on January 15, 2022 Major League Baseball's international signing period opens on Saturday, Jan. 15 for the 2021-22 class. -- $840,000Carlos Mateo, RHP, D.R. Their ability as a group to rapidly move their way through the Minor Leagues was unprecedented. He was hurt in 2022. He is stiff and bulky and not a lock to stay at third for a myriad of reasons. That continued in 2022 when Allen reached Triple-A and put himself in position to claim a rotation spot this season should the need arise. Vaquero is expected to sign with the Nationals and would be a considered a potential top five pick if he were eligible for the amateur draft. Meanwhile, his changeup hasnt yet made the necessary strides to consistently play against advanced righty hitters, and his overall command has plateaued. Unfortunately, he did neither. This cemented confidence in his feel to hit and also generated pre-draft conversations about whether there was a path for Jung to get to more power in games by pulling the ball more often, and whether that would hurt his ability to make contact. In fact, his fastball locations are still pretty scattered and his delivery remains quite violent. He left Arizona with top-five pick buzz and ultimately went first overall to Baltimore. Top prospect Painter goes two innings, touches 99 mph. Perhaps as an adjustment to deal with this issue, Priester now mixes in plenty of fastballs for which he pronates on release, giving the pitch screwball-like spin. When Lee does take a comfortable hack, he shows you plus raw power, but his style of hitting is very balanced, and he doesnt sell out for huge pop all the time. Yorkes rhythm and timing at the plate were fantastic there, though, and were inclined to dismiss his 2022 as being the result of his injuries rather than a real regression in skill or exposure of a flaw in his offense. Caminero is much bigger than his team-listed height and weight, and is very likely a third base-only fit, though the Rays continue to give him some middle infield reps. Prior to the injury, he had allowed just 48 baserunners in 56 innings and struck out 80 men. Painter has a prototypical pitchers frame and then some, standing in at a broad-shouldered 6-foot-7 (which Painter has sculpted since his days as a high school prospect), a stature youd more often associate with NBA wing players than pro pitchers. His rare raw thump has already begun to manifest in games, as Cartaya clubbed 22 homers in 2022, a season after he dealt with multiple injuries that severely limited his playing time. He has three potential plus pitches and front-end upside. Before prospects debut, there are some wildly inaccurate hit tool grades on the international talent. Its important to acknowledge the risk of his profile at this stage, but Mayer still projects as an extra-base machine at shortstop and an impact big leaguer. Well likely learn more about that as he gains experience against upper-level pitchers, and this specific issue is the most concerning thing about Ramos profile, as it might require a significant adjustment on his part to avoid having a hole in his swing out there. This approach will probably cause Pages to produce batting averages that are actually beneath his true talent feel to hit, but its also a big part of why hes such a dangerous hitter, one likely to have peak seasons with 30-plus home runs. He hit a whopping .324/.373/.600 at Low-A Carolina during the first half of the year, then slashed a more pedestrian .252/.317/.488 (as an 18-year-old!) Ortiz is a plus defender anywhere on the infield dirt. He returned three months later and labored through a rocky September with Norfolk, during which he struggled with walks. He tends to throw his two breaking balls (his curveballs shape pairs especially nicely with his fastball) in the zone, often early in counts, and then use the fastball as a finishing pitch. So far in pro ball, Wood has been incredible. March 1, 2023. His in-zone contact numbers improved throughout 2022, even after promotion. This new signing. Berry is similar to Dodgers prospect Michael Busch when he was coming out, and is one of the favorites to be the first to reach the big leagues from his draft class, producing like a 2-WAR hitter even as a DH. Its hard to know how much of that was caused by the back issue, which may have been compromising his movement. He followed up his splashy 2021 with a 2022 tidal wave, reaching Double-A Chattanooga as a 20-year-old while tabulating over 70 extra-base hits and about 40 stolen bases. Now hes a strapping 6-foot-4 and has grown into considerable power, all while maintaining some amount of future physical projection (i.e. He is able . That said, bonuses of $10,000 or less do not count against the bonus pool, and inevitably some of those players become big leaguers. Casas has plus-plus power and enough bat-to-ball skill to weaponize it. Traded from Cleveland along with Phil Maton for Myles Straw, Diaz slugged his way from Corpus Christi to Sugar Land in 2022, and is now the best hitting catcher on Houstons 40-man roster. Olsons plus secondary stuff helps make him a potential starter even though he doesnt throw strikes with his fastball. . He is much more adept at doing this from the left side; his righty swing is relatively grooved. Painter overpowered low-level hitters with sheer velocity and breaking ball quality during the majority of his first full pro season. Hes short, he gets way down the mound (which helps create shallow angle on the pitch), and even though he has a three-quarters arm slot, his hand position is more north/south on release, which helps him create backspin and ride on the fastball. His changeup isnt consistent enough for it to play a major role in his arsenal quite yet, but he trusts his slider enough to use it in place of the changeup, even against righties. Carter has put up video game numbers in the mid-minors but his visual scouting report doesnt really jive with his surface-level output. Even after a wildly successful 2021, Mead still cut down on what was already a very modest in-the-box stride and now derives all of his power from the rotation of his hips and the strength of his hands, which have a setup akin to vintage Evan Longoria. They recap top prospects who performed well at MLB's Desert Invitational in Arizona, including Tennessee right-hander Chase Dollander and Grand Canyon shortstop Jacob Wilson, and other stars who got off to strong starts, such as LSU righty Paul Skenes. He did not hit well after the injury, but thats typical of hitters coming off a wrist fracture, and a second IL stint due to the wrist was an indication that it was bothering Davis throughout the year. Ive had the opportunity to stockpile an entire tier of players without fear of being sniped. The area in which its most important for him to show late growth is on defense. The righty received a 60-game suspension without pay in March after testing positive for Stanozolol, a performance-enhancing substance in violation of the Minor League . 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. The Padres pitching development track record isnt great and perhaps theyre not the team best suited to coax a great breaking ball out of Lesko, but as long as his stuff is the same coming off of TJ, hes already in position to project as a 50. The Phillies moved McGarry to the bullpen just before he was promoted to Triple-A at the end of 2022. One that doesnt involve scouting undeveloped players. His strikeout rate began to decline after that, and while his fastball was averaging just over 96 mph across his first four professional starts, it was just below 94 mph over his last four. During the course of working on the 2023 class, I became aware of about a half-dozen players set to sign in 2025 and 26 who already have verbal deals for north of $3 million. Veen rotates with rare ferocity and his broad-shouldered, 6-foot-4 frame leaves room for immense strength as he matures. Barger then went to the Arizona Fall League, where his left-handed bat speed stood out among lots of other good hitting prospects. After a slow start to 2022, Volpe hit .273/.355/.502 with Double-A Somerset from May through August and earned a late-season call up to Scranton. He is otherwise incredibly gifted, a 70 runner with at least 70 raw power that plays to all fields. He was seen a ton as a junior because he played at IMG, which was home to a lot of 2021 draft prospects and served as competition for others. Arroyo is a hard-swinging shortstop who is off to a much more powerful offensive start than was anticipated when he signed out of high school. However, this type of swing also makes it tough to scoop underneath low pitches. 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. Rayner Arias, OF, D.R. The visual evaluation of Hassells feel to hit was consistently strong until the last couple months of 2022. He hardly threw his changeup at all (just 6% usage), and his numbers against lefties were particularly affected by its omission. Power and arm strength have been Cartayas headline tools since his amateur days, and despite missing lots of time in the 2020-21 window due to the pandemic and injuries, he has still developed on defense and managed his strikeout tendencies, and played enough in 2022 to reinforce industry confidence in his plate discipline across a larger sample of plate appearances. Keep an eye on these 12 Cuban free agents. He continued to play well as a junior, showing better barrel feel from the left side than he did as a sophomore. The degree of confidence in his hit tool has him ranked on the Top 100 ahead of some other middle infielders who are closer to the big leagues or who are more likely to stay shortstop. The Yankees are the favorite to sign both consensus number 1 international prospect Roderick Arias and number 3 international prospect Diedo Benitez in 2022. At one point, his in-zone contact rate was in the ninth percentile among minor leaguers, even while his triple slash line was out of this world. His ball-blocking is still pretty rough, though. His swing is designed for power; it has a bit of a loop and a steep plane to it, enabling him to crush mistakes to left and center field. Even while being a relatively free-swinger, hes only struck out at a 15-17% clip since entering full-season ball and has a rare hit/power combination for a catcher, though he has been a little bit older for each level. Others have referred to it as the international day of joy. Henderson, still just the age of a college draft prospect, had one of the best offensive performances in minor league baseball in 2022 and made his big league debut late in the season. Often described on this website as Baseballs Zion Williamson, Domnguez entered the 2022 season as one of the most volatile prospects in the sport. Hassell was playing like his usual sweet-swinging self until he was traded to Washington as part of the Juan Soto blockbuster; after the deal, his performance took a nosedive. As you would probably expect from a hitter with such a steep swing (this is about as steep as one can get without it becoming a problem), Pages swings and misses a fair bit, but not enough that it makes his prospecthood feel flimsy. Hes an okay receiver and framer, catching on one knee with the bases empty, utilizing a traditional crouch with two strikes and with runners on base. But attempting to put together an accurate list containing the players with the least amount of info is difficult. Long, lanky and loaded with tools and projection, Alcantara is a loose, 6-foot-6 outfielder with massive potential. : Twins ($2,100,000) More 39. McGarry has three plus pitches but also the worst control on the Top 100. Like Harper, Collier got his GED a year before he was originally set to graduate, went to a prominent junior college to play against older guys during his draft spring, and then (going beyond Harper) used the later timing of the draft to also play on Cape Cod against an even better collection of talent between the end of the JUCO season and the draft. If things click, hell be a star. Major League and Minor League Baseball data provided by Major League Baseball. His gigantic frame and plus arm are a big part of where the Salvador Perez comps are coming from. He is similar to Henry Davis and Kyle Schwarber, in that he may have to move out from behind the plate due to poor receiving, ball-blocking, and his raw arm strength, though he is pretty accurate. Casas is capable of hitting huge tanks to all parts of the ballpark; his hard-hit rate in 2022 was a whopping 50%, which would have been top 15 among qualified big league hitters. Luis Almeyda, SS, D.R. Power on par with Salvy seems in play here, too. Now on the 40-man roster, Cartaya is poised to be a power-hitting All-Star catcher who gets eased into the big league waters in 2024 and 2025, toward the back end of Will Smiths arbitration years. The FV grade is more important than the ordinal ranking. Lesko is arguably the most polished and complete high school pitching prospect to come along in a decade. He is a fringe receiver and ball-blocker with a 45 arm. Out over the plate, he has a tendency to stay inside fastballs and lift them toward the opposite field gap. Yes, hes reached Triple-A, but this is a 21-year-old were talking about here. Hassell doesnt have premium ball-striking power and is probably a corner outfielder, so the contact piece of his profile needs to rebound in a big way for him to continue projecting as a regular. 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. If he can throw strikes in Allentown, hell likely crack the Phillies bullpen in 2023, and he has closer ceiling if he can throw strikes consistently. All major league baseball data including pitch type, velocity, batted ball location, McGarry still has below-average control and only throws his pitches for strikes at a 60% clip, but hes come a long way since his days at Virginia, when he was walking a batter per inning and was passed over in the 2020 draft. This is one of those cases. Simon Juan, OF, Dominican Republic Mets ($1,900,000) More 17. Below is a look at which players from MLB.com's Top 50 International Prospects list have agreed to terms with clubs, and for how much. As Volpe has added strength and mass, the trunk of his body has thickened substantially and impacted his defensive mobility a bit. But from June through mid-August, his two-strike fastball usage diminished to just 40%, with his curveball right behind it at 34%. His stuff is more comparable to the 50 FV starters on this list, but his command should allow him to work more efficiently and eat more innings than most of that group. Parada may not be able to catch, but we think his bat profiles anywhere. His desert lethargy was understandable, but its still the most recent thing the industry has seen. His swing is a spectacle, lots of fun when hes on time and frustrating when hes late, utilizing a narrow, open stance and a huge leg kick. Hes hit 57 home runs combined the last two years while running sub-30% groundball rates and average launch angles in the 22-25 degree range, both of which are extreme by big league standards. He worked in the 89-93 mph range as a high schooler, then exploded in college, hitting 100 mph as a freshman and sustaining upper-90s velocity when he finally moved to the rotation as a fourth-year junior in 2021. In contrast, his 2022 was a tough-luck grind, as Yorke hit just .232 at Greeneville and dealt with myriad injuries, including turf toe, back stiffness, and wrist soreness that reared its ugly, uh, wrist during the regular season and again when he went to Arizona to pick up reps in the Fall League. Watch film back into the 2022 regular season and Rocchios issues arent as severe, but its still a mixed bag on defense. He has a pronounced bat wrap. Espino barely throws his low-90s changeup, but he still has good feel for locating it in an enticing location away from lefty batters, and even that and his rarely-used curveball (combined, he threw those pitches 8% of the time in 2021) could be above average at maturity. Players with a 40+ FV grade or above tend to be prospects who I think would go in the first two rounds of a draft, while the teenage 40 FV prospects are the sort Id ballpark in the $700,000 to $1 million bonus range as draft prospects, basically the slot amounts just after the second round. Not all of this is coming from raw power, its more from the quality of the contact Merrill makes. His overall chase rates remain a little worse than average but theyre not terrifying. Perhaps of real concern was Nelsons velocity, which has fluctuated a few times during his career and was down for most of 2022. Its possible hell find a way to play a mold-breaking style of third base defense over time, but an elbow sprain (which happened amid a throwing program to try to improve his arm strength) ended his 2022 and required a PRP injection, which is often a precursor to Tommy John for pitchers. Trio of Sox prospects rising together has Cora amped. Jung had a rough 2022 that were chalking up to injury-related rust rather than severe skill regression. Youll note that prospects are ranked by number but also lie within tiers demarcated by their Future Value grades.