Minor League Baseball is officially back in full swing! Over the weekend, we were gifted with the return of every level of affiliated baseball besides complex and DSL games. While we've enjoyed Major League and Triple-A baseball for over a week now, there's something so special about the lower leagues kicking off. My favorite league, Single-A, is very particular for me because this is typically where prep hitters start after their draft year. It's also where we see high upside international free agents for the first time outside of the more private complex leagues, and where we can take their statistics more seriously. With three leagues to choose from (Carolina League, Florida State League, California League), let's take a look at the most exciting rosters from each league.

Carolina League (Carolina Mudcats)

No shocker here. The Milwaukee Brewers over the past 3 years have sent their best player from the DSL straight to Single-A Carolina, first with Jackson Chourio in 2022, Luis Lara in 2023, Yophery Rodriguez last year and have continued the trend this year with shortstop Jesus Made. Made torched the DSL last year, with underlying data to match. If you were making a list of the buzziest prospects over the past 10 years, it's hard to imagine Made being left off the top of that list. Not only does Carolina start the year with Made, the Brewers did another trend-breaking move by having another DSL guy from last year head straight to A-ball, Luis Pena. Pena might not be as flashy as Made, but make no mistake, this is another tooled up young infield prospect. He's a high contact speedster at the moment, but watching him early on will show us if there is more upside in the profile.

Speaking of high variance guys, Eric Bitonti is another infielder for Carolina with a lot of upside. Coming out of the third round as a prep shortstop in 2023, last year Bitonti showed us that not only is he a large human, but he has the power to match. While he's now moved to 1B and will likely still there, Bitonti looks like he has the power and enough contact ability to profile at the position.

Moving from the dirt to the grass, outfield prospect Braylon Payne is yet another exciting, high upside profile for the Mudcats. A surprising pick at 17th overall in the 2024 MLB draft, Payne quickly showed it shouldn't have been surprising. Payne was one of the few prep players who made an affiliated ball debut last summer, and while everyone expected him to be a slash-and-dash centerfielder, he shocked us all with a 110 mph exit velo. There is power here, it's just a matter of fixing the swing to find it. The speed and defense are here, it's just a matter of getting to the power as well as improving the approach.

On the pitching side, the Mudcats sport another high upside 2024 draft pick in Bryce Meccage. The Brewers are a pitching machine, and I'm really excited to see what they do with such a fine ball of clay in Meccage. With a 6'4" frame, mid-90s fastball, and a good feel for spin, Meccage is exactly the kind of prep arm teams love to target after the first round in the draft. All in all, the Mudcats have 5 of the top 20 Brewers prospects according to us here at Prospects Live. If you're looking for the Single-A team with the most exciting talent, Carolina definitely fits the bill.

Florida State League (Jupiter Hammerheads)

While the Miami Marlins might not be super fun to watch this year, there is a glimmer of hope coming if you look at the roster for their Single-A affiliate, the Hammerheads. Starting off, following in his older brother Ethan's footsteps, infielder Andrew Salas will skip the Dominican Summer League and Complex League to jump straight to full-season ball as a 17-year old. Salas didn't get the same hype as Leodalis De Vries did last year when he skipped straight to A-ball, but make no mistake, when a player this young starts off at such a high level for his age, the hype can go nuclear in a hurry. While Salas doesn't come into pro ball with any reports of spectacular power, he does come with reports of fantastic batted ball ability as well as athleticism. Watching how he starts off this year will be a major focal point for me early in the season.

He'll have a hard time getting reps at shortstop as Starlyn Caba, one of the best defensive prospects in all of minor league baseball, will likely get the lions share of shortstop this season. The defense isn't a question with Caba, however the bat is. If the bat comes alive, this is a fantastic shortstop prospect any team would be lucky to have. Another infielder and last years second round pick Carter Johnson will look to right the ship after a tough debut last summer. While he has some power projection, he's not projected out to be a masher so where he goes from here will be determined by the quality of the hit tool. An oft-mentioned outfield sleeper in the Marlins system for a little over a year now, Andres Valor finally gets to full-season this year. Valor might not be high on prospects lists currently, but with a strong start that could change in a hurry. At 6'3" with plus speed, there is potential for a real monster to be lurking here if he can put good weight on his projectable frame.

Another outfielder, Dillon Head could be exactly what the big league team needs in a few years. A solid defender in center field with speed to make opposing pitcher pay for letting him get on base. While his season was cut short after a trade from the Padres last year due to a hip issue that led to surgery. Watching how the hip feels coming back into game action and seeing if any actionable power shows up will be key for Head this year.

Well, any writeup of a Marlins minor league team would be moot without mentioning the pitching side of things. Keyner Benitez leads the way as an 18-year old who already has the makings of a solid 4-pitch mix. While everything will still need refinement over the next few years, Keyner really has a chance to be a solid contributor at the major league level. This is a young squad, and while Marlins fans wish they were closer to the majors, watching this squad is going to be super fun this year.

California League (Rancho Cucamonga Quakes)

Not only do the Los Angeles Dodgers boast the best team in baseball and maybe of all time, the pipeline continues to be chock full of talent. It's not only a testament to the Dodgers ability to draft and scout, but also to develop. Their Single-A affiliate, the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, is always filled to the brim with high-upside prospects and this year is no different. One of my favorite stories in baseball is when a prospect comes from a background that isn't common, such as David Matoma (Pirates righthander from Uganda) or another Dodgers prospect Ching-Hsien Ko (outfielder signed out of Taiwan last year, who will hopefully be with Rancho later in the season).

This Quakes team has a player from an uncommon background, as likely 2023 KBO #1 pick Hyun-Seok Jang skipped playing in Korea and decided to sign with the Dodgers. Armed with wipeout stuff as he struck out 68 batters in almost 37 innings last year between rookie ball and the Quakes, if Jang can reign in the control we could be talking about an absolute monster. The problem? That is a huge if.

Another prospect that has tons of strikeouts, but not the good kind, is outfielder Jaron Elkins. Elkins was an 8th round pick in 2023 out of the prep ranks, and while it's taken him until his second professional season to get to full-season ball, he has one of the best power/speed combos in a loaded Dodgers system. This is one of those players that even if the hit tool never pans out, it's going to be a blast to watch him whenever he does get on base in minor league ball.

The Quakes outfield continues to boast high upside profiles, as Eduardo Quintero returns to Single-A after a brief 27 game sample last year. Speed is no issue for Quintero, and the hit tool has been solid so far besides the aforementioned time in Single-A last year. The power will need to tick up and the hit tool will need to be solidified if Quintero is going to continue his rise up the Dodgers prospect list.

On the infield, Joendry Vargas makes his long-awaited full-season debut. One of the top IFAs in the 2023 class, Vargas has largely lived up to that billing as he's hit very well over his first two professional seasons. The home run totals haven't matched his power upside yet, but with so much room to fill on his 6'4" frame it's only a matter of time. He'll have a hard time finding reps at shortstop however, as 2024 1st round pick Kellon Lindsey is also a member of the Quakes to kick off the 2025 season. With double-plus speed and a solid hit tool, Lindsey will be another candidate in a long list of them for the future long-term shortstop of the Dodgers.

If you're looking for a slightly deeper name, I'm a huge fan of Mike Sirota. The 6'3" outfielder who the Dodgers acquired in the Gavin Lux deal over the offseason is one of my favorite deep names in the minors this season. Before his draft season started in 2024, many outlets were calling Sirota a potential 1-1 candidate, and while he eventually fell on his face in his junior season at Northeastern and would up going in the 3rd round to the Reds, I'm expecting a huge rebound for Sirota. The swing is simple, and while the power might not be there, Sirota boasts fantastic swing decisions as well as plus speed and a really good shot to stick in centerfield. Now the catch with Sirota is that we need to see that the reasons he slumped in his draft year have been taken care of. Sirota never looked comfortable at the plate and pitchers were able to take advantage of it. The Dodgers drafted Sirota out of high school and while he didn't sign then, they made sure to grab him from the Reds when they were looking for 40-man roster space and wanting to move off of Gavin Lux this offseason. Sirota got to Rancho Cucamonga late so he hasn't started a game yet, but it should only be a matter of time before he's able to show us what he's capable of.