Ranking MLB top 50 prospects after 2 months: Roman Anthony remains No. 1

New York Times

6 days ago

With so many graduations, significant injuries and other changes among the top prospects in baseball since I ranked 100 of them back in January, I'm offering an earlier-than-usual update to those rankings with the top 50 prospects currently in the minors.
To be eligible for this list, a player must be currently playing in the minor leagues (including the injured list) and retain his eligibility for Rookie of the Year; thus Jordan Lawlar, Dalton Rushing, and Marcelo Mayer, among others, are ineligible because they're in the majors.
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I don't use a model or any precise formula for these rankings, but because we are still in small sample-size territory, what you see here only reflects 2025 performance a little bit. New information, like someone adding a pitch or changing a swing, carries more weight than performance, as does significant injury that might affect a player's short- or long-term outlook.
I've talked to pro scouts who've been out seeing players, as well as some execs, and reviewed data and video, in addition to the handful of prospects I've seen between spring training and regular-season games. When in doubt, I have deferred to the pre-2025 evaluation and outlook, because we're only about a third of the way through the season.
In going through the exercise, though, I was surprised at how few 'votes' I got for players who hadn't been on the top 100 this winter. I'm sure there will be further breakouts as the year goes along, especially among younger players who might be in the complex leagues (there are none on this list except guys on rehab) or who are otherwise just ramping up, but right now, all 50 of these prospects were at least pretty good prospects coming into the year.
The next update will come after the draft, in late July, and will include the just-selected players.
(Note: Player tools are rated on the traditional 20-80 scouting scale. Ages are as of July 1, 2025. The shadow of the strike zone refers to pitches just off the edges of the strike zone.)
(Photo illustration: Demetrius Robinson / The Athletic; Photos (left to right): Sebastian Walcott, Roman Anthony, Samuel Basallo / Emilee Chinn and Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)