2 The Bigs

By Sal Corso: February 13th, 2025

I’m going to give you nine prospects that can become the #1 overall MLB.com prospect by this exact time next year. They’ll be divided into three tiers:

Tier 1: The Favorites: General market favorites that should compete for that #1 spot barring any accelerated major league debuts.

Tier 2: The Good Chances: These are top-50 range prospects who have the youth and potential to shoot up the ranks over the course of the year.

Tier 3: The Dark Horses: The fun ones. The big risers. The surprises. They may be overlooked (by others) for now, but not for long.

Player [Upside Score] (Likeliness)

Tier 1: The Favorites

1. Samuel Basallo [88] (MED)

If he doesn’t get the call to the bigs (either early enough or at all), he’s my favorite to be #1.

2. Walker Jenkins [82] (LOW)

I think the market is jumping the gun on him. But I’m not going to rule him out completely. A young talent who hit’s the ball very hard. But he’s been hit with the injury bug and only seen about 90 games above rookie-level (6 of those at AA). 2025 is the year for Jenkins to earn his high-rank.

3. Max Clark [80] (MED)

Increasing Pull and K-rates as he moved up to A+. Similar to Jenkins, this will be a “show me” year for Clark. At 20-years-old he’ll likely see a short stint back in High-A, followed by a majority of the season in AA.

Tier 2: The Good Chances

4. Leodalis De Vries [82] (LOW)

5. Josue De Paula [86] (MED)

Covered back-to-back in our Top International Prospects of 2025. Watch from the starting point below.

6. Cole Young [80] (MED)

Compared Cole to Jackson Merrill last winter, which shows just how impressive the former has been in his career. Had a slight drop in power at double-A in 2024, but I’m thinking that was just an adjustment year at a young-age, high-level. Seattle’s system is stacked with infield talent. More to come on this list.

Tier 3: The Dark Horses

7. Justin Crawford [78] (MED)

A 2TB favorite that we got to see in action live at the park. A true five-tool player who, if he can continue to drive up that power and mature a bit more at the plate, can be a major impact player at the big league level (sooner rather than later).

8. Jaison Chourio [85] (MED)

Have yelled his name from the rooftops. Will keep doing so. Your 2025 MiLB Player of the Year.

9. Michael Arroyo [80] (MED)

Another guy we’ve covered since early last year. Check out the numerous pieces here. This kid is going to be very good. And if he produces a repeat of 2024 this year, that #1 spot won’t be as far-fetched as it seems right now.