We all know Yu Darvish, but who’s the next top SP prospect from Japan?
Before Lucas Giolito and Yoan Moncada were top-five prospects, Giolito was a can’t miss, flame-throwing high school kid who was expected to go No. 1 in the MLB Draft, while Moncada was shredding up the Cuban National Series as a teenager, and experts expected him to immediately do the same when he came to America. Now that I’ve introduced you to the top 200 prospects currently owned by Major League teams, I want to tell you which amateur and international stars are set to join the club in the next few seasons. You will notice that some players (Seth Beer — perhaps the best college hitter of all-time) and (Shohei Otani – the next Babe Ruth?) are graded rather high for having never played an inning in the minor leagues, but seeing that Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg would have received similar rankings in their time, these aggressive grades are by no means reckless. If your dynasty league doesn’t prohibit adding such players, allow no hesitation is doing so.
Amateur Stars
*This list shows where current college and high-school players would rank if they were currently signed by an MLB organization.
| Rank | Player | Pos | Draft | Team |
| 4 | Seth Beer | OF | 2018 | Clemson |
| 12 | Luken Baker | 1B/RHP | 2018 | TCU |
| 54 | Mark Vientos | SS | 2017 | HS (FL) |
| 56 | J.B. Bukauskas | RHP | 2017 | UNC |
| 61 | Tanner Houck | RHP | 2017 | Missouri |
| 65 | J.J. Schwartz | C | 2017 | Florida |
| 82 | Kyler Murray | SS/*QB | 2018 | Texas A&M |
| 86 | Jaren Kendall | OF | 2017 | Vanderbilt |
| 103 | Hagen Danner | RHP | 2017 | HS (CA) |
| 107 | Alejando Toral | 1B | 2017 | HS (FL) |
| 110 | Alex Lange | RHP | 2017 | LSU |
| 111 | Chandler Day | RHP | 2018 | Vanderbilt |
| 129 | Cole Sands | RHP | 2017 | Florida St. |
| 145 | Alex Faedo | RHP | 2017 | Florida |
| 159 | Kumar Rocker | RHP | 2019 | HS (GA) |
| 174 | Alonzo Jones | SS | 2018 | Vanderbilt |
| 191 | Brendan McKay | LHP | 2017 | Louisville |
| HM | Justin Hooper | LHP | 2018 | UCLA |
| HM | Caydn Grenier | SS | 2018 | Oregon St. |
International Prospects
*This list shows where international free agents and potential future free-agents would rank if they were currently signed by an MLB organization
| Rank | Name | Position | Country | ETA |
| 1 | Shohei Otani | RHP | Japan | 2018 |
| 7 | Lourdes Gurriel Jr. | 2B/CF | Free Agent | 2017 |
| 38 | Shintaro Fujinami | RHP | Japan | 2022 |
| 62 | Vladimir Gutierrez | RHP | Free Agent | 2017 |
| 88 | Norge Luis Ruiz | RHP | Free Agent | 2017 |
| 93 | Tetsudo Yamada | 2B | Japan | 2020 |
| 117 | Randy Arrozarena | 2B | Free Agent | 2019 |
| 124 | Yoshitomo Tsutsugo | OF/3B | Japan | 2018 |
| 135 | Yuki Yanagita | OF | Japan | 2019 |
| 136 | Luis Yander La O | 2B/3B | Free Agent | 2019 |
| 151 | Alfredo Despaigne | OF | Cuba | 2018 |
| 156 | Tomohiro Anraku | RHP | Japan | 2022 |
| 160 | Ruben Paz | OF | Free Agent | 2019 |
| 164 | Alexei Bell | OF | Free Agent | 2017 |
| 172 | Cionel Perez | LHP | Cuba | 2018 |
| 173 | Yusei Kikuchi | LHP | Japan | 2019 |
| 184 | Takahiro Norimoto | RHP | Japan | 2019 |
| 191 | Jose Miguel Fernandez | 2B | Free Agent | 2017 |
| HM | Ha-Seong Kim | SS | South Korea | 2021 |
| HM | Takayuki Kishi | RHP | Japan | 2017 |
Corresponding Links:
Top 200 Prospects
Top Organizational Farm Clubs
Bold Prospect Hot Takes
Prospect Questions and Answers
Why we are bullish on certain prospects (To be released Wednesday, August 24th)
