His fastball has sufficient action that it still plays at 92-93, and it pairs nicely with his curveball, which is a traditional power pitchers yakker in the upper 70s. Unfortunately, his season was interrupted (and maybe compromised) by a back injury that cost him all of June and July, and he only played in 57 games throughout the season.
2023 International Signings: Rating the best prospects of the 2022-23 Built like human skyscraper, Prez has incredible control of his limbs for a pitcher this tall, this age, and who throws this hard. Weve manually adjusted Netos ETA to reflect the Angels tendency to move their prospects more quickly than their stock 40-man timeline. Andruw Jones won 10 gold gloves with the Braves as he became arguably the greatest defensive center fielder of all time. It cost him all of 2022. Their ability as a group to rapidly move their way through the Minor Leagues was unprecedented. Who are the top prospects? He has terrific breaking ball recognition, uses his whole body to maneuver the barrel around the zone, and can let pitches travel deep before driving them the other way, and Henderson is strong enough to do damage to left field even when hes late or mis-hits a pitch. In his first full season, Mayer slashed .280/.399/.489, hit 30 doubles and 13 homers, and was 17-for-17 on stolen base attempts as he continued the track record of premium offensive performance that hes displayed since he was a high school underclassman. Over the last year or so, hes thickened like a roux and become stronger, and hes capable of doing more damage than our tepid projection expected. And while its not the ideal strategy, theres something to be said about coming out of your prospect draft with the best available talent, in hindsight. He can get extended on pitches out away from him and drive them into the opposite field gap, and has the power to do damage that way, and can also move the bat head all over the strike zone. He has some vulnerability to high fastballs and tends to do most of his extra-base damage against middle-middle mistakes, but Steer is capable of making line drive contact in basically all parts of the strike zone, and is especially adept at poking outer-third pitches the opposite way for base hits. He had his second straight fair offensive season as a pro, as he produced a 95 wRC+ at High-A, mostly thanks to his ability to put balls in play. Despite the number of international prospects to emerge as elite MLB players in recent years, its still a risky proposition in general. His slider often has curt, unspectacular-looking movement, but Bradleys command of it and the way he sets it up with well-located fastballs make it a dominant pitch. : Mets+ ($1,900,000) More 28. His open batting stance and deep pre-stride crouch are much more extreme than they were last year, and this change might have enabled him to see the ball better (similar to the way opening his stance helped unlock peak D-backs Luis Gonzalez) and improve his bat-to-ball ability enough for all of his modest power to play, especially in the Cal League. The bonus pools are final and they are a hard cap. The signing period closes Dec. 15. He is otherwise a major league-ready fourth starter. Major League and Minor League Baseball data provided by Major League Baseball. Anthony Baptist, OF, D.R. Of the 71 extra-base hits Synergy Sports has on tape from Jungs time at Tech, 51 were to center or right field. The Cubs have had some recent success in tweaking swings and if Hernandez can shorten up his cut and even be a 40-grade contact hitter at maturity, then hes likely to be a good big league shortstop because every other tool is in place. He sits 92-95 mph while touching higher with his carrying four-seam fastball, and like any good D-backs prospect, moves it well north-south while generating whiffs at the top of the zone; he also has a sinker as a change of pace. Manuel Cabrera, SS, D.R. You may have also noticed that there are more than 100 prospects in the table below, and more than 100 scouting summaries. -- $300,000, MarinersSebastian De Andrade, C, D.R. He has the speed to play out there, but Frelick is not a crisp center fielder, and later in the 2022 season he saw lots of time in left (though some of it was due to the sudden presence of Esteury Ruiz), where he also looked tentative. Bradley has, and hes done so while building an innings count that should help vault him into the Rays rotation at some point in 2023. . The 11th overall pick in 2018 out of a Texas high school, Rodriguez saw his stuff tick up immediately after turning pro, and it steadily climbed each year until it took a step backward in 2022 amid a shoulder injury. He projects as a contact-oriented everyday shortstop, though one scouting director we spoke with for this list still wants to see what hed look like on the mound. We can safely put to bed any notion that Pages (pronounced p-hz) might stay in center field, and as such, his projection has narrowed as he shifts to being an average everyday corner outfield prospect by virtue of his ability to get to power, which he does via his combination of raw strength and the extreme lift in his swing. The visual evaluation of Hassells feel to hit was consistently strong until the last couple months of 2022. Hundreds of international prospects are taking the next step in their development when they sign with big league clubs and there will be hundreds more who will follow them until the middle of December. Its possible hell be so good upon return that he kicks down the door, but its more likely from a roster timeline standpoint that Miami gives him all of 2023 in the minors so his innings can be manicured with his health and development in mind. Perazas true carrying tool is his shortstop defense. : Angels ($900,000) More . These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. All Rights Reserved. Most of Rafaelas underlying contact and power data is middling, and his peak exit velos arent what youd typically expect from a 20-homer threat, except he does seem to hit the ball fairly hard and in the air very frequently relative to his peak exits. 4:35 pm ET. The tweaks have made Eders slider one of the nastier on the planet (2021 pitch data showed a 300 rpm uptick from his college slider to his pro one), with some of them looking like theyre headed into the ribs of left-handed hitters before bending over the plate. Youll also notice that there is a Future Value outcome distribution graph for each prospect on the list. Play-by-play data prior to 2002 was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted
The thought that we had to wait several years to see returns on these players went out the window. Henry Ramos, OF, Dominican Republic Royals ($797,500) More 46. The final destination is the Major Leagues but the first step is signing the first professional contract and for international prospects, that happens during the international signing period. He can be beaten with high velocity more regularly than anything else, but if pitchers miss and catch too much of the meat of the zone, that mistake is going to get hit hard somewhere. by Handedness, Updating the 2023 Draft Prospect Rankings, Cardinals Scouting Director Randy Flores on Drafting the Team's Top Prospects, Updating the International Player Rankings, The New LSU, Part 2: Paul Skenes Is on a New Heading, Diamondbacks Farm Director Josh Barfield Talks Development and Comps, Brewers Prospect Sal Frelick on Being a Pure Hitter, Fantasy Update: 2023 Re-Draft Top 25/Dynasty Top 120, Picks to Click: Who We Expect to Make the 2024 Top 100, Lets Identify Some Hitter Sleeper Candidates. The risk and long developmental timeline for high school pitchers, let alone injured ones, typically keeps them from sniffing the top 100 in all but a few cases. After that it seemed like Ramirez was asked to try to demonstrate better plate discipline. Hes set up to throw about 135 innings in 2023 (assuming a typical 20-inning increase) and, if his annual pattern of promotion is any indication, hell be given his first big league opportunity late this year (and push for a playoff roster spot), then compete for an Opening Day rotation job in 2024. He was back in 2022 long enough to make his major league debut, but re-tore his ACL in late May and will be out until later this summer. Frelicks style of hitting should enable doubles (and some triples) pop, but there isnt likely to be any kind of over-the-fence power here, so little that one could argue Frelick belongs south of the 50 FV tier even if he were a lock to stay in center field. Theres still mid-rotation potential here, its just not as in focus as it seemed to be a year ago.
International Prospect Update and Signing Period Preview Top prospect Painter goes two innings, touches 99 mph. A stiff, upright hitter, Diaz might have some issues with fastballs running in on his hands at the big league level, as he tended to be late on the ones he saw at Double- and Triple-A, driving them almost exclusively to the opposite field. Torres was a different case. The floor here is XL Freddy Galvis with worse defense, but there will be some peak seasons where more of the power plays and he produces like a star. By Mark Polishuk | January 14, 2023 at 11:15pm CDT. This is the time when we start to look at not only the MLB draft in June but the International Signing period shortly after. Described as the "total package" solid hit/solid power. Baltimore has tried him some at second and first base, but because hell show you a 70 arm on his best throws and runs pretty well, right field continues to feel like the best long-term fit even though Mayo hasnt played there yet. Ronny Mo is on the very edge of the threshold of viability in this respect. Bleis has some of the planets sexiest bat speed and produces shocking power for a young hitter his size. His propensity to chase and lunge at pitches nowhere close to the zone led to a 38% K% during his September call-up. Because his delivery is so elegant and consistent, Bradleys splitter has deep projection. Though he does his homer damage almost exclusively to his pull side, Berry slices breaking balls away from him to the opposite field, and most of his non-extra-base hits come that way. Hes graded with the optimism that these traits will help him manage the swing-and-miss enough to be a multi-time All-Star. He shows power from both sides of the plate, especially by the right side. For prospects around the globe hoping to sign with an MLB franchise, it kicks off a 11-month window for teams to land prospects. He made six appearances with the big league squad (four of them starts) for a total of 33 innings and lasted at least five frames in all but one of them (his only shorter appearance was in relief, and he pitched the final 3.2 innings of the game). Considering how strong he is and how much contact he makes, there is a shocking dearth of measurable, high-quality contact happening here. At age 14, thin as a rail, he was already hitting balls out of big league spring training stadiums during workouts. Barger has huge left-handed bat speed and a shot to stay on the dirt, just not at shortstop.
MLB International Prospects Signing Day 2023 If not, hes a Phillippe Aumont sequel. He has top-of-the-rotation stuff but the injuries make it more likely that Cleveland proactively moves him to the bullpen. These are things that need some developmental love before Naylor can assume the primary catching role in Cleveland, but hes young and athletic enough to project that theyll be worthy of that mantle relatively soon. Were betting on Hassell in part because hes a very competitive guy who seems hellbent on maxing himself out. lvarez has been one of the more hyped prospects in the Mets system since signing out of Venezuela in 2018 for nearly $3 million, and he has largely lived up to that hype. Theres substantial bust risk here but the ceiling is huge, too big to move off of Hernandez after a whiff-prone first year stateside. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings. He dealt with a litany of issues as an amateur, as benign as a fractured finger and as severe as back issues that had some teams drop him from their draft boards. He returned in the spring of 2021, but tore his ACL and missed all of that season as well. 4. Tracking the status and signings of all 2023 MLB international players. If Alcantara hits at High-A during the first half of 2023, he should get a second half look in Double-A, which would put him on a more comfortable pace to compete for an opening day roster spot in 2025. Defensively he spent most of his time at shortstop in 2022, and while he isnt technically polished there, he does have the twitch and arm to project there with more refinement. He now sits 96 mph and will touch as high as 102, though he typically tops out at 99 in any given start. -- $400,000Andres Valor, OF, Ven. Ortiz is a slick shortstop defender with a plus hit tool and very little pop. He also shows good footwork with soft hands and above-average range. He has a surprisingly authoritative left-handed cut for a player of his stature and shows you lovely all-fields ability to hit, snatching hanging breaking balls and inner-third fastballs to his pull side and spraying lots of middle-away fastballs to the opposite field. When LSU hired Jay Johnson away, Berry was one of several players who transferred out of Tucson, following Johnson to Baton Rouge. The righty had only made 11 career starts at then-Division-II Bellarmine University, but a successful 2019 summer on the Cape and a lights out draft spring suggested that he was a real prospect. As explosive as most of his body is, Veens hands are not, and he tends to be long into the hitting zone. His arm is electric, and it continues to dazzle scouts. He was added to the 40-man roster at the end of the season and should become part of the Rangers rotation at some point in 2023. The Dodgers surpassed the luxury tax threshold the previous season and had to forfeit $1,000,000 for Freddie Freeman. Parada may not be able to catch, but we think his bat profiles anywhere. The final installment of this weeks set of international player updates revolves around the amateur prospects who will begin to sign a month from now when the new international signing period begins on January 15. Mayers underlying TrackMan data is only okay. Now hes a strapping 6-foot-4 and has grown into considerable power, all while maintaining some amount of future physical projection (i.e. Acua slashed .317/.417/.483 at High-A before finishing the season at Double-A, where his numbers deflated across the board, though that did include his strikeout rate, which he brought down to 21% at the more advanced level. He has enough raw power to do damage to all-fields and Paradas feel to hit weaponizes it, as he often hits the ball where its pitched, driving stuff on the outer edge to right field, pulling pitches on the inner third, and spraying everything in between. At a time when everyone has a camera in their pocket and the internet exists, its almost impossible for an early-round prospect to be hidden in a true sense, though the 2020 shutdown contributed to Carters lack of notoriety. 2022-23 MLB Free Agent List; Top 50 Free Agents; . -- $800,000Luis Merejo, INF, D.R. Over the last year, Prez has added about 30 pounds, experienced a two-tick fastball velocity bump, and incorporated a second, harder breaking ball that has become his primary non-fastball weapon. His fastballs shape gives him in-zone margin for error that should enable him to be loose with in-zone location, and one of our scout sources thinks his changeup also has a shot to be average. Eric Longenhagen is from Catasauqua, PA and currently lives in Tempe, AZ. Casas went to the Dominican Winter League to be part of Liceys prospect-studded lineup (Elly De La Cruz, Ronny Mauricio, and a few others were also on that roster at the start of the LIDOM season), but a knee injury ended that jaunt after just three games. In fact, his dastardly mid-80s splitter, which falls off the table and finishes below the strike zone, is easily his best offering, garnering twice as many swings and misses as his fastball in 2022, and about as many whiffs as the rest of his many pitches combined. The ball explodes off his bat to all fields, and he can do extra-base damage even when he mis-hits a ball. Thanks as always, keep up the great work! That will be a full decade before Green will be drafted in 2022, very likely with the #1 overall selection.
2021 J2/International Team by Team Breakdown - Prospects Live Turang can really play shortstop, has feel for the strike zone, and makes a fair amount of contact. Miller has always held his velo deep into games despite a violent delivery, and his slider and changeup are both above-average, rounding out a starters mix in a weird mechanical package. But that said, there will always be deep, competitive dynasty leagues to take a shot on the unknown is a viable strategy. The identifiable visual tweak to the swing, the shift in batted ball profile, and Batys dramatic uptick in home runs are all indications that hes dialed in the details that have kept him vacillating between several FV tiers for the last couple of years. He can shorten up and punish inner-third velocity from the left side like few other hitters in the 2022 draft could, and he rarely expands the zone. We could not draft Suzuki because he was not on a team. Johnson projects as a second baseman with plus contact and power. document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function () { Even with the back issue, the Giants put Luciano on their 40-man roster during the winter. 2 overall prospect, then was shut down with what Miami described as arm fatigue.. Generally considered a polished, high-floored prospect, theres now a fair bit of volatility here. Hes a plus athlete who would have been a Day Two pick as a position player, and his delivery is smooth and well coordinated, allowing for continued projection of Jobes command and control. Some players will project for a below-average hit tool and then prove themselves one of the more advanced hitters in the class. : Dodgers+ ($2,077,500) More 4. Despite being this size at this age, which might typically cause long-term 1B/DH projection, Colliers defensive feet, hands, actions, and arm strength are all excellent, and make him a future plus third base defender. Amador is a well-rounded middle infield prospect with a smaller, almost maxed-out frame that compares to Jimmy Rollins or Domingo Leyba. Thirty-two of the players on the 2022 Top 50 International Prospects list are from the Dominican Republic. Rangers land Pablo Guerrero, brother of Vlad Jr. MLB Pipeline's Top 50 International Prospects. : Astros+ ($2,250,000) More 18. His rate of hard, impact contact is near the top of the scouting scale when you adjust for age and is already comfortably plus relative to the big league rates in some areas (like barrel rate). He signed for $5.1 million in 2019 as easily the toolsiest player in his signing class, a plus-plus running center fielder with huge switch-hitting power. Domnguez also wasnt seen facing live pitching very much as an amateur, so while his showcase tools were evident, there wasnt as much confidence in his hit tool as is typical of a top-of-the-class prospect. Updated Top 100 Prospects After 2022 MLB Draft Joel Reuter July 29, 2022 Francisco Alvarez (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) Now that the 2022 MLB draft is complete, it's time for an. He doesnt have a huge frame, but his lack of room for mass arguably makes it more likely that he stays at short since hes unlikely to outgrow it. Adan Sanchez, INF, Panama Cubs ($1,500,000) More 44. Now, after what might be a delayed start to his 2023, hell be asked to hit the ground running after only playing half of last year. Ludwing Espinoza, SS, Ven. His stolen base total itself is not an indication of speed, but Naylor is running home-to-first as fast as 4.10, which is a plus run time, and he should swipe double-digit bases in his physical prime, relevant for fantasy-playing readers. Once I have a fairly complete picture of the players set to garner meaningful bonuses, I start to make more scouting and evaluation-centric calls and inquiries to augment the initial, bonus-based list. Hunt for the College Ticket and Elite Extra Edition Optic set, which will feature this year's top draft picks on opti-chrome cards! So far that looks to have been the correct assessment, as Williams hit 19 homers, tallied 51 extra-base hits, stole 28 bases and solidified shortstop as his future defensive home during his 2022 foray into full-season ball. Things change. Combine that with notes from in-person looks (there are sometimes workouts and showcases in Arizona or in close proximity to big MLB events like the Winter Meetings) and supplementary video analysis of my own, and the list is pretty much baked. Before he got hurt, there were folks in baseball who considered him a top 30 prospect, so his ceiling is big enough to include him on the top 100 now even though hes coming off injury. Velocity, repertoire depth, and fastball control have Miller poised to be an impact, mid-rotation starter in the near future, while long-term secondary projection could eventually pull him into a different stratosphere. He slashed .327/.426/.617 combined at High-A Bowling Green and Double-A Montgomery (for the final month), hitting 22 homers across the two levels. Hes actually a fairly rangy third baseman, as his foot speed allows him to cover a lot of ground, but his hands and arm accuracy are both pretty rough and cause him to be error-prone. Because just a few months of physical development can be quite meaningful for such young athletes, prospects have a tendency to change a lot between when they make a handshake deal with a team and when they actually sign. : White Sox+ ($700,000) More 42. Alfredo Duno, C, VenezuelaDuno has a chance to have at least three above-average tools -- field, arm and power -- as he develops and emerges as one most interesting prospects in the class. By his senior year of high school, Holliday already had. Rocchios feel for contact and his defensive ability drive a high-probability everyday profile. From the right side of the plate, he shows tons of bat speed with a big loft. He shows good plate discipline and doesn't swing and miss often. Back then, he was a switch-hitting, switch-throwing prepster who would pitch left-handed and play the infield, too talented to be a sideshow but not enough to go in the first round, as 10 high school shortstops were drafted ahead of him.
The start of the international signing period is one of the most important dates on the baseball calendar. -- $325,000Luis Lameda, SS., Ven. Make no mistake, Brown does not suddenly have Verlanders command. The funk-factor made up for a slight dip in velocity; the heater sat in the 94-95 range, but he still managed whiff and chase rates well above average on the offering as he made his way from Low- to Double-A in his first year of pro ball. Here Berry projects as a DH. Those metrics illustrate the way Manzardos skill set is tailored. He made his debut with Cubas Serie Nacional with Sancti Spiritus in 2021 and defected later in the year while playing for the Cuban U-23 team in Mexico. Hes coming off another terrific offensive year, slashing .257/.336/.420 as a 21-year-old at Akron with about a month of Columbus thrown in, and setting a career-high in homers (18) for the second straight season. 1. Lesko hasnt thrown a pro pitch yet due to TJ rehab, but his changeup and pre-injury velocity and fastball playability demand he be one here toward the back. Roderick Arias, SS, Dominican Republic - Yankees ($4,000,000) More 2. Thats because we have also included the 50 FV prospects whose ranking fell outside the 100, an acknowledgement both that the choice to rank exactly 100 prospects (as opposed to 110 or 210 or some other number entirely) is an arbitrary one and that there isnt a ton of daylight between the prospects who appear in that part of the list. Then Nelson had a dominant 2021 season spent mostly at Double-A Amarillo, striking out 163 hitters in 116.1 innings, all as a starter. Sometimes the length of his slider is so ridiculous that its actually tough for him to control. After slashing .251/.326/.494 at Aberdeen, the 20-year-old was promoted to Bowie for the stretch run. Most of his swings and misses over the last few years have been on fastballs running away from him, but in 2022, he displayed a more advanced ability to poke the barrel at balls on the outer edge of the plate, extending his short levers in an effort to slap outside pitches the other way. Perennial contenders like the Dodgers and Yankees, teams that usually pick late in the draft, use international free agency to add elite prospects to their farm system. He receives on one knee with the bases empty but mixes his technique with runners on. Below we have the signing agreements for all 30 clubs, with more to. Brown is the Mewtwo of pitchers, engineered as a facsimile of another powerful entity using science and technology. : Tigers+ ($1,100,000) More 49. Zavala was the youngest player to reach an affiliate in 2022, joining Low-A Lake Elsinore just a couple weeks after his 18th birthday. Jobe was the consensus top high school arm in the 2021 draft and earned a bonus of nearly $7 million as the third overall pick. Williams was a two-way high school player who was talented enough to be considered a prospect as both a shortstop and a pitcher.
2022 International Top 50 for Dynasty Baseball - FantraxHQ International Player Update | FanGraphs Baseball A big-league ready, mid-rotation starter, Waldichuks arsenal also includes a changeup that he finishes with remarkable precision, but which he reserves almost exclusively for right-handed opponents (hes only thrown one changeup to a big-league lefty). He boasted one of the lowest walk rates (5.1%) among minor leaguers who notched at least 130 innings in 2022 and looks poised for a starter role in the near future. He goes out of his way to try to throw while hes on the run, and he rarely makes anything look easy the way big league shortstops tend to, so we have him projected at second base. Knee and hamstring surgery effectively knocked him out for the 2020 season, then Lee hit .341/.384/.626 in 2021 and had a huge summer on Cape Cod, with six homers in just 21 games. His mid-90s fastball missed bats up in the zone and above it, and he commanded all three secondaries, with above-average spin across the board. While he was already throwing quite hard, Ortiz came into even more velocity in 2022 and averaged 97 mph on his fastball, up two ticks from 2021. All Win Expectancy, Leverage Index, Run Expectancy, and Fans Scouting Report data licenced from TangoTiger.com. He was only 23 at the time, and thus ineligible for a major league deal. Merrill only hit .325/.387/.482 in 45 Cal League games, a line good for a 125 wRC+ in the hitter-friendly league and aided by a .393 BABIP. He has had the most impressive BP session at each of the last two Futures Games, launching satellite-threatening baseballs to the very outer reaches of big league stadiums. Cartaya had a whopping 41% hard-hit rate in 2022, which is already better than that of the average big league starting catcher (hes 21! : Guardians+ ($850,000) More 38. A skilled but impatient hitter who can really pick it, Tovar is poised to be the Rockies everyday shortstop and probably will be for a while. SS Ricardo Cabrera, Venezuela: Arguably the best hitter available this year, Cabrera is also a sound defender with "soft hands, good footwork and the type of range that will make him at least an average shortstop," according to MLB.com. After hitting .278/.373/.556 with San Jose, he was promoted to High-A and struck out at a 37% clip during the final month of the season. The upright nature of this adjusted swing has impacted Meads plate coverage a bit, and he swung through lots of high fastballs and sliders that finished on the outer third of the zone in 2022.