Tabla de contenidos para January 2023 en Baseball America

In this space, Baseball America gives prospects-turned-big leaguers their due. We rank the top 10 graduated prospects—better known as rookies—from the American and National league West divisions. Each prospect is listed with his preseason BA Grade and then his updated BA Grade based on what happened in 2022. Each player is graded on the 20-80 scouting scale, where 50 is average. Risk is also assessed on a scale of Low, Medium, High, Very High or Extreme. This ranking was developed in conjunction with the BA editorial team. 1. JULIO RODRIGUEZ OF l MARINERS Preseason: 75/Medium Updated: 75/Low All-star. Rookie of the Year. Seventh in AL MVP balloting. Rarely is a rookie as productive as Rodriguez was in 2022. His 147 OPS+ ranks 14th among qualified rookies since integration, and the…

1 HUNTER BROWN RHP Fastball: 70 Curveball: 55 Slider: 55 Changeup: 45 Control: 50 BA Grade: 60 Risk: High Born: August 29, 1998. B-T: R-R. HT: 6-2. WT: 212. Drafted: Wayne State (Mich.), 2019 (5th round). Signed by: Scott Oberhelman. TRACK RECORD: The Astros drafted Brown in the fifth round in 2019 and signed him for an above-slot $325,000 following a breakout season at Division II Wayne State in Detroit. Brown debuted that summer in the short-season New York-Penn League then missed 2020 because of the pandemic. He jumped straight to Double-A Corpus Christi when play resumed in 2021 and reached Triple-A Sugar Land in early August. Brown made 11 Triple-A appearances over the final two months of the season and struck out 55 batters in 51 innings. He returned to…

1 HARRY FORD C Hit: 55 Power: 50 Speed: 60 Fielding: 45 Arm: 60 BA Grade: 55 Risk: High Born: February 21, 2003. B-T: R-R. HT: 5-10. WT: 200. Drafted: HS—Kennesaw, GA, 2021 (1st round). Signed by: John Wiedenbauer. TRACK RECORD: Ford emerged as the top high school catcher in the 2021 draft class and became known as a “unicorn” due to his plus speed. The Mariners drafted him 12th overall after he wowed team officials, including general manager Jerry Dipoto, during a private batting practice, and they signed him for $4,366,400 to forgo a Georgia Tech commitment. Ford started his first full season slowly at Low-A Modesto as he battled shoulder tightness and a sprained ankle, but he took off once he got healthy. He hit .300 with a .942…

Gaylord Perry was the best spitballer the game has ever seen. That’s not hyperbole, and it’s not rumor. There’s no need to resort to innuendo when talking about Perry and his array of “illegal” pitches. He called his shot. And he did so with nearly half of his career still ahead of him. In his autobiography “Me and the Spitter,” published in 1974, Perry admitted that he had been throwing a spitball since 1964. Not coincidentally, Perry’s career as a successful big league pitcher began in 1964. “I was the 11th man on an 11-man pitching staff,” Perry wrote. “The 12th man was in Tacoma.” Called on to save the Giants in a 23-inning game that was the second of a doubleheader, Perry felt he had no choice but to…

The offseason is prospect season. Over the course of three issues in November, December and January, Baseball America publishes Top 10 Prospects rankings for all 30 organizations. This year we added something new. We ranked the top overall graduated prospects from last year’s Top 10s. Players are ranked by updated end-of-season BA Grade, which gauges each player’s realistic upside on the 20-80 scouting scale, where 50 is average. A Risk assessment deducts points—10 for High, five for Medium and none for Low—to determine each prospect’s Tier. In the vast majority of cases, these graduated prospects were also top 2022 rookies—but not always. Players retain rookie status as long as they don’t exceed 130 at-bats, 50 innings or 45 days on an active MLB roster in a season or seasons. But…

1 EZEQUIEL TOVAR SS Hit: 55 Power: 55 Speed: 60 Fielding: 70 Arm: 60 BA Grade: 65 Risk: High Born: August 1, 2001. B-T: R-R. HT: 6-0. WT: 162. Signed: Venezuela, 2017. Signed by: Rolando Fernandez/Orlando Medina. TRACK RECORD: Since signing for $800,000 on his 16th birthday in 2017, Tovar has progressed each year on his way to ranking as one of the top prospects in baseball. He spent all of the 2020 pandemic working out at the Rockies’ facility in Arizona because he was unable to return home to Venezuela. Over that time period, Tovar made substantial changes. He added strength and good weight and stopped switch-hitting in favor of batting righthanded only. The hard work paid off. Tovar broke out in his full-season debut in 2021, hitting .309/.346/.510…

1 MARCO LUCIANO SS Hit: 60 Power: 60 Speed: 40 Fielding: 50 Arm: 60 BA Grade: 60 Risk: High Born: September 10, 2001. B-T: R-R. HT: 6-2. WT: 178. Signed: Dominican Republic, 2018. Signed by: Jonathan Bautista. TRACK RECORD: Luciano has been the Giants’ top prospect for four consecutive seasons, yet he might just be beginning to scratch the surface of his talent. He was lauded as an amateur for his offensive gifts, which included the potential to hit for both average and power while sticking on the left side of the infield. The Giants paid $2.6 million to sign Luciano and he smashed the Rookie-level Arizona League in his 2019 pro debut, then earned a quick cameo at short-season Salem-Keizer before a hamstring tweak ended his season. After spending the…

1 LOGAN O’HOPPE C Hit: 50 Power: 50 Speed: 30 Fielding: 55 Arm: 60 BA Grade: 55 Risk: Medium Born: February 9, 2000. B-T: R-R. HT: 6-2. WT: 185. Drafted: HS—West Islip, N.Y., 2018 (23rd round). Signed by: Alex Agostino (Phillies). TRACK RECORD: O’Hoppe largely fell under the radar as a high school catcher on Long Island, but the Phillies scouted the region heavily and were one of the few teams to identify him as a potential draft prospect. The Phillies selected him in the 23rd round in 2018 and signed him for an over-slot $215,000 to sway him from an East Carolina commitment. O’Hoppe quickly emerged as a potential late-round steal in the lower levels and was invited to the Phillies’ alternate training site during the canceled 2020 minor league…

SAN DIEGO—The No. 1 pick in the draft can change the fortune of a franchise. When the Orioles selected Adley Rutschman first overall in 2019, and then added Gunnar Henderson a round later, it turbo-boosted their rebuild. The Nationals did the same with picks of Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper in back-to-back drafts in 2009 and 2010. So when the envelopes were unveiled at the inaugural MLB draft lottery at the Winter Meetings, the Pirates getting to pick No. 1 instead of No. 3, as they would have under the old system, was a big deal. The Twins were arguably even bigger winners. Minnesota will pick fifth, even though their record would have slotted them 13th under the old system. The Athletics had the second-worst record, but they will pick…

With a low-80s fastball and 5-foot-6 frame, lefthander Daniel Herrera was a unique presence on the mound. He got hitters out with craftiness and a filthy screwball. He excelled at the art of pitching, which in hindsight lines up perfectly with his post-playing career. Herrera had a bit more heat on his fastball at Permian High in Odessa, Texas, but was lightly recruited. He garnered looks only from local junior colleges or NAIA schools. Six shutout innings in the Connie Mack World Series caught the eye of Rich Alday, then the head coach at University of New Mexico. Alday didn’t see height as much as he saw a kid who could just get guys out throwing at any velocity. Herrera signed with New Mexico, his only Division I offer. Herrera…

1 DIEGO CARTAYA C Hit: 50 Power: 70 Speed: 30 Fielding: 45 Arm: 60 BA Grade: 65 Risk: High Born: Sept. 7, 2001. B-T: R-R. HT: 6-3. WT: 219. Signed: Venezuela, 2018. Signed by: Luis Marquez/Roman Barinas/Cliff Nuiter/Jean Castro. TRACK RECORD: Cartaya played for Venezuela in international tournaments from the time he was 10 years old and progressively emerged as the country’s best player in his class. The Dodgers made him their top target during the 2018-19 international period and signed him for $2.5 million. Cartaya played just 80 games in his first three years after signing due to the canceled 2020 minor league season and an assortment of injuries, including a pair of back flareups and a hamstring strain. He made staying on the field a top priority in 2022…

[PROJECTED 2026 LINEUP] NUMBER AT RIGHT IS BASEBALL AGE IN 2026 Everything about the pandemic year of 2020 was strange, and that strangeness permeated amateur baseball and the draft. High school and college seasons were halted in mid March, leaving two to three months of games unplayed and scouting looks unseen. When the truncated, five-round draft began on June 10, the 17-year-old Carter did not rank as a top prospect. But the Rangers drafted him in the second round anyway, convinced that the tall, lean center fielder would have played his way up the board under normal circumstances. They were right. Carter shined as one of the youngest players in Low-A in 2021 and then took a giant leap forward in 2022, hitting his way to Double-A shortly after his…

1 TYLER SODERSTROM C/1B Hit: 60 Power: 60 Speed: 40 Fielding: 40 Arm: 55 BA Grade: 60 Risk: High Born: November 24, 2001. B-T: L-R. HT: 6-2. WT: 200. Drafted: HS—Turlock, CA, 2020 (1st round). Signed by: Kevin Mello. TRACK RECORD: The Athletics’ decision to go above-slot in the 2020 draft to lure Soderstrom away from a UCLA commitment with a $3.3 million signing bonus continues to look like a major coup. Oakland was plenty familiar with Soderstrom, a Northern California product who is the son of Giants 1993 first-rounder Steve Soderstrom. Oakland believed Tyler’s bat rivaled some of the best prep hitters to come through its system over the last 30 years, including the likes of Eric Chavez and Ben Grieve. Those parallels seem apt. Soderstrom hit a system-best…