2 The Bigs

By Sal Corso: February 6th, 2025

It’s every prospectors favorite time of year. It’s RANKING SEASON. MLB Pipeline has announced it’s new Top-100 prospects going into 2025, and of course, I have my opinions. Let’s get right into it. This is PART 2 of a Two-Part Segment:

Player (Upside Score) [Likeliness]

Part 2: 50-1

41-50

Lazaro Montes [75] (LOW)

MLB PIPELINE: TOO HIGH –> SHOULD BE ≈ 98

Swap him with Arroyo, simple as that. At the same level, same team, Arroyo outperformed Montes at the same age. I’m not that much lower on Montes, but I’m higher on both Arroyo and Young from the Mariners organization.

Cole Young [75] (MED)

MLB PIPELINE: TOO LOW –> SHOULD BE ≈ 40

And again. Cole should be ahead of Montes here, and in my mind should slip right into Colson Montgomery’s section below. .271/.369 with a 15% K-rate in Double-A at 21 years old.

Alejandro Rosario [77] (HIGH)

MLB PIPELINE: TOO LOW –> SHOULD BE ≈ 30

Saw this tweet which summed Rosario’s 2024 up perfectly. And I agree, he’s the leader of tier 2 SP prospects. He should not be behind some of the pitchers MLB.com listed.

Alejandro Rosario’s ranks among all minor league pitchers w/ at least 80 IP last season:

K/9 – 5th
BB/9 – 9th
K/BB – 2nd
HR/9 – 8th
K% – 4th
BB% – 9th
K-BB% – 1st
WHIP – 10th

He may just be the next best pitching prospect outside of Sasaki, Jobe, Painter, Chandler and Schultz.

— Kirk Snyder (@dynastyinfo411) February 9, 2025

31-40

Ethan Salas [75] (LOW)

MLB PIPELINE: TOO HIGH –> SHOULD BE ≈ 90

I know he’s still in his 18th year of life. But I’d like to see some performance. In his second stint at High-A he hit .206/.288/.311 in 111 games. The age > performance bias from MLB.com is too obvious sometimes.

Nick Kurtz [82] (HIGH)

MLB PIPELINE: TOO LOW –> SHOULD BE ≈ 22

Put him in Jac’s place. Kurtz is the best hitting prospect in the recent draft. A mature, power hitting lefty, who, if he stays healthy will be a 2025 impact player for the A’s.

21-30

Jac Caglianone [73] (MED)

MLB PIPELINE: TOO HIGH –> SHOULD BE ≈ 38

Read the above. I’m taking Kurtz’ discipline and hit tool over Jac’s heavy power tool. I’m not selling Jac, just not buying the hit tool yet.

11-20

Jordan Lawlar [82] (MED)

MLB PIPELINE: TOO LOW –> SHOULD BE ≈ 9

We’ve liked Lawlar for awhile here at 2TB. But don’t let his long stay on the top prospects list and injury history deter you. He’s got a big 2025 ahead. Give me Lawlar over Williams.

Samuel Basallo [88] (MED)

MLB PIPELINE: TOO LOW –> SHOULD BE ≈1

Just covered why Basallo should be ahead of Roman Anthony in our Prospect Hype Report. Check out why in this clip from the video below.

Sebastian Walcott [81] (LOW)

MLB PIPELINE: TOO HIGH –> SHOULD BE ≈ 19

Not a big shift, but he needs to be behind De Vries. Here’s why:

De Vries skipped over DSL and went straight to A-Ball. He was a full year younger than anyone in the California League. Obviously he struggled at the start, but his turnaround was what excites. In his last 44 games he hit .267/.393/.534 with 11 HR. He isn’t pull heavy either, and should be an early debut in each league he touches. Give me De Vries > Walcott all day“

1-10

Carson Williams [75] (HIGH)

MLB PIPELINE: TOO HIGH –> SHOULD BE ≈ 25

Another swap! Give me Lawlar over Williams. Yes, the latter’s fielding and arm are outstanding, but MLB.com is not discounting his hit tool enough. He’s had a near 30% K-rate across AA-AAA the last two years.