These prospect rankings are based on fantasy value, not real-life value. Considering such, hitters generally weigh a bit heavier for me due to the injury risk and higher volatility of prospect pitchers. Proximity to the majors is also prominent in the equation, though these prospect fantasy baseball rankings are focused on long-term/dynasty outlooks. Think of these rankings as more of a five-year plan.

Rather than getting into writing mini-bios on all prospects, I’ve decided to keep my rankings simple by providing the 2024 stats of each player across all levels, plus a player comp, a small blurb on their prime skills for fantasy and an explanation of my ranking.

I’ve also included updated fScores for any players I expect to debut in 2025, which highlights what my fScore projections believe the player is capable of at the pro level for immediate impact.

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I know most people don’t care to read 250-500 words on each player, so using both box score scouting and film review, I have provided comps for each prospect. For fun, note that comps may be based on mechanics, body type, pitching arsenal or similar skills & box score style and how I think each prospect will perform once in the Majors over the next five seasons or so.

All-in-all, rankings paired with statistical info and a player comp will hit the sweet spot for the broadest category of people reading these prospect fantasy baseball rankings (or listening/watching the Fantasy Aceball podcast).

NOTE: Rookie status is determined by 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched at the Major League level.

Full Top 150 Prospect rankings:

• Prospects 1-25
• Prospects 26-50
• Prospects 51-75
• Prospects 76-100
• Prospects 101 – 125
• Prospects 126-150

Top 10 Fantasy Baseball Prospect Rankings: Third Basemen

1. Matt Shaw (2B, 3B – CHC)

• 2024 AA/AAA: .284/.379/.488 | 11.9 BB%, 18.2 K% | 44 XBH, 21 HR, 31 SB
• Age: 23
• ETA: Opening Day
• fScores: 95 fContact, 86 fDiscipline, 96 fPower, 168 fSpeed
• Comp: Jonathan India with more speed
• Prime Skills: Matt Shaw has a solid plate approach that should develop as he gets time in the bigs with above-average power and speed. For 2025 fantasy, think of Colt Keith’s production plus 25 steals or so. He could be one of the better second basemen in the Majors sooner rather than later (if he plays there rather than at third base). Has the power and speed combo to put up 20/20 seasons. Shaw works to some good launch angles (14.4 average launch angle) that should help the bat play up.
• Ranking Explanation: Shaw and Coby Mayo are pretty close in rankings. I expect Shaw to break camp and get a ton of at-bats, while Mayo likely starts at AAA again. However, Mayo had slightly better plate skills and a similar hit tool, but with much greater power potential. Shaw gets the slight edge because he has a starting spot and also has some good speed to lean on that will help generate a higher batting average than Mayo. And don’t forge the stolen bases upside.
• Top 150 Ranking: 14

2. Coby Mayo (3B – BAL)

• 2024 AAA: .293/.372/.592 | 10.3 BB%, 25.1 K% | 54 XBH, 25 HR, 4 SB
• Age: 22
• ETA: Early 2025 (debuted in 2024; possible return in May/June?)
• fScores: 92 fContact, 90 fDiscipline, 111 fPower, 69 fSpeed
• Comp: Nolan Arenado as a hitter (with better power, but a worse hit tool)
• Prime Skills: Coby Mayo has a quick and powerful swing that portends to future 25-30-ish homer power with five-ish steals speed. He has an average enough hit tool (82.3 Z-Contact%), but the potential strikeout rate is a bit concerning if he can’t hold it down closer to 25% at the Major League level. The contact rates are still slightly below average, but the near 115 max exit velocity and a 90.7 average exit velocity means Mayo has some of the best power in this prospect group. He needs the Orioles to find him a full-time position.
• Ranking Explanation: Mayo has the best proximity power in the class outside of maybe Deyvison De Los Santos (if he can keep the strikeouts in check) and Jac Caglianone. The third-base rookie battle between Mayo and Shaw will be fun to watch, though. Neither player may end up at third long term with the Orioles having too many guys, which could bump Mayo to first, and the Cubs could still add someone like Alex Bregman, moving Shaw to second.
• Top 150 Ranking: 17

3. Brayden Taylor (SS, 3B – TB)

• 2024 A+/AA: .250/.365/.493 | 15 BB%, 27.8 K% | 55 XBH, 20 HR, 29 SB
• Age: 23
• ETA: Late 2025
• fScores: 85 fContact, 108 fDiscipline, 105 fPower, 173 fSpeed
• Comp: Brandon Lowe with speed
• Prime Skills: Braydeb Taylor has solid middle infield power and will likely end up at second base considering Junior Caminero and Carson Williams will likely hold down third and shortstop, respectively, for the rest of the decade. He has a similar skillset to Brandon Lowe as a lefty bat and will probably fill in as soon as Lowe becomes a free agent.
• Ranking Explanation: Taylor has proven to be a bit streaky with poor performance after hitting AA, but we should give him the benefit of the doubt based on how well he was playing at High-A. Taylor’s hit tool is something that needs to be worked on. We will see in the rankings moving forward how each player has a major weak point holding them back as either a power guy, speed guy or tools first guy like Taylor. Between Williams and Taylor, the Rays like super toolsy plus plate skill guys with bad hit tools who need to focus on correcting the hit tool.
• Top 150 Ranking: 50

4. Cam Smith (3B – HOU)

• 2024 College: .387/.488/.654 | 39 XBH, 16 HR, 4 SB
• A/A+/AA: .313/.396/.609 | 11.2 BB% / 17.9 K%| 16 XBH, 7 HR, 2 SB
• Age: 22
• ETA: Late 2025
• fScores: 96 fContact, 89 fDiscipline, 102 fPower, 81 fSpeed
• Comp: Josh Jung with shades of Manny Machado
• Prime Skills: Cam Smith began his Minor League career on a complete tear, outpacing his college profile. He’s very stoic at the plate, very calm with a great eye and quick hands to get to any pitch and crush it. He hits to all fields. If the Astros can teach him to pull more into the Crawford boxes he’ll have quite a bit more power upside.
• Ranking Explanation: Smith gets the edge over some of the guys who have been around the Minors for a while and have not produced at AA as he did in his small sample size. The move to Houston will only help his power tool play up as a righty. It’s possible that if the Astros don’t add a third baseman Smith could be called up at some point in the 2025 season, especially if his torrid pace at the plate from 2024 bleeds into 2025.
• Top 150 Ranking: 73

5. Emil Morales (SS, 3B – LAD)

• 2024 DSL: .342/.478/.691 | 19.9 BB%, 22.4 K% | 25 XBH, 14 HR, 12 SB (46 games)
• Age: 18
• ETA: 2028
• fScores: N/A
• Comp: Fernando Tatis Jr.-lite
• Prime Skills: Emil Morales is a big, athletic shortstop with a solid hit tool along with high-end power potential and decent speed. Another big shortstop who mimics Fernando Tatis’ swing, Morales is making it work and has a similar batted ball profile (though beware of the 27% swinging strike rate). The less than 30% groundball rate is great for power potential.
• Ranking Explanation: I’m hard-pressed to rank Florida Complex League players this high, much less even Dominican Summer League players. Morales has been so impressive, though, I couldn’t wait to get him on the list. He gives Jesus Made a run for his money. However, the Dodgers are loaded with these types of players, so let’s see how his 2025 season plays out. Will he be in the Florida Complex League or Single-A? I think he ultimately moves off shortstop to third base as we have already seen in his short Minor League career. Morales might have the highest upside of all ranked prospects.
• Top 150 Ranking: 114

6. Brady House (3B – WSH)

• 2024 AA/AAA: .241/.297/.402 | 5.7 BB%, 26.4 K% | 41 XBH, 19 HR, 6 SB
• Age: 22
• ETA: Mid 2025
• fScores: 92 fContact, 48 fDiscipline, 79 fPower, 82 fSpeed
• Comp: Alec Bohm with worse plate skills
• Prime Skills: Brady House has a big frame with room to grow at 6-foot-4. He has completely moved off shortstop to third base this season. He has shown a ton of improvement in the plate skills in 2023 and has a ton of power potential that has yet to play out. House is pretty good at going the other way. He reminds me a ton of Austin Riley coming up – everyone liked him, then nobody liked him and then everyone liked him again.
• Ranking Explanation: House was one of the bigger fallers in my updated rankings for the second time in a row as the power has not progressed the way I thought it would. He really struggled at AAA, where he should have benefited from a better stadium than in AA. House does have a decent hit tool, but the power has not developed past an above-average tool (87.4 average exit velocity and 109.1 max exit velocity) with a very bad 38.2% chase rate. There’s still a chance he can make corrections, but things are beginning to look a little bleak.
• Top 150 Ranking: 120

7. Brock Wilken (3B – MIL)

• 2024 AA: .200/.314/.365 | 13.3 BB%, 28 K% | 33 XBH, 17 HR, 1 SB
• Age: 22
• ETA: Early 2025
• fScores: 80 fContact, 112 fDiscipline, 99 fPower, 71 fSpeed
• Comp: Austin Riley with a much worse hit tool
• Prime Skills: Brock Wilken has massive power, but the question is if the hit tool can be average enough to allow him to mash 30-40 homers.
• Ranking Explanation: Wilken missed time earlier this year after taking a pitch to the face and dealing with facial fractures. It’s been a little slow going in the contact department as he’s striking out more and waking less than he did in 2023. We don’t have the Statcast data, but I can’t even imagine how bad his contact tools have been, which pushes him below even House despite the chance of a rebound with a healthy offseason.
• Top 150 Ranking: 126

8. Sal Stewart (2B, 3B – CIN)

• 2024 A+: .279/.391/.454 | 14.8 BB%, 16.9 K% | 32 XBH, 8 HR, 10 SB (80 games)
• Age: 21
• ETA: Mid 2026
• fScores: N/A
• Comp: Athletic Juan Yepez who can put up Josh Naylor-esque numbers
• Prime Skills: Sal Stewart is a big guy who should develop more power. For now, though, he has a fantastic plate approach and hit tool for his age. I got a live look at him and I think he’s going to be a monster. He might end up moving off the position because he’s of his size. He has a good hit tool, great plate skills and 20-25 home run power potential.
• Ranking Explanation: Stewart has a larger frame and I don’t see him stealing more than 10-15 bags in the Majors when he’s young, just as I don’t really see him at second base despite him leaning out. He kind of reminds me of a Tyler Locklear-ish profile with a better hit tool but lower proximity. Stewart has one of the better hit tools at the position (maybe the best), but the rest of the profile might be capped as rather mediocre for fantasy baseball.
• Top 150 Ranking: 133

9. Jace Jung (2B, 3B – DET)

• 2024 AAA: .258/.380/.461 | 16.5 BB%, 22.1 K% | 40 XBH, 15 HR, 3 SB
• 2024 MLB: .241/.362.304 | 18 BB%, 30.9 K% | 5 XBH, 0 HR, 0 SB
• Age: 23
• ETA: Opening Day (debuted 2024)
• fScores: 91 fContact, 128 fDiscipline, 89 fPower, 61 fSpeed
• Comp: Nolan Gorman meets Josh Jung’s swing with better plate skills and less power
• Prime Skills: The pull power is legit with Jace Jung. His swing reminds me a ton of Nolan Gorman and his approach is very similar to his brother Josh. All things look good for success, except he hits in Detroit.
• Ranking Explanation: The power had ticked down from the 2023 season. Not because he lost his power tool, but because his contact tool had taken a step backward. He had only a 78.6 Z-Contact% in AAA and a below-average Z-Swing% of 64.2%. He became too patient and needed to get a little more aggressive in the zone to do more damage, especially with his home ballpark. He needs to be a 25-home-run hitter to be fantasy-viable. He’s not here yet after a step backward in production.
• Top 150 Ranking: 140

10. Brice Matthews (SS, 3B – HOU)

• 2024 CPX/A+/AA/AAA: .265/.384/.481 | 13.4 BB%, 31.4 K% | 31 XBH, 15 HR, 32 SB
• Age: 23
• ETA: Early/Mid 2025
• fScores: 89 fContact, 108 fDiscipline, 98 fPower, 171 fSpeed
• Comp: Christopher Morel with a lot more speed
• Prime Skills: Brice Matthews was the Astros’ first-round pick in 2023. He has below-average contact skills (despite an 84.6 Z-Contact%), but some nice power and speed. He has upside but could strike out way too much to be a big-league regular. Matthews watches too many pitches in the zone go by him (53.6% Z-Swing% is atrocious).
• Ranking Explanation: Matthews is volatile and the max exit velocity of only 105.9 at AAA is concerning as the power might be more pull and luck-based than an actual skill he owns, which would make him more of a poor man’s Ronny Mauricio. Jung had more consistent power and plate skills in the Minors and gets the nod on proximity bonus as well, even though there is a chance Matthews could win a job at third base over Shay Whitcomb, Zach Dezenzo and Cam Smith… it’s crowded in Houston with only one available spot in the infield.
• Top 150 Ranking: 142

Runners Up

11. Orelvis Martinez (1B, SS, 3B – TOR) — Top 250 Ranking: 154
12. Eric Bitonti (3B – MIL) — Top 250 Ranking: 168
13. Tai Peete (SS, 3B – SEA) — Top 250 Ranking: 173
14. Ricardo Cabrera (SS, 3B – CIN) — Top 250 Ranking: 177
15. Jack Brannigan (3B – PIT) — Top 250 Ranking: 189

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