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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Top 10 Fantasy Baseball Prospect Rankings: Shortstop

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

1. Sebastian Walcott (SS – TEX)

• 2024 A+/AA: .265/.344/.452 | 10.3 BB%, 25.6 K% | 54 XBH, 11 HR, 27 SB
• Age: 19
• ETA: Late 2026
• fScores: N/A
• Comp: Fernando Tatis Jr.-light (similar build and swing)
• Prime Skills: Sebastian Walcott is a super-raw, huge 18-year-old kid with power for days. He needs to further develop the hit tool and plate skills, but the tools are there. He debuted at High-A as a 17-year-old. We are just now seeing him come into his own as the second half of the season for him was phenomenal with a .293/.350/.496 slash with 32 extra-base hits and 19 stolen bases in his last 58 games.
• Ranking Explanation: He is super-raw and we are seeing the talent develop starting mid-season from a set of tools into a baseball player. Walcott has fantasy superstar upside, posting a ridiculous number of extra-base hits for an 18-year-old between A+ and AA. He did what Samuel Basallo did last year, but at shortstop and with speed.
• Top 150 Ranking: 9

2. JJ Wetherholt (SS – STL)

• 2024 College: .331/.472/.589 | 16 XBH, 8 HR, 6 SB (36 games)
• 2024 A: .295/.405/.400 | 12.7 BB%, 11.9 K% | 7 XBH, 2 HR, 2 SB (29 games)
• Age: 22
• ETA: Early 2026
• fScores: 99 fContact, 126 fDiscipline, 79 fPower, 128 fSpeed
• Comp: Corbin Carroll/Marcus Semien mash-up
• Prime Skills: JJ Wetherholt hits the crap out of the ball for a smaller guy. He is athletic and has a great eye at the plate. He has a quick and easy swing with great bat control that will likely lead to an early career high doubles profile that later translates into more power as he gets closer to his peak. Wetherholt had an average exit velocity of 91.8 miles per hour (MPH) to go along with an aggressively effective approach in the zone with a 73.4 Z-Swing % and only a 14.1% chase rate.
• Ranking Explanation: I expect Wetherholt to move quickly this year with an eye on an early 2026 debut. He might come up for a cup of coffee in 2025. He has an advanced plate approach and hit tool, while the power is more doubles power than home run power. I expect him to be a 20/20 player with an upper-level hit tool and plate skills.
• Top 150 Ranking: 13

3. Leodalis De Vries (SS – SD)

• 2024 A: .237/.361/.441 | 13.9 BB%, 23.3 K% | 36 XBH, 11 HR, 13 SB (75 games)
• Age: 18
• ETA: 2027
• fScores: N/A
• Comp: Switch-hitting Alfonso Soriano at shortstop
• Prime Skills: Leodalis De Vries has a super-high upside across the board and is a five-tool talent. At 17 years old, he is way above his age to level. De Vries is electric and has a long swing despite quick hands, giving me an Alfonso Soriano feeling. He had a 116 wRC+ as a 17-year-old but might be closer to around 160-170 when translating age to level.
• Ranking Explanation: De Vries suffered a shoulder injury only a couple of games after my last set of rankings was released in August. Like Walcott, he had an insane last couple of months of play. From May 23rd, he had a .252/.380/.480 slash line with 32 extra-base hits, 11 homers and 12 steals over a 62-game span. Wetherholt gets the edge in my rankings as he is much closer (age-wise) from a proximity standpoint and has a super-high floor thanks to his insane hit tool.
• Top 150 Ranking: 18

4. Jordan Lawlar (SS – ARI)

• 2024 AA/AAA: .318/.417/.485 | 9 XBH, 2 HR, 6 SB (23 games)
• Age: 22
• ETA: Opening Day (debuted in 2024)
• fScores: 100 fContact, 104 fDiscipline, 93 fPower, 168 fSpeed
• Comp: Trea Turner-light with some a splash of Derek Jeter
• Prime Skills: Jordan Lawlar has a nice power swing, but it may impact his contact ability in the Majors. He has all-fields power and ridiculous speed. He’s a very aggressive base runner and puts himself in good positions to make things happen on top of having way above-average plate discipline for his age.
• Ranking Explanation: The power, speed and enough of a hit tool are here to build up a very intriguing player for fantasy purposes. He is a potential top-end player, however, he was hurt for the majority of 2024, putting a slight damper on expectations for a player I previously had ranked as a top-10 overall prospect.
• Top 150 Ranking: 20

5. Colt Emerson (2B, SS – SEA)

• 2024 A/A+: .263/.393/.376 | 14.9 BB%, 17.3 K% | 22 XBH, 4 HR, 15 SB
• Age: 19
• ETA: Late 2026
• fScores: N/A
• Comp: Bigger Brendan Donovan with more natural talent and athleticism
• Prime Skills: Colt Emerson has a great hit tool for his age and plate skills for a big lefty still developing. Also has some solid wheels. He was playing Single-A ball as a 17-year-old and is skinny with a ton of room to build on his frame for power as he moves up levels. He’s all doubles power (led the Arizona Fall League with nine doubles) but has time to develop that into home run power (which is easier said than done when Seattle is your home park).
• Ranking Explanation: He is going to move fast because he takes professional at-bats for his age. Emerson should grow into some more power with a big body, but we haven’t seen the power translate yet. He was promoted to High-A and it will be interesting to see how the Mariners navigate their middle infield prospects like Emerson, Felnin Celesten, Cole Young and Michael Arroyo.
• Top 150 Ranking: 26

6. Carson Williams (SS – TB)

• 2024 AA: .256/.352/.469 | 11.5 BB%, 28.5 K% | 46 XBH, 20 HR, 33 SB
• Age: 22
• ETA: Mid 2025
• fScores: 86 fContact, 91 fDiscipline, 100 fPower, 133 fSpeed
• Comp: Trevor Story outside of Coors Field with better defense
• Prime Skills: Power, speed and OK plate skills. The only thing Carson Williams is missing is the hit tool. He’s young enough that he can develop the hit tool on his rise up the Minors. He has quick hands and changed his stance from a slight crouch to being more upright since last year. The strikeouts, however, need to go down for him to reach his potential as a 20/20 player with a good walk rate in the Majors.
• Ranking Explanation: Williams had a tale of three seasons in 2024 with an amazing April/May, a terrible June/July and then an average rebound in August/September, finishing the season (August 1st and on) hitting .258/.363/.468 with six bombs and seven steals. The lackluster hit tool means his floor is a non-major leaguer. If you want one close to home, there is a Taylor Walls-type floor here, but the tools are there for him to be an All-Star level player, especially with his top-notch defense.
• Top 150 Ranking: 33

7. Marcelo Mayer (SS – BOS)

• 2024 AA: .307/.370/.480 | 9 BB%, 19.7 K% | 36 XBH, 8 HR, 13 SB (77 games)
• Age: 22
• ETA: Late 2025
• fScores: 99 fContact, 86 fDiscipline, 86 fPower, 116 fSpeed
• Comp: Lefty Dansby Swanson with more doubles power but less home run power
• Prime Skills: Marcelo Mayer has fast hands and a good eye leading to an advanced batting average profile, but how much power will he hit for in his prime? He’s had some bad injury luck that’s impacted his stat line two seasons in a row.
• Ranking Explanation: Mayer is getting bigger and might not be a superstar, but he should be an above-average Major Leaguer or an All-Star in his peak years, providing decent fantasy value. Mayer is projected to start the season in AAA and could be up by the end of the season depending on what kind of moves the Red Sox make the rest of the offseason. Carson Williams has a higher ceiling for power and speed, so I’m giving him the edge over Mayer, who projects slightly above average for fantasy purposes. He can be a high-floor player, though.
• Top 150 Ranking: 35

8. Franklin Arias (SS – BOS)

• 2024 CPX/A: .309/.409/.487 | 13.4 BB%, 17.5 K% | 36 XBH, 9 HR, 35 SB (87 games)
• Age: 19
• ETA: 2027
• fScores: N/A
• Comp: Righty Francisco Lindor-light
• Prime Skills: Franklin Arias has good plate skills with above-average power, really quick bat speed and hands and great speed. He could be a five-tool guy as long as he can continue to develop the hit tool and hit the ball in the air as he did at the Florida Complex League. The power tracked down at Single-A ball, but he was young for the level late in the season and held his own.
• Ranking Explanation: Arias has a high-end fantasy profile as a potential 15/20 homer guy with 30-steal potential at the higher level. The plate skills are on-point, which will help him stay ahead on an age-to-level basis. Williams and Mayer get the proximity edge to Arias, even though I think Arias has a higher ceiling than both with a better hit tool than Williams and a better power/speed combo upside than Mayer.
• Top 150 Ranking: 45

9. Felnin Celesten (SS – SEA)

• 2024 CPX: .352/.431/.568 | 12.5 BB%, 19.4 K% | 17 XBH, 3 HR, 5 SB
• Age: 19
• ETA: 2027
• fScores: N/A
• Comp: Switch-hitting Gunnar Henderson with a little Juan Soto in the mechanics
• Prime Skills: Felnin Celesten is a good-sized switch-hitting, athletic shortstop who was seen coming into the Florida Complex League as one of the top players. He has performed even better than expected. I’m especially impressed with the plate skills of such a raw talent.
• Ranking Explanation: I’m a big Felnin fan as the big switch-hitting shortstop prospect had a broken hamate bone just as he was about to hit Single-A ball and missed the rest of the season. While hamate breaks are power-sapping, the power usually returns the next season. Celesten dropped in the rankings but not by so much that I’m down on him as he’s higher than some other guys while he was out. 
• Top 150 Ranking: 47

10. Aidan Miller (SS – PHI)

• 2024 A/A+/AA: .261/.366/.446 | 12.1 BB%, 21.6 K% | 45 XBH, 11 HR, 23 SB
• Age: 21
• ETA: Mid 2026
• fScores: N/A
• Comp: Royce Lewis with a worse hit tool
• Prime Skills: Aidan Miller is an athlete. I had a live look at him and he’s a super-athlete and a gamer. A lot of people thought he would move off shortstop to third base, but he looks super smooth and athletic. He should stay at shortstop as long as he can. Miller has a great eye at the plate with only a 19.5% chase rate at Single-A ball. He has great exit velocities for his age at an average of 87.5 MPH and a max over 108 MPH while we had measurements at Single-A ball. The hit tool is only average and needs the most work, but he gets an ideal launch angle and is adept at barreling when he does make contact.
• Ranking Explanation: He does have a decently high floor as a further away prospect. Seeing him in person, I know he’s a gamer. I saw him strike out three times, then come back to hit a two-run RBI double and score on a wild pitch. He’s in it even on the bad days, which he has had a lot of since moving up to High-A, but he bounced back for a very strong end of the season before seeing a cup of coffee in AA.
• Top 150 Ranking: 58

Runners Up

11. Cooper Pratt (SS – MIL) — Top 150 Ranking: 62
12. Jesus Made (SS – MIL) — Top 150 Ranking: 63
13. Jacob Wilson (SS – ATH) — Top 150 Ranking: 69
14. Joendry Vargas (SS – LAD) — Top 150 Ranking: 70
15. Seaver King (SS – WSH) — Top 150 Ranking: 71

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