almost perpendicularly to the ground. He swings with a leg lift and has a level stroke that is direct to the ball. His swing is better geared towards pitches middle and up in the zone because he stands somewhat tall and stiff in the box, but Reimer has the plate coverage to make contact with pitches down in the zone he wants to make contact with and a good enough eye to know what pitches to lay off of. Especially relative to his age and amount of professional experience, he reads spin well, tracks pitches well, and has a strong sense of the strike zone.
During the 2024-2025 off-season, he put in a lot of work with organizational hitting instructors to modify and optimize his mechanics at the plate, leading to an improvement in his bat speed and his batted ball profile. This past season, he had a 39.3% groundball rate, 33.5% flyball rate, and 27.2% line drive rate with the Brooklyn Cyclones and a 39.6% groundball rate, 40.3% flyball rate, and 20.1% line drive rate with the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, good for a combined 39.4% groundball rate, 36.7% flyball rate, and 23.9% line drive rate. Coming into the season, one of the biggest criticisms about Reimer was the fact that too many of the balls that he put in play were hit into the ground, causing him to run a problematically high groundball rate/problematically low flyball rate. In 2023, he played in a combined 102 games and ran a 46.1% groundball rate to a 32.2% flyball rate and 21.7% line drive rate. In 2024, he played in a combined 25 games and ran a 49.2% groundball rate to a 23.8% flyball rate and 27% line drive rate. In 2025, Reimer pulled more balls than ever, posting a 51.0% Pull rate, and hit more balls into the air than ever. He has always had solid in-game power, but was hamstringing himself by hitting the ball on the ground far too often. Lifting the ball more consistently, Reimer is driving the ball more and his burgeoning power really displayed itself in 2025.
A combination of facing more advanced pitchers combined with a hitting philosophy at the plate to go after more hittable pitches, Reimer’s Swing% is up slightly this past season, sitting at 43.3% as compared to 37.7% in his limited innings in 2024 and the 36.9% rate he posted in 2023. Reimer’s passivity at the plate was sometimes a source of concern in the past, as he would pass on just as many good pitches that he would be able drive as he did bad pitches. While he did swing-and-miss a bit more last season- he posted a 10.5% SwStr% last year, as opposed to a 8.2% rate in 2024 and a 7.8% rate in 2023- and make a bit less contact- he posted a 75.7% Contact%, as opposed to a 78.3% rate in 2024 and a 78.9% rate in 2023- Reimer’s overall offensive profile improved, as he was simply doing more damage.
For most of his prep career, Reimer played shortstop, but he grew off the position and was shifted over to third base in his senior year of high school. Since becoming a professional, he has primarily manned the hot corner, occasionally serving as DH and occasionally filling in at first base; in the 2024 Arizona Fall League, he even played a few games in left field for the Scottsdale Scorpions. Solidly built, Reimer is strong and athletic but does not have quick-twitch muscle. He is missing the explosive first step and lateral quickness that you want your third baseman to have, an issue compounded by passivity when fielding plays, letting the ball come to him instead of charging in on the ball. His arm is strong enough for third base, but his accuracy can sometimes be scattershot, depending on the difficulty of the play and how much time he has to set and release. If he puts on additional mass as he ages, his mobility will further suffer and he may be eventually forced to move off of the left side of the infield altogether.
2026 Mets Top 25 Prospect List
8) Ryan Clifford 9) Will Watson 10) Jack Wenninger 11) Mitch Voit 12) Jonathan Santucci 13) Elian Peña 14) Zach Thornton 15) Nick Morabito 16) R.J. Gordon 17) Chris Suero 18) Dylan Ross 19) Ryan Lambert 20) Antonio Jimenez 21) Edward Lantigua 22) Eli Serrano III 23) Randy Guzman 24) Daiverson Gutierrez 25) Boston Baro
Our 2026 Community Prospect List is through the first three rounds and there weren’t any surprises in the early going. Shortstop Leo De Vries absolutely dominated the first round of voting to no one’s surprise, taking over 95% of the vote to get things started. Considering he was the #3 overall prospect in the entire sport last year, it was an easy call for A’s fans to anoint him the top prospect in the system again. In a bit of a frustrating news De Vries couldn’t keep that spot in this year’s top prospects list, falling to the fourth spot behind Brewers middle infield prospect Jesus Made. De Vries didn’t do anything but tear the cover off the ball after the trade over from the San Diego Padres last year so one can’t help but think that De Vries is getting dinged a bit for being in the Athletics’ system now. Or perhaps if the top three weren’t also shortstop prospects De Vries would be higher up on the list. The top four prospects right now will all be judged against one another for the next few years and it’ll be interesting to see which ones have the best futures. Hopefully it’s our guy.
The next two rounds were also fairly predictable but also closer. Left-hander Jamie Arnold took roughly 60% of the vote in Round 2 to take the second spot on our CPL. Arnold only just joined the organization this past year when he was drafted 11th overall, which was a miracle for the Athletics considering he was expected to go much higher than that. While he’s a bit farther away as he’s yet to pitch in a professional game yet, A’s brass believes he could be a fast riser through the system. The A’s have had stud lefty prospects not pan out in the past though (staring at you, AJ Puk) so let’s not assume we have a budding ace before he’s even thrown a professional pitch. That’s the hope and the dream though, for the left-hander to be atop the rotation when the A’s make their eventual push for the playoffs.
Another left-hander followed suit in Gage Jump, who also took roughly 60% of the vote en route to claiming the third overall spot. A second-rounder in 2024, Jump’s rise has caught even A’s fans by surprise. A survivor of the dreaded Tommy John, Jump doesn’t have the typical build of a major league starter, or the obvious arnsenal and advanced repetoire of other high-end starter prospects. Instead Jump uses deception and a funky arm angle to give himself an advantage on the mound. He might not have the high ceiling that Arnold does, and there are some in the industry that believe an eventual move to the bullpen will happen, but for the coming year Jump is going to be continued to groomed as a starter and has the potential to be a quality mid-rotation starter behind Arnold on a future playoff squad. Jump currently ranks as the game’s #57 ranked prospect and could see the big leagues as soon as this summer.
Now that we’ve gotten the obvious top three out of the way, things will start to get much more interesting. Outfielder Henry Bolte has been considered the #4 prospect by national media and scouts in the know, but right-handed pitcher Braden Nett has become a serious contender to lay claim to that position. Then we have Wei-En Lin, who has absolutely rocketed up everyone’s boards and could be the option there ahead of Bolte and Nett. The early returns from you guys indicate it’s going to be one of those three, and it’s going to be close. So don’t wait! Go to our CPL and cast your vote if you haven’t already!
Here’s the location of a 99 mile per hour fastball.
I wouldn’t advise swinging at this pitch. In the Statcast era, there have been 2,416 pitches thrown at least that fast in this part of the plate. The rare guys who’ve swung have a 56% whiff rate and a .307 xwOBAcon. (Imagine Mike Zunino’s whiff rate with Leody Taveras’s quality of contact. Only worse.) Swinging at that pitch is frankly reckless. But here’s what Josh Naylor can do with it:
There’s an Elizabeth Taylor quote that aired relentlessly during the playoffs as Fox pushed its documentary about her: “I don’t think I’m reckless. But I am fearless.” That’s Josh Naylor. And it’s exactly why we all fell for him so hard so quickly. He’s not afraid to swing at a pitch like that, but because he can pull it off, it’s not reckless.
Ryan dug into Naylor’s penchant for swinging high and away after Naylor’s three-hit ALCS Game 2. In that piece, Ryan pointed to Dan Wilson’s thinking on why Naylor can get away with this where others can’t: “His swing is so adjustable. When he sees a pitch up in the zone, he’s able to stay really short and get on top of it, and that’s the key.”
By nature, Naylor’s a bat control hitter. He’s got the raw power you’d expect for a first baseman, and he could use that to chase dingers. But rather than selling out for launch angle, he uses his skills to square up the ball at the 89th percentile, peppering hits all over the field, with enough power to keep pitchers honest. Given his baseball IQ, you trust that choice.
It’s that ability to get the most out of his swing that allows him to fearlessly go after pitches most guys would only flail at. In the Mariners’ biggest regular season series of the year, he went after another high pitch to help bury the Astros.
The conventional wisdom is to elevate and celebrate. Naylor knows he’s better this way, and he’s brave enough to go against the grain.
While it comes through in his hitting, when you think of Josh Naylor’s fearlessness, it’s probably his baserunning that comes to mind first. And in this department, his fearlessness is actually underrated.
Naylor’s a big-bodied first baseman with a sprint speed in the third percentile, 12th lowest in MLB. And yet he stole 30 bases this year, including going a perfect 19 for 19 with Seattle. When he first started his spree, you could say it was just pitchers ignoring a big guy, but he didn’t get any less daring after the word got out.
So when people talk about his stolen bases, they usually talk about how he’s able to do it because of his baseball IQ. He can spot tendencies and timing in pitchers at an apparently elite level, enough to compensate for his concrete shoes. But consider the 27 other players with sprint speeds under 25 feet/second. 17 of them are catchers; it’s not exactly a low-baseball-IQ group. Yet those other 27 players combined for just 15 stolen base attempts. Naylor’s 32 attempts are a testament to his willingness to take risks. His 94% success rate proves he knows what he’s doing and that his baseball IQ is, in fact, elite.
This all came together in one of the biggest games in Mariners franchise history: Game 5 of the ALDS. If ever there was a time for caution, this would have been it. A slow guy getting caught stealing, wasting a precious base runner against Tarik Skubal, could easily have ended up being the story of how the Mariners were eliminated from the playoffs. But Josh Naylor wasn’t afraid to try, and in a game that went 15 innings, you can bet the run mattered.
He plays defense the same way. As he daringly plays farther toward second than any other first baseman. Others play a bit farther from the bag, but they do it safely, playing back rather than shading towards second as Naylor does. His confidence that he can still cover the bag means he’s not sacrificing outs to play with optimized positioning. In other words, it’s not reckless. Aren’t you glad he wasn’t closer to the bag in ALCS Game 3? Lots of teams would like to position thier first baseman here against Alejandro Kirk. Only Naylor’s can actually do it.
Naylor employs a style of play that seems crazy. But he’s not being reckless, just fearless. And beyond merely being good, this is what made him an instant fan favorite and a player the Mariners and their fans felt they couldn’t live without. It’s no wonder he was ready for the big moment.
Kiley McDaniel unveiled his preseason rankings of top 100 prospects in baseball on Tuesday at ESPN. Like the previously released lists — Baseball America (120 names), MLB Pipeline (110 names), and The Athletic (100 names so far) — McDaniel will likely reveal more names beyond the top 100. Last year his list went to 200, for instance. But for now we have his top 100.
A total of five Dodgers are in the top 100 at ESPN, led by outfielder Josue De Paula at No. 21 overall. De Paula in the four national prospect lists that have been revealed in the last week has settled into a fairly narrow range, ranked 15th by MLB Pipeline, 20th at The Athletic, 21st at ESPN, and 24th at Baseball America.
McDaniel had high praise for De Paula, comparing him to Yordan Alvarez “if it clicks.”
Eduardo Quintero continued to rocket up these lists, ranked 37th by McDaniel after his preseason ranking of 106th overall prior to the 2025 season. Quintero, who is a year younger than De Paula and Zyhir Hope, won California League MVP last year and finished the season with extended time at High-A Great Lakes.
“His raw power, bat-to-ball ability, and raw foot speed are all around average, but Quintero makes the most of them, putting up big numbers while being young for his level,” McDaniel wrote. “As is, his hit/power/speed/defense in center field tools are all average to a tick above to go with his plus arm.”
This year, shortstop Emil Morales is the youngest Dodger in the ESPN top-100 list, with the 19-year-old checking in at No. 65 overall. From McDaniel:
Morales has all of the traits to project big homer totals down the road (loft to his path, pull/lift, hard-hit rate, etc.), but that means that giving up some contact is part of that trade. His pitch selection is also below average, so in combination, that gives evaluators pause on his offensive projection.
In-game power usually comes later in the development process, but the Dodgers are the right development group to shepherd him through this process, and the pieces are here for a top-10 prospect in the sport if everything clicks.
RJ Petit is a tough guy to miss. Colorado’s pick in the 2025 Rule 5 draft from the Detroit Tigers organization is a 6’8”, 300-pound titan of a right-handed relief pitcher. Originally drafted by the Tigers in the 14th round of the 2021 draft out of Charleston Southern, the 26-year-old has mostly served as a reliever after dabbling with starting during his draft year. As one might surmise given his size, Petit can throw in the mid to high-90s with a downward plane. He pairs that velo with a hard, sweeping slider that tunnels well with the fastball and a developing change-up.
Mid-season 2025 Rank: N/A
High Ballot: 14
Mode Ballot: 23
Future Value: 35+, middle relief
Contract Status: 2025 Rule 5 Draft, Detroit Tigers, 40 Man Roster, three options remaining
MLB ETA: 2026
Petit entered 2025 back at Double-A Erie for the third season in a row (where he was of league-average age) despite posting decent results there in 2024 and being unprotected and unselected in that year’s Rule 5 draft. In 27 games with Erie, Petit posted a 2.28 ERA with a dominant 0.95 WHIP and a 9.6 K/9 rate against a 2.5 BB/9 rate in 43 1/3 innings.
Petit finally got the call up to Triple-A Toledo (which is in the much more pitcher-friendly International League) in mid-July. Petit appeared in 20 games at the level with a 2.74 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, an outstanding 12.9 K/9 rate, and a 3.9 BB/9 rate in 23 innings, including a save. Petit was strong against both righties (.629 OPS against) and lefties (.579 OPS) while allowing just four homers in 66 1/3 innings during 2025. Despite the success at the Triple-A level, Petit was again left unprotected in the Rule 5 draft and this time the Rockies took him with the first pick.
Here’s some video of Petit from his time in the 2023 Arizona Fall League:
Petit is a pretty standard mid-90s fastball (94-97 mph, touch 98) and a plus slider reliever. He utilizes his slider in all counts because his size creates hittable plane on his fastball, but the addition of a second fastball type (he throws both elevated four-seamers and in-zone two-seamers) helped limit opponents’ contact quality against his heaters in 2025, as both had a sub-.300 xwOBA against. Petit also creates enough sink on his changeup to keep lefties in check, so his role isn’t at risk of being minimized to that of a righty specialist if he throws enough strikes (no guarantees) to make the Rockies bullpen next spring.
Standing at 6-foot-8, Petit is a tremendous presence on the mound. He doesn’t get big extension out of that frame, instead using his height to create a steep downward plane leading to solid groundball rates. There is some velocity here, touching 98 mph while sitting 94-96, and he’s worked to generate a bit more heat. Petit’s 83-85 mph gyro slider is much better at generating swing-and-miss and chase low in the zone with strong depth, and the Rockies think it’s the kind of breaking ball that should play in Coors Field. He can tunnel his 86-89 mph changeup well enough off the fastball with just enough velocity separation for it to be effective.
Petit has shown the ability to get righties and lefties out at the upper levels, and he was able to get his walk rate back down in 2025 to 3.0 per nine after seeing it creep up in 2024 (4.1 BB/9). He’ll get his chance to stick with the Rockies, who see him as a potential bulk reliever.
Petit is almost certain to be a one and done PuRP, as he will either stick on Colorado’s roster long enough in 2026 to exhaust his rookie eligibility or he won’t and will be returned to the Tigers. He represents a good multi-inning mop-up relief a la Anthony Molina in his Rule 5 year in 2024, with the size and breaking ball to be better than that. I ranked him 23rd on my ballot at the bottom of my 40 FV tier due to the floor.
The birthday series we’re running here at Pinstripe Alley is interesting for multiple reasons, primarily because we’re introduced to players who may not have as much exposure as the stars of today’s game or had their time in the majors but end up in the weeds of Major League Baseball history. With the Yankees being an old franchise relative to most of MLB, the latter is bound to happen to plenty of different players from the olden days of our great game. Fred Heimach is one of the names that might be lost to time, but he still made his impact in his short stint with the Bombers.
Frederick Amos Heimach Born: January 27, 1901 (Camden, NJ) Died: June 1, 1973 (Fort Myers, FL) Yankees Tenure: 1928-29
Fred “Lefty” Heimach was born on this day in 1901 and worked his way up to the major-league ranks as a pitcher despite never playing high school baseball as a teenager. When the United States entered World War I, Heimach enlisted and trained to become a mechanic before being sent overseas to France, where he helped organize a baseball team for his unit in Romorantin in the spring of 1918. Tom Turner, who was then working as a quasi-scout for the Philadelphia Athletics and was the athletic officer for a team that was defeated by Heimach’s, said to him, according to Bill Nowlin from the Society of American Baseball Research, “When this war is over, and you still have two legs and two arms, see me without fail. You have a job with the Athletics waiting for you.”
And he did. Heimach returned to the United States, fresh off the war, at 19-years-old, and was signed by the Athletics. He was sent for some conditioning and made his MLB debut in a 13-3 loss to the Washington Senators on October 1, 1920.
However, despite the poor start and a 14.40 ERA to his name at the MLB level, he came back strong in his second season. At the Three-I League (Class B) level, he helped his squad, the Moline Plowboys, to a championship. He finished the year with a 24-8 record and led the league in wins and ERA with a 2.38 before making his second MLB start against the Chicago White Sox, where he pitched a complete game shutout, allowing only seven hits.
Heimach pitched 117 games more for the Athletics and started 64 of them before being moved to the Boston Red Sox in 1926. He finished with a 4.67 ERA in those games and a 5.65 ERA in 20 games with Boston. His next move, following an entire season in the minor leagues in 1927, was a pickup by the Yankees, who thought he could be a special player for them. He was acquired for $20,000 and a player to be named later, and in 13 games and nine starts, “Lefty” posted a 3.31 ERA in 68.0 innings pitched. He saw no action in the 1928 World Series against St. Louis but still walked away with a championship to his name.
Heimach was brought back for his 29-year-old season with the Yankees as well and had another decent season on the mound, finishing with a respectable 4.01 ERA and an 11-6 record. However, despite his two decent seasons in pinstripes, his contract was sold to the Toledo Mud Hens, and manager Bob Shawkey somewhat ominously told the New York World Telegram, “There are some things that this club will not elaborate.”
Heimach’s last MLB appearance came on August 30, 1933, for the Brooklyn Dodgers, before his retirement was forced by a back injury. He pitched four seasons for the Dodgers from 1930 to 1933, finishing with a 4.31 career ERA with the team. His final career ERA came out to 4.46, and he finished with a career record of 62-69.
After his MLB career ended, Heimach headed south and joined the Miami Beach Police Department, where he spent 20 years as an officer before retiring in 1956 and moving to Arizona before returning to Florida. Heimach passed away in Fort Myers, on June 1, 1973, at the age of 72, and is buried at the Fort Myers Memorial Gardens.
See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.
The Mariners are reportedly closing in on a deal with the top teenage prospect in the 2027 international draft class, Dominican switch-hitter Mairon De La Rosa.
New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza was impressed with his initial look at new third baseman Bo Bichette. Although having played shortstop his entire career, Bichette looks comfortable in his new position for the Mets.
The Minnesota Twins have agreed to a one-year/$6.1 million contract with RHP Joe Ryan to avoid arbitration. The deal additionally includes a $13 million mutual option for 2027.
Last week, I wrote this article noting that a number of owners were “enraged” about the Dodgers signing Kyle Tucker and that some owners were going to push for a salary cap “no matter what.”
The Dodgers are doing a pretty good job of playing MLB’s villain team, the equivalent to the “Evil Empire” the Yankees were back in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Now comes a report written by Drew Lerner of Awful Announcing, citing ESPN’s Joon Lee, who says the Dodgers have been getting favorable revenue-sharing treatment for their TV revenue — and that this break for the Dodgers will continue for another 13 years. Here are the details:
In a recent report, Lee outlined how the Dodgers have historically benefited from the revenue-sharing system as a result of the club’s bankruptcy and subsequent sale in 2012. Lee reports that teams typically share about one-third of their local television revenue, but the Dodgers, in the midst of their bankruptcy proceedings in federal court, secured a much more favorable rate of about 10%.
Given the Dodgers have by far the most lucrative local broadcast deal in MLB (a ludicrous $334 million per year), Lee estimates the team could avoid contributing about $66 million per year to the league’s revenue-sharing pool under its special arrangement. That, of course, doesn’t sit well with fans of other clubs, who in recent years have seen the Dodgers buy their way to one of the most stacked rosters in the history of the game.
Previously, it was unknown exactly how long the Dodgers would retain these favorable terms. But Lee revealed in his report, citing a league source, that the agreement goes through 2039, when the Dodgers’ current local broadcast deal expires. In other words, the team’s built-in advantages could benefit them for another 13 years.
You can watch Lee’s full report at the link in that quote, or a summary of it here.
This was done, as noted, because the Dodgers declared bankruptcy during the Frank McCourt ownership era, which ended more than 13 years ago. New ownership took advantage of that, as well as the revenue coming in under their huge Charter Communications RSN deal, to become the most dominant team in the league. L.A. has won the NL West in 12 of the last 13 seasons, missing out only in 2021 when the Giants had that freak 107-win year and the Dodgers won “only” 106, which is tied (with 2019) for the second-most wins in Dodgers franchise history. They’ve played in five World Series in those 13 years, winning three (and probably would have made that four if not for the Astros cheating scandal in 2017).
From the Awful Announcing article, here’s how much the Dodgers have their proverbial thumbs on the scale:
Charter Communications, the telecom giant that owns Spectrum SportsNet LA, the television home of the Dodgers, would reportedly have to declare bankruptcy to wiggle its way out of the $334 million-per-year deal. That’s not something Charter, whose main business is providing broadband service to tens of millions of customers nationwide, necessarily wants to do.
So while other clubs are accepting cuts to local broadcast revenue as cord-cutting threatens regional sports networks, the Dodgers are sitting pretty. And it makes the team’s favorable arrangement look even more absurd to the average fan.
Whether the Dodgers will be able to maintain this arrangement with Charter until 2039 remains to be seen. The league may have an opportunity to rewrite some of its revenue-sharing procedures once the current collective bargaining agreement expires after this season.
But for now, the optics do not look great. The Dodgers aren’t paying their fair share and are able to buy whatever players they want.
The conclusion is absolutely correct, in my view. The Dodgers are getting a break that might have been reasonable 13 years ago, but it certainly isn’t now. As noted, this will almost certainly be something that’s brought up in the CBA negotiations coming up later this year.
One thing is certain. There’s not a level playing field in MLB. There should be, in my view, so that the teams that win most aren’t just the teams with the most money — they should be the teams with the best baseball management. If a salary cap, along with a floor and a guaranteed portion of MLB revenue to players, is how to accomplish that — then bring it on.
The crack of the bat. The growing crescendo of cheers as the ball flew over the outfield fence. The flashing lights in celebration of the home run. The jubilation of the team and stadium announcer as the batter rounded the bases. Though my wife and I were thousands of miles away from our home, the baseball experience at its core is delightfully universal.
Then, the pep band started playing the home run hitter’s personalized song, and the crowd chanted along. That part was different.
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Let’s take a few steps back. I’ve been to a handful of epic games in my life. I took my wife to her first Kansas City Royals game in 2011, which just so happened to be Eric Hosmer’s MLB debut. We went to the Justin Maxwell walkoff grand slam game in 2013. I was at the 2014 Wild Card Game, and a handful of other playoff games since then.
And while I don’t have a particularly impressive set of MLB parks I’ve been to, we try to go to a game when we travel domestically. We saw Shohei Ohtani hit a home run in Dodgers Stadium. We saw Pete Alonso hit a home run at Citi Field. We almost got heat stroke going to Coors Field and the Great American Ball Park in cloudless skies during the dead of summer. We had the high privilege of, uh, watching Eric Skoglund give up 12 runs in Cleveland before the Royals got their second baserunner.
So when my wife and I were planning our trip to Japan in celebration of our 10th wedding anniversary in 2024, there were a few key parts of our trip. One of those was attending a professional Japanese baseball game.
Japan’s pro baseball league is called Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Since the country’s total geographic footprint is about as large as the state of California, there are way fewer teams–12, in total. Ten of those teams play on the main island of Honshu, with one playing on the northern island of Hokkaido and another on the southern island of Kyushu.
We almost didn’t make a game. Even though we were in Japan for almost two weeks, a few factors conspired against us. One, there are only ever six games going on at one time, which doesn’t present a lot of options. Two, it just had to fit our schedule. And three, there was a typhoon that resulted in cancellations of the entire league’s schedule for multiple days (even those that played indoors).
But we did eventually get to see one close to the end of our trip. The contest: the Hiroshima Toyo Carp playing the Yokohama DeNA Baystars.
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Yokohama Stadium opened in 1978, and it’s located in the heart of the Yokohama city center right next to a train station. The stadium was fine; it had a small video board, but there were plenty of food vendors and seats were close to the action. Seating 35,000 in its baseball configuration, it looked like what you think a 1970s-era baseball-specific stadium looks like. It was a nice place to watch a game, but easily the least notable part about the experience.
As is the case everywhere in urban Japan, getting to the stadium was easy. We simply took a train from Shibuya Station and walked out of Yokohama-Koen station to find ourselves mere steps from the gates. Parking was nonexistent, and everyone was either getting off at the same station or simply walking from the many offices and apartments in the immediate area.
The Japanness of it all started before we even got there. We took the train from Shibuya Station (yes, Persona 5 fans, that Shibuya Station) which dropped us off across the street from Yokohama Stadium. We had purchased tickets online and scanned them at the gate. There was minimal security; certainly less than in the States. From there, we went to our seats.
I know that a lot of folks try out food and drink at a stadium, and a friend of mine who visits MLB stadiums with his brother uses the cuisine quality as a core ingredient to judge the experience. We had already eaten, though, and even when I go to games here in the States I don’t usually eat at the stadium.
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Our seats were located along the first base side, the Kauffman Stadium equivalent of the sections in the low 140s. Notably, our seats were in the home section, which was specifically designated because the fans are very, very active in the game. In the photo above, you can see the Hiroshima Carp fans over along the third base dugout and, more notably, over in the outfield seats beyond the left field fence.
Baseball in Japan isn’t just another sport: it is the national sport of the nation, and it is an incredibly big deal there. Japanese fans therefore have more in common with European soccer fans than MLB fans. This means that they’re loud and proud all the time.
It also means that there are a bunch of chants. And when you go to an NPB game, you’ll hear bespoke chants for every player, and I do mean every player—even for American-born players, of which there were a couple in the game we went to. During the pregame lineup announcements, the Baystars pep band played the theme for each player. And yes, the Carp brought their own pep band, too, and played the themes for their own players.
The energy in the stadium was, as you might expect, incredible, and it only got more electric as the game went on. It was an early evening game, and more and more folks showed up directly from work, dressed in their work attire. When they got to their seats, they put on the Baystars or Carp gear that they brought with them and joined the chanting.
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The game itself was a fun time. It was a relatively high-scoring game considering the traditionally low-offense affair that is indicative of NPB play. There was a home run, and the home team ended up winning handily.
While playoff MLB games can be loud and raucous, the vibes of an NPB game are just so different. Not only do the players have individual chants, but these chants happen continuously when they are up to bat. It’s louder when the home crowd is up to bat, but remember that the away team also has a pep band and their own chanting fans in a block.
It was actually enjoyable to see the Baystars play the Carp. Earlier in the week, we had made a trip to Hiroshima. I had wanted to visit Peace Memorial Park, the A-Bomb Dome, and the Peace Memorial Museum, and we did so—it was equal parts somber and historically fascinating, and every American who visits Japan should try to make a trip there. When we were there, we stopped by the official Carp merch store at Mazda Zoom Zoom Stadium (its real name, I promise) and picked up some NPB merch, including a Carp jersey and a hat depicting a bowl of ramen swinging a baseball bat.
The charm of Hiroshima—a really lovely city with an expansive tram network—and their clear love for their baseball team won out, so I guess we’re Carp fans? So it was fun to watch that team play, even if we bought tickets in the wrong section. So it goes.
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All in all, watching an NPB game was an absolute blast and one of the highlights of a trip that included many, many highlights. Japan is a great place to visit; it’s got easily usable public transit, a wide variety of delicious food, and experiences for every kind of traveler.
And even though this trip happened a year and a half ago at this point, my wife and I are going back to Japan in April. The aforementioned typhoon prevented us from going to the Nagashima Spa Land amusement park, and that place has multiple bucket list roller coasters we wanted to ride.
Of course, that means another opportunity to watch NPB baseball. At the moment, that’s looking like a game between the Yomiuri Giants and the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, although it could be a few others. I can’t wait to experience it again.
Last week, in our Rangers Reacts Survey, we asked where folks thought the Texas Rangers would finish in the American League West.
And I have to say, y’all were a bit of a downer, though this was before the MacKenzie Gore trade gave everyone a shot in the arm.
Almost half of those who responded said that the Rangers would finish third in the division. The second most common result, though? Fourth place. I don’t know if it is the homeless A’s or the reclamation project Angels that folks feel the Rangers will be beat out by.
In fairness, first place and second place were barely behind fourth place in the voting. And only 3% said that the Rangers would finish last, so that’s something.
The Mets capped off their most active week of the offseason in a big way, acquiring Freddy Peralta and Tobias Meyers for Jett Williams and Brandon Sproat. It’s likely the last large addition the Mets will make this offseason, but boy it sure is a great way to round things out.
Peralta is obviously the centerpiece. Since moving to the rotation full time in 2021, he’s tossed 738.1 innings of 3.30 ERA ball. In that timeframe, he’s one of only 25 qualified starters to post a 20% or better K-BB%. At this juncture, he’s probably something like a top-15 or top-20 arm in the majors – not quite good enough to meet the definition of “sure fire ace”, but undoubtedly a solid number two starter who will complement Nolan McLean at the top of the rotation.
We should note that despite being generally healthy (outside of a shoulder strain in 2022), Peralta is not a exactly a work horse. The Brewers were extremely judicious with how they deployed him, frequently pulling Peralta early and leaning on their bullpen to get the rest of the way. That was much the same in 2025, when he averaged a hair over 5.1 innings per start and didn’t face a single batter four times in a single game all season. Not a typo, the most batters Peralta faced in a game last season was 27, and he only topped 23 batters 7 times. There’s nothing wrong with this per se, particularly in the modern game, but it is a limitation that the Mets’ field staff will have to manage. (Raise your hand if you have faith in Carlos Mendoza here.)
The Mets are also getting the chance to extend Peralta here, and he’s already indicated a willingness to sign a long-term deal. We can look to Tyler Glasnow as a reasonable comp; a pitcher traded one year prior to free agency in his age-30 season. Glasnow ultimately received an additional three-years and $110M, with a club / player option for a fifth season. He was due a higher base salary ($25M), but Peralta has the better track record, so maybe that comes out in the wash. Something in the low 9-figure range that takes Peralta through his age-34 season would seem to make sense, and that’s a good deal for the Mets in all likelihood. And, if this doesn’t work out, the Mets can QO him and get a pick back for their troubles.
Three paragraphs later, we get to Myers, who is far more than a throw in despite the narrative delay. Now four years and three teams removed from being traded for Junior Caminero (a real oopsie by Cleveland), Myers has settled in as a valuable swing-man with five seasons of team control remaining. No, the stuff doesn’t totally leap off the page, and his strikeout rate dipped in 2025, possibly because he had a lingering oblique injury. He also doesn’t have the same upside of Sproat in all likelihood (more on that in a moment). What he does do is fill a very similar role for the Mets’ roster with a similar amount of team control and some untapped potential. It’s a great get as the second piece.
Now, for the cost. Williams and Sproat were set to rank 4th and 5th respectively on our upcoming top-10 list. I was a bit lower on both than our final consensus:
#4: Jett Williams
I don’t disagree that much with Jett’s ranking here (I had Ewing above him, but no one else), but I still find myself pretty down on him as a prospect, and I don’t think it’s just prospect fatigue. I began voicing concerns about Jett’s hit tool ~2 years ago, and in that time he’s not really assuaged any of those worries. Sure, injuries have played a role and the strikeout rate has held steady in the low-20s, but that’s not because Williams is great at putting bat on ball, it’s because he just doesn’t swing. He ranked in the 6th percentile for hittable pitches taken, nuking his SEAGER down to 3.9 despite the aforementioned healthy walk and strikeout rates. Couple that with what is still just okay damage on contact and a tweener-ish defensive profile and this is trending more towards “high quality bench bat” or “second division starter” rather than the sort of player we were extolling as the future of the team in 2023.
#5: Brandon Sproat
Brandon Sproat does a lot of things well. He throws pretty hard, he finally landed on a breaking ball shape that works, and the change is still a decent pitch. Put in terms of physical skills, you can say that he has good arm speed and feel for spin. However, this has never really all come together for him, in large part because his fastball shape just isn’t viable at present. Even with the addition of a sinker last season – one that grades out better but still not great – I’m still not convinced he’s the type of arm who can make it through a lineup two or three times. If you couple that with the lack of development runway relative to other arms (Sproat is older and was selected as a senior out of a major college program, which would normally mean there’s less juice to squeeze) in the back of the top-10 and I think I’d actually prefer Sproat a good deal lower, even though he’s a totally justifiable top-100 prospect.
Both are definitely top-100 prospects, but neither are in the tier of guys that it particularly hurts to move. Especially when you’re the Mets and are inducing jumps on both sides of the ball these days – it’s a lot easier to move Brandon Sproat when you have Jonah Tong and Jack Wenninger, and it’s a lot easier to move Jett Williams when you have A.J. Ewing and Jacob Reimer.
This price is also roughly in line with another trade made by the Brewers, that being the Corbin Burnes deal. Burnes was a better arm making nearly double what Peralta will make in 2025, and he wasn’t likely to sign an extension either. Nevertheless, the Brewers gave up two prospects in the back half of the top-100 (Joey Ortiz and DL Hall, a package I would argue is of lower quality than what the Mets gave up but not by a huge margin) for one year of Burnes’ in 2024.
Had the Mets only received Peralta, this would’ve been a totally fine deal, a market-value acquisition for a #2 starter rental. With the addition of Myers and Peralta’s seeming willingness to extend, it looks even better. This deal receives an A.
