About Our Top 30 Lists
The evaluation team has painstakingly worked every detail of the forthcoming list. We’ve incorporated our live looks, watched hours of film, consulted with industry folk, and combed through too many data sets to count. This process is much the same for each team we’ll be covering this offseason, and it’s led to what we consider to be our best work yet.
The list is organized by and utilizes the Overall Future Projection (OFP) scale. Although there is no empirical method for ranking or classifying prospects, this method is as close as possible. Prospects are scored on the traditional 20-80 scale, with a 20 representing a non-prospect and a 70 or 80 representing an elite, MVP-caliber player. These are the two extremes, with most prospects occupying something in between. A 50 OFP means we project that player to be a future average big leaguer, while a 55 or 60 OFP means they’re a future above-average or all-star player. Most prospects, however, tend to project in the 40 or 45 OFP range, which are below-average or specific role players, such as utility players or low-leverage relievers.
Sometimes these grades will be more aggressive, while others will be conservative. We’ve included a “Risk” component to help differentiate between these situations. We’ve done our best to apply these grades and risk components relative to all prospects both within and outside of each organization. It’s also important to note that players grow or regress year-to-year, and we’ve also incorporated where these players were ranked on last year’s list.
Below you'll find the top 10 players in the system with full reports of the top 5. The full rankings and reports on all top 30 prospects per team will be available on our Patreon at the 55-tier ($5 level) as we publish them. If you're into fantasy baseball, this tier also gets you the dynasty show, the FYPD list, and the MiLB Daily Sheet during the regular season.
Top 10 Team Rank at First 5 Reports for Free Below
1. Tyler Soderstrom, C/1B - 60 OFP
Age: 21 Highest Level: AAA
2022 Pre-Season OFP: 55
| Hit | Power | Field | Arm | Run | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 60 | 55 | 50 | 60 | 45 | Moderate |
PHYSICAL Soderstrom is taller than most catchers, and he has a muscular, athletic frame. He’s strong throughout with an impressive upper body. More than enough athleticism to stick at catcher, but he also has the length and agility generally associated with first basemen.
STRENGTHS Soderstrom has quick hands and a solid swing path that keeps the bat in the zone a long time. He’s adept at getting power from his lower half, and he excels at covering the zone with his barrel and making good contact. His power has taken a step forward, and he’s now capable of reaching his plus raw power more consistently during games. He is an extremely talented hitter who projects to hit for plus contact and above-average power. Soderstrom has split his time between catcher and first base, and he has the strong arm that works behind the dish or elsewhere if he moves off the position. His bat should play wherever he eventually ends up.
WEAKNESSES Soderstrom is still progressing defensively with a shot to be average back there, although he may be ticketed for a permanent move given the organization’s catching depth. His lack of a clear defensive home provides some volatility in his profile.
SUMMARY Soderstrom is a big league hitter, plain and simple. He can crush balls, cover the plate, and has good pitch recognition. He may not be long for catcher, but his strong arm could handle almost any position on the field. He’s already received a lot of reps at first base, although the position could hide just how strong of a hitter he is. The bat is legitimate, and Soderstrom has an All-Star level ceiling regardless of where he plays the field.
EVALUATOR Trevor Hooth
2. Ken Waldichuk, LHP - 50 OFP
Age: 25 Highest Level: MLB
2022 Pre-season Rank: 16 (NYY) OFP: 45
| Fastball | Curveball | Slider | Splitter | Command | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55 | 50 | 55 | 50 | 50 | Moderate |
| 92-96 mph | 79-83 mph | 74-80 mph | 80-84 mph |
PHYSICAL Long limbs. Lanky, but strong frame. He’s filled it out well, no projection left. High-effort delivery with limbs flying all over the place on his finish. Uses legs well to generate velocity. High 3/4 arm slot that is a little higher than traditional, but not quite over the top. There’s deception in the delivery. He reportedly made a small tweak to his mechanics prior to the season that paid off in more command.
STRENGTHS Every bit of his body is used to maximize his velocity. Waldichuk has a very solid pitch mix. His fastball has good shape and spin, which helps it to create plenty of whiffs. His slider took a huge leap forward this season, going from an okay pitch to a real weapon with lots of sweep across the zone. His changeup and curveball both check in as potential average offerings. The changeup is used against righties effectively and the curveball has become a fourth option.
WEAKNESSES The improvements on the slider have been great, but it’s still a sweepy pitch without much depth. It’s been used to get whiffs, but it likely won’t be a consistent swing and miss offering at the big league level. Getting whiffs will be the biggest question to the profile, seeing his swinging strike percentage drop quite a bit in a short stint in the MLB.
SUMMARY There’s little doubt that Waldichuk can stick in a prominent rotation role for the A’s. There’s every chance he’s a mid-rotation starter, though he may need to prove the ability to get more consistent whiffs. It was only 27.2 innings in the MLB, so take it with a grain of salt. However the arsenal itself lends itself to more weak contact than it does the massive strikeout rates that were posted in the minors. Either way, the A’s were able to get a solid rotation option when they received Waldichuk from the Yankees as part of the return for Frankie Montas.
EVALUATOR Trevor Hooth
3. Daniel Susac, C - 50 OFP
Age: 19 Highest Level: A
2022 MLB Draft Rank: 18
| Hit | Power | Field | Arm | Run | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | 55 | 50 | 60 | 40 | Moderate |
PHYSICAL Susac is big and tall with long levers, and he would be one of the tallest catchers in the big leagues. He has a strong, muscular base, including very strong quads. Looks the part. He has room to add mass in his upper body. Given credit for being a natural leader and has baseball bloodlines.
STRENGTHS Susac has a power-over-hit approach. He generates very good bat speed with a modern swing that creates lift. He handles velocity well, and shows good barrel control and bat-to-ball skills. There’s reason to believe he could be an eventual above-average hitter, but there are some deficiencies he needs to overcome for that to happen. He has power to all fields and a chance to grow into plus-plus raw. He’s shown a previous ability to get the ball in the air, and that coupled with his hitting ability should allow him to reach his power during games. Susac has a plus arm that could keep him behind the plate. He’s a solid receiver and moves well for his size, and he’s capable of block balls in the dirt.
WEAKNESSES Susac is long-levered and prone to chase and expand the zone, and there are strikeout concerns as a result. He didn’t get into his over-the-fence power during his brief debut, and he’ll need to create better contact for it to play as projected. There’s a shot his sheer size could push him off the position depending on how his physical maturation impacts his lateral quickness and overall mobility. He’s also in an organization that is deep at catcher.
SUMMARY Susac has a solid floor with plenty of upside. He’ll need to reach more of his power to fulfill his promise, but the bat should play regardless of whether he sticks behind the plate. He has a good work ethic, baseball intelligence, and bloodlines, and he could be a quick riser for the Athletics.
EVALUATOR Adam Kiel
4. Jordan Diaz, 1B - 50 OFP
Age: 22 Highest Level: MLB
2022 Pre-season OFP: 45
| Hit | Power | Field | Arm | Run | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 60 | 55 | 45 | 50 | 30 | High |
PHYSICAL Short and powerful frame. Stocky and unathletic movements. Limited flexibility and well-below-average foot speed.
STRENGTHS No minor leaguer had both a higher contact rate and 90th percentile exit velocity than Diaz in 2022. His compact and quick swing enables him to catch up to velocity and hit balls inside and out with authority. The raw power is tremendous with an explosive lower half and elite upper body strength. He will often make contact deep over the plate, but the incredible acceleration due to the wrist strength still lets him demolish the ball when hitting the other way. There are few hitters who do more damage against four-seam fastballs than Díaz.
WEAKNESSES Diaz is hyper-aggressive at the plate, and he hits far too many ground balls to get to his elite raw power during games. He can lift four-seam fastballs, but struggles against everything else. He still has high contact rates against those pitches, but the quality of contact is low, and that’s not something he can afford when he puts so many balls in play. He would be able to lift the ball more if he toned down his aggressiveness and simply swung less frequently at suboptimal pitches. Diaz is athletically limited and has already spent more than half his time as a designated hitter. He’ll need to hit to play regularly, and his aggressive approach reduces the confidence that he will.
SUMMARY Diaz has star-level offensive tools, and his contact/raw power combination is almost unmatched, but there is a lot of risk and variance in this type of aggressive profile. He’ll need to overcome some pretty major warts to have success against breaking ball-heavy pitchers, but the tools are still in place for a future starting first baseman or designated hitter, even if he doesn’t make the requisite jump with his approach.
EVALUATOR Tieran Alexander
5. Zack Gelof, 2B - 50 OFP
Age: 23 Highest Level: AAA
2022 Pre-Season OFP: 50
| Hit | Power | Field | Arm | Run | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55 | 55 | 50 | 50 | 45 | Moderate |
PHYSICAL Gelof is tall and well-built. He has strong quads and present strength in his upper body. There’s minimal remaining projection, and he’s a solid athlete and instinctual player.
STRENGTHS Gelof pairs advanced plate discipline and feel for the strike zone with power, and he should be a solid offensive threat at the next level. He is a patient hitter in the box who doesn’t chase. His swing is fluid with some natural loft, and he has quality barrel control and generates bat speed by creating good hip to shoulder separation. This allows him to use every bit of his above-average raw power to drive the ball to all fields. His defense is unspectacular, but he should be an average defender at either second or third base. He spent the majority of his time at second base in 2022, where he has solid glove actions and range.
WEAKNESSES Gelof lacks explosiveness. He is an average runner, but he lacks initial burst. This not only limits the damage he can do on the basepaths, but it limits his range defensively to about average. His arm has been impacted by past injuries, and there’s a tendency for his throwing motion to get long. The overall set of tools might fit best at second base. Gelof has dealt with some strikeout issues, which can be tied to an almost passive approach that gets him behind in counts.
SUMMARY Gelof raced to Triple-A after being drafted in 2021, and he has shown no signs of slowing down. With Oakland being the land of opportunity for young and promising talent, Gelof could get some playing time at any point in 2023. He doesn’t have a glaring hole, and he has the general look of an offensive-minded infielder who doesn’t hurt the team on the defensive side of the ball. He has a high floor and starting-level ceiling.
EVALUATOR Adam Kiel
6. Max Muncy, SS - 50 OFP
Age: 20 Highest Level: A+
2022 Pre-season OFP: 50
7. Gunnar Hoglund, RHP - 45 OFP
Age: 23 Highest Level: A
2022 Pre-season OFP: 55
8. Denzel Clarke, OF - 45 OFP
Age: 22 Highest Level: A+
2022 Pre-season OFP: 45
9. Henry Bolte, OF - 45 OFP
Age: 19 Highest Level: CPX
2022 Pre-season OFP: 40
10. Mason Miller, RHP - 45 OFP
Age: 24 Highest Level: AAA
2022 Pre-season OFP: 40