Abe's Babes

[Nationals]

https://www.baseballprospectus.com/pros ... prospects/

5.
Emil Morales
Pos: SS
Born: 2006-09-22
B: Right
T: Right
H: 6′ 3″
W: 191 lbs.
History: Signed January 15, 2024 out of the Dominican Republic for $1,897,500.
Previous Rank: #6 (org)
Major League ETA: 2028

The Report: For a change of pace, here’s an infielder who hits the ball hard in the air, with strong swing decisions underpinning his approach. Morales has more or less held serve from his 2024 ranking, which is a very good thing, considering the jump from the foreign complex to Arizona isn’t small. He got a fair bit of time in the Cal League as an 18-year-old as well, showing off a leveraged swing generating plus power to all fields. Of the bevvy of teenaged IFA prospects in this system, Morales is the most fully formed power bat, looking to pull the ball in the air, and making his hardest contact in an optimal vertical spray. The approach and swing—grip it and rip it with a high back elbow—means there will be swing-and-miss in the zone, but Morales did make the jump to full-season ball with his underlying—if fringy—hit tool traits intact. That he did this all as an 18-year-old with plenty of physical projection left is quite heartening. If you want to nitpick, he does have trouble slowing down his operation and staying back against offspeed, and shows more a ‘C’ swing than ‘B’ swing against Low-A same-side spin. All that said, 2025 was a mostly unqualified success for Morales.

Like his cohorts above, Morales is in the “maybe” bucket for a premium defensive spot. He may just fill out too much to stick at shortstop—it’s not a long list of players over 6-foot-3 at the six—but he’s good on the move, rangy and with good body control for his size. Morales has enough arm for the left side, but his throwing mechanics can be inconsistent and he can misread the game speed even in the low minors. Some of that should come out with more infield reps, but he might be better suited for the hot corner in time.

OFP: 60 / First-division infielder
Variance: High. Morales has mashed at a very young age, but he’s also done it in high offensive environments and with a swing and approach that will be tested by better offspeed in the Midwest League. You can also squint and see the highest upside in the Dodgers system here.

[Nationals]

https://www.baseballprospectus.com/pros ... prospects/

2.
Ethan Salas
Pos: C/DH
Born: 2006-06-01
B: Left
T: Right
H: 6′ 1″
W: 185 lbs.
History: Signed January 2023 out of Venezuela.
Previous Ranking(s): #2 (org), #40 (Top 101)
Major-league ETA: Still 2027, I guess

The Report: The short-form version: Salas played 10 games in the Texas League before being shut down with a back injury. He was supposed to play in the AFL, but was held back.

The longer-form version: Salas’s single full season in pro baseball was in 2024, when he posted a .599 OPS as an 18-year-old in the Midwest League. He has never seen an age-appropriate level, but he’s also never hit for any extended period or stayed healthy. Scouts have lauded his defense behind the plate, but he’s caught 109 games in three seasons, and the low-minors framing data is not nearly as bullish. It’s fair to say that holding the line too much year-over-year on Salas would be a legacy ranking—something we have been trying to move away from for a while now. But what legacy are we even protecting?

Prospect writers went a bit goo-goo eyed over a 17-year-old catching prospect who played in Double-A (it’s me, I’m one of the prospect writers), and to Salas’s credit, his underlying performance data in Lake Elsinore back then was pretty darn good for his age. You could see the outline of both above-average hit and power tools. But he’s never actually sat behind the plate for a year, and dominated at age-appropriate levels the way Alfredo Duno or Rainiel Rodriguez have. Salas is about the same age as Duno and Euardo Tait now, and it’s hard to believe he’s the better prospect. He should be back in 2026. He’ll likely return to the Texas League as a still-young-for-hit-level 20-year-old. But Salas is now a 20-year-old catching prospect with a back injury who hasn’t hit above Low-A.

OFP: 55 / Above-average catcher
Variance: Very High. Ignoring all the other background noise of the Ethan Salas prospect evaluation experience, he’s now missed an entire year with a stress fracture in his back.

[Nationals]

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/seattle-mar ... prospects/

7. Jurrangelo Cijntje, SP
Drafted: 1st Round, 2024 from Mississippi State (SEA)
Age 22.6 Height 5′ 11″ Weight 200 Bat / Thr S / S FV 50
Tool Grades (Present/Future)
Fastball Slider Changeup Command Sits/Tops
55/60 50/60 50/60 30/40 94-97 / 99
Cijntje is a switch-pitcher with a gorgeous delivery from both sides of the rubber. Naturally left-handed, the Curaçao native has been switch-pitching since he was a kid, and is now far better as a righty. He was also a solid prospect as a hitter, and was drafted by Milwaukee as a shortstop out of high school. It’s a stunning collection of abilities, and Cijntje is in the running for the best athlete, with the best body control, in all of the minor leagues.

Right-handed Cijntje is a Dude. He’s touched 99 mph and sits in the mid-to-high 90s with bat-missing carry. The slider and change both flash plus, and when he’s in a groove, he can pump strikes and move the ball around the plate. Catch him on the right day and you might put a no. 2 grade on him. But he’s inconsistent, perhaps not unexpectedly given how many reps he’s lost. His velo can dip mid-outing, and (and this is true from both sides of the rubber) he’ll lose his release point and start spraying the ball everywhere but the target. The movement on his slider and change can also vary wildly within outings. He can sometimes get frustrated to the point of exacerbating both problems. By and large, he’s outstuffing guys so far — some of the homers on his ledger were puny Everett specials, where the wall in right center is 315 feet from the plate — but there’s work ahead.

Were he a lefty only, Cijntje would be a prospect, if not an especially interesting one. He’s touched 95 from that side, but tends to work either side of 90, without bat-missing shape or sharp command. He hasn’t had nearly the same number of reps to polish his secondaries, so while there’s a slider that flashes average, it’s inconsistent. His control is also subpar presently. It’s up-down stuff now and projects a little better than that given the athleticism at play and lack of reps from that side, but there’d be a long road ahead.

The Mariners are still trying to figure out how to best develop and deploy Cijntje. They’ve had him start a game as a righty and then work out of the bullpen as a lefty a few days later. They’ve also had him start games (or innings) left-handed before switching it up for the remainder of the day (or inning). In my looks, those were scripted appearances, but he’s also switched arms to play matchups in the past.

The ideal path forward is a fascinating dilemma. How do you best develop the two arms without putting too many miles on Cijntje’s legs? Do you try to build two starters here? Do you maximize flexibility with him in a relief role? Could you feasibly use him as a starting pitcher once a week and let him eat innings with the other arm and add precious depth to the bullpen without needing a roster spot to do so? There are so many ways this can go, and this may prove to be a case where “optimal” and “most fun” are at odds. For better or (for non-Mariners fans) worse, the smart answer is probably to prioritize the dominant side, and if that slows Cijntje’s progress with the left hand to the point of it not being viable, so be it. Cijntje projects as a no. 3 starter with wiggle room on both sides, and may need more seasoning to reach it than most college pitchers in his draft orbit. It’s closer stuff if the control continues to lag and he winds up in relief.

[Nationals]

https://www.baseballprospectus.com/pros ... prospects/

3.
Bryce Rainer
Pos: SS
Born: 2005-07-03
B: Left
T: Right
H: 6′ 3″
W: 195 lbs.
History: Drafted 11th overall in the 2024 draft, Harvard-Westlake HS (Los Angeles, CA); signed for $5,797,500.
Previous Rank: #4 (org), #56 (Top 101)
Major-league ETA: 2028

The Report: Rainer was a two-way prospect as a prep, but a strong spring with the bat—and added power gains—made him an early first-round pick as a shortstop. Moving his sole focus to hitting seemed to be paying quick dividends in his pro career, as Rainer was tearing the cover off the ball in Lakeland before his season came to an abrupt end when he dislocated his shoulder. This shouldn’t be a long-term concern, as we’ve seen plenty of top prospects come back from shoulder injuries fit as a fiddle, but it’s also not not a short term concern as it’s a pretty violent arm injury. There’s a lot more going on with Rainer’s swing than the two hitting prospects listed ahead of him. He works out of a very wide base, with a large leg kick and a bit of a hand hitch. The ball also just jumps off his bat in a way it doesn’t for McGonigle or Clark. Rainer swings hard, but in a way where it doesn’t look like he’s swinging hard at all. He’s more presently physical than either, and also more projectable, as he has exactly the kind of lean 6-foot-3 frame you’d expect in a well-known, Southern Cal prep pitching prospect.

That means he looks a bit gangly at shortstop at present. He moves fine, but the actions can be a bit tentative and robotic. I wonder if he doesn’t end up in the outfield at some point. He’s agile for his size, and might just end up at third as he fills out, but he eats up ground on the basepaths with his long strides, and his arm would be just as much of a weapon on the grass. A lot of this is still open-ended, because Rainer has very little experience as a full-time position player (we had him as the second best prep pitching prospect before his performance at the plate at NHSI meant he was never taking the mound in the pros. Everything is pretty raw at present, Rainer is coming off a fairly serious injury, and even in his time on the field, showed a bit of a propensity to swing and miss, so the risk profile has a lot more red ink than the dynamic duo at the top. But his upside is right there with them.

OFP: 60 / Plus hitter, position TBD (but should have defensive value)
Variance: Very High. Rainer has 35 pro games under his belt and is coming off a shoulder injury.
Reckless Fantasy Comp: Why not Gunnar Henderson?

[Nationals]

https://www.baseballprospectus.com/pros ... prospects/

1.
Trey Yesavage
Pos: RHP
Born: 2003-07-28
B: Right
T: Right
H: 6′ 4″
W: 225 lbs.
History: Drafted 20th overall in the 2024 draft, East Carolina University; Signed for $4.175 million.
Previous Ranking(s): #2 (org), #88 (Top 101)
Major-league ETA: Debuted in 2025

The Report: Well, what do you do for an encore? Yesavage was the first pitcher—and I’m guessing he’ll be the only for a good long while—to start Game 1 of the World Series and make a prospect list that offseason. This is mostly an accounting trick, as we have to draw the line somewhere, and that ‘where’ does not include playoff innings. But even with his 27 playoff innings rolled in, he’d still be under the cutoff, even if Yesavage sure doesn’t feel like a prospect nowadays. His major-league time was also just a rather fabulous coda to a yearlong breakout. Honestly, he would have been up with Chase Burns and Hagen Smith as a 2024 draft prospect if not for the medical red flags and lack of a clear monster secondary like Smith and Burns’s sliders. Yesavage tossed almost 140 innings last season, and his splitter blossomed into one of the best offspeed pitches in all of baseball. Not minor-league baseball, all of baseball. His slider isn’t far behind as a swing-and-miss offering, and his mid-90s cut-ride fastball gives him a third plus-or-better pitch.

Yesavage’s arsenal is unique among major-league arms (although the incoming Tatsuya Imai has some similarities). He throws over-the-top from an over seven-foot release height, and he doesn’t have a single pitch that moves to his gloveside. His slider moves armside almost as much as his fastball. I have no idea if hitters will get used to this and be able to eliminate certain pitch locations out of the hand, leading to less chase and better contact. It’s a truly outlier release and it’s not a mere party trick, the stuff is very very good. But there isn’t much more to criticize than that, or much more to say about Yesavage. If you are reading this website, there’s a good chance you’ve seen him make multiple starts right on your own personal TV. The text is the text.

OFP: 70 / no. 2 starter
Variance: Low. Sure, Yesavage is a pitcher, he could get hurt. And yeah, eventually second time through the league they might chase a little less and he’ll have the odd blow up command/control outing. But that’s why he’s more of a present number two starter than a present ace.

[Nationals]

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/cleveland-g ... prospects/

1. Chase DeLauter, RFVideo
Drafted: 1st Round, 2022 from James Madison (CLE)
Age 24.3 Height 6′ 4″ Weight 235 Bat / Thr L / L FV 55
Tool Grades (Present/Future)
Hit Raw Power Game Power Run Fielding Throw
50/55 60/60 50/60 40/35 40/40 60
Taken in the first round of the 2022 draft, the oft-injured DeLauter has only played 140 professional games. He’s been awesome in that time, though, and after a strong showing in 34 Triple-A appearances, Cleveland called upon him to make his debut in the Wild Card round of last year’s playoffs. It was a huge vote of confidence in his bat and just the latest sign that injuries were the only thing preventing the advanced lefty thumper from debuting much earlier.

DeLauter projects as a middle-of-the-order hitter. He’s a big guy who generates plus power with a short, controlled swing. Massive humans like this sometimes have trouble getting going quickly, but the 24-year-old’s short and direct path keeps him on time, and he’s able to guide the barrel all over the zone. This isn’t one of those pretty left-handed swings you’ll tell the grandkids about: He has a big scissor kick and oftentimes a short, almost truncated follow through that is more bluntly effective than poetic. No matter. DeLauter makes a ton of contact, hits the ball hard, doesn’t chase much, and turns it loose when balls are out over the plate. Nobody’s a guarantee, and the short track record is a bit of a risk, but on paper and visually this is what a bat-first prospect ought to look like.

We wish he had a cleaner bill of health. DeLauter broke his left foot in college, the start of a prolonged injury odyssey that has defined his career. He missed a big chunk of the 2023 season after undergoing surgery on that same foot, then fractured it again in 2024. That, along with a sprained toe and a hamstring strain, limited him to 39 games that season. A sports hernia cost him the early part of the 2025 campaign and just when he was back and raking, he got hit in the hand and broke his hamate bone. It’s a big bummer, and as subscribers to the maxim that healthy guys tend to stay healthy and injured guys tend to keep getting injured, it’s a huge concern for us, one that pushed him down the Top 100.

All of that raises questions about the best path forward defensively. The Guardians ran DeLauter out in center field for his debut in the playoffs and we were surprised. He hadn’t played there all year and he’s not particularly good in right, much less center. They just about got away with it — he dropped a routine fly ball in his first action, though Detroit couldn’t capitalize, and he did have an assist later in the game — but going forward, we see his lack of mobility as an impediment to being anything more than a fringy corner outfielder. More to the point: When your offense isn’t very good and you have a big but brittle bat like this, it seems bonkers to stretch him physically in a demanding and relatively unfamiliar position. You do what you have to do in a do-or-die situation, we guess, but going forward, we hope Cleveland takes the bat in the hand here. The Guardians should do everything they can to keep DeLauter in the lineup, and if that means he’s a DH, so be it.

9. Robert Arias, CF
Signed: International Signing Period, 2024 from Dominican Republic (CLE)
Age 19.3 Height 6′ 2″ Weight 180 Bat / Thr L / L FV 45+
Tool Grades (Present/Future)
Hit Raw Power Game Power Run Fielding Throw
25/60 40/50 20/40 60/60 40/50 50
Arias signed for $1.9 million prior to the 2024 season, receiving the largest bonus in Cleveland’s international class that year. Per their custom, Arias has a promising hit tool, with strong bat-to-ball skills and a keen sense of the strike zone. Befitting his bonus, Arias is a projectable version of the prototype. He’s a plus athlete, lean and twitchy with burst and a frame that has plenty of room for additional mass. For an 18-year-old, his 90th-percentile exit velocity was a healthy 101.7 mph, and he has a chance to grow into average raw. If he can do so while maintaining his speed and defensive projection in center, we’ll be talking about a first-division regular.

Arias has a twitchy, energetic presence in the box. His movements are quick and almost jittery, and there’s a little noise to his actions in the box. But he’s able to get his bat all over the zone, and the way he can flatten his path to meet pitches at the top rail is a sign of a promising hit tool. You’d like to see him square it up more often — his 25% hard-hit rate was nothing special — but for now, his volume of contact, top-end exit velos, and discerning eye are encouraging.

Arias’s feel for the outfield is raw but developing. He doesn’t always get great jumps — the Arizona sky can be an impediment — or take the cleanest routes, but he has a ton of range when he does, and our gut here is that he just needs time and reps before he turns into a pretty good center fielder. You can dream on all of this coming together in a leadoff hitter sort of way, and he has a shot to blossom into a five-tool player at maturity. Were we projecting for a club, we’d put an everyday grade on him, with all of the obvious caveats his age and lack of proximity imply. For us, he slots in here as a promising player we’re eager to monitor in full-season ball.

[Nationals]

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/toronto-blu ... ospects-2/

1. Trey Yesavage, SP
Drafted: 1st Round, 2024 from East Carolina (TOR)
Age 22.5 Height 6′ 4″ Weight 225 Bat / Thr R / R FV 60
Tool Grades (Present/Future)
Fastball Slider Splitter Command Sits/Tops
60/60 55/60 80/80 40/50 93-96 / 97
It almost feels silly ranking Yesavage, who just threw 40 innings of high quality (and higher visibility) baseball last September and October. He’s rookie eligible, though, so we can quickly recap what we all just watched him do.

Toronto selected Yesavage with the 20th pick of the 2024 draft, and you can bet more than a couple of teams are kicking themselves for passing on East Carolina’s ace. He was practically unhittable across 50.2 innings split between both A-ball levels and then kept missing bats in subsequent promotions up the ladder. He then struck out 39 hitters in 27.2 postseason innings, and turned in dominant outings against the Yankees and Dodgers on the biggest stage. Just 22 years old, he’s arguably the best pitcher on the Blue Jays already.

There’s a special kind of joy watching a pitcher whose entire approach boils down to “here’s my best, I bet you can’t hit it,” particularly when they’re correct. While he has a slider, Yesavage primarily succeeds by tunneling his fastball and splitter. The fastball has huge outlier traits — 20-plus inches of vertical break on average from an extremely high and over-the-top release, not to mention above-average velocity — and the split is an 80 that just melts out of the zone. Hitters have to guess which one is coming, and even when they get it right, the movement on those pitches is often enough to avoid hard contact. He’s going to walk people and will give up a dinger on the occasional hanger, but he’s one of the hardest guys in baseball to make contact against, and that gives him a lot of margin for error.

Like any hurler, Yesavage is subject to all of the things that can happen to pitchers. He could get hurt, he could lose velocity. Or, if we want to stick to things more pertinent to Yesavage in particular, there’s some chance that the novelty of his attack loses some of its potency through repeated exposure. All are possible, as is the chance you get struck by lightning tomorrow; we live in an uncertain world. But Yesavage is a premier pitching prospect, and we’re treating him as such. He has a workhorse’s frame, a track record of logging innings, and monster stuff. He projects as a no. 2 and is among the handful of arms in the sport with no. 1 upside.

[Nationals]

CBS Sports Top 100:

12. Trey Yesavage, SP, Blue Jays
Age (on opening day): 22
Where he played in 2025: Low-A, High-A, Double-A, Triple-A, majors
Minor league stats: 5-1, 3.12 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 98 IP, 41 BB, 160 K
Major league stats: 1-0, 3.21 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 14 IP, 7 BB, 16 K
Yesavage is the most battle-tested of rookies, having played a starring role in the Blue Jays' AL championship run, and anyone who came along for that ride knows full well about his over-the-top delivery, his devastating splitter, his reverse-breaking slider, and the unhittable quality found in such an unfamiliar arsenal. He could give some of it back as the league becomes more familiar with him, particularly on those days when he struggles to throw strikes, but he's been a bat-missing monstrosity everywhere he's pitched so far.
Scott's 2026 Fantasy impact: pencil him in

22. Bryce Rainer, SS, Tigers
Age (on opening day): 20
Where he played in 2025: Low-A
Minor league stats: .288 BA (125 AB), 5 HR, 9 SB, .831 OPS, 20 BB, 33 K
Rainer has been everything the Tigers dreamed he would be when they took him 11th overall in 2024 ... except for playing in only 35 games. He'll need to show some ability to stay healthy if he's to sustain this high ranking, but his projectable frame, keen batting eye and high contact quality still point to a middle-of-the-order, Gunnar Henderson-like outcome.
Scott's 2026 Fantasy impact: late-season look

59. Chase DeLauter, OF, Guardians
Age (on opening day): 24
Where he played in 2025: Rookie, Triple-A, majors (postseason only)
Minor league stats: .264 BA (148 AB), 7 HR, .852 OPS, 28 BB, 28 K
Major league stats: 1 for 6, 1 BB, 1 K
Now three years into his professional career, we still don't have a clue what DeLauter could do when healthy, because he never is, most recently missing time with a sports hernia and broken hamate bone but also having contended with a thrice broken foot. The few healthy stretches have always been productive, his lost development time not affecting his ability to impact the ball or work the count, and the Guardians seem ready to get what they can out of him in the majors after a baptism by fire last postseason.
Scott's 2026 Fantasy impact: pencil him in

84. Emil Morales, SS, Dodgers
Age (on opening day): 19
Where he played in 2025: Rookie, Low-A
Minor league stats: .314 BA (357 AB), 14 HR, 11 SB, .911 OPS, 48 BB, 109 K
Few teenagers with thunderous exit velocities have actualized them the way Morales has, his towering flies to left having yielded a .351 batting average and .993 OPS in his final 62 games. But if he's already struggling with swing-and-miss at the lowest levels of the minors, then the downside risk may be greater than some would like to admit.
Scott's 2026 Fantasy impact: don't count on it

[Nationals]

MLB Top 100:

37 Bryce Rainer
58 Chase DeLauter
77 Ethan Salas
90 Jurrangelo Cijntje
100 Emil Morales

[Nationals]

Athletic Top 100

17 Bryce Rainer
25 Trey Yesavage
65 Emil Morales
70 Ethan Salas
81 Chase DeLauter

[Nationals]

ESPN Top 100:

14. Trey Yesavage
35. Bryce Rainer
43. Chase DeLauter
65. Emil Morales
95. Jurrangelo Cijntje

[Nationals]

Athletic Rangers Top 20 Prospects:

4. Winston Santos, RHP
Height: 6-0 | Weight: 160 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 24
Santos missed most of the 2025 season due to a stress reaction in his back, returning in late August and throwing about 20 innings in the AFL, where he topped out at 99.6 mph and worked on throwing his slider more. He’s been more of a fastball/changeup guy in the past, though the Rangers deliberately had him developing the slider when he was healthy last year, as that’s the pitch he’d need to profile as more than a back-end starter. It would flash average at times, with inconsistency in its break as I assume he’s developing some of his feel for the pitch. The changeup is still plus, and before 2024 he’d shown at least 55 control. I still think he’s a starter, as long as the back issue is resolved, he has a chance to be more than a No. 4/league-average type if the slider keeps coming along to be at least a consistently solid-average pitch.

[Nationals]

Athletic Dodgers Top 20 Prospects:

6. Emil Morales, SS (No. 65 on the top 100)
Height: 6-3 | Weight: 191 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 19
Born in the Canary Islands, Morales signed for $1.897 million in January 2024 and has done nothing but hit at three stops so far in the low minors, including a .339/.420/.548 line in 143 PA in Low A to finish the 2025 season. Morales is extremely strong already, generating power with his legs as well as his arms when I saw him in the spring, with a big leg kick and some massive hip rotation to really drive the ball. It’s already shown up in the batted-ball data, with a peak EV over 110 mph as an 18-year-old. He’s a big kid already, not at all a shortstop, with third base his best long-term option, although he could end up in the outfield if he really fills out.

There are still some mechanical things in the box for him to smooth out, like giving him a stronger base and getting him to stay balanced more on every swing, and the off-speed recognition is probably going to take some time — in his brief stay in Low A, he whiffed on 41 percent of his swings against non-fastballs. That he’s hit so well, so quickly, even coming from a non-traditional baseball country, is a tremendous sign. At the least, he has 30-homer upside, and the hit tool seems to be more advanced than it looked even a year ago.

[Nationals]

Athletic Padres Top 20 Prospects:

1. Ethan Salas, C (No. 70 on the top 100)
Height: 6-1 | Weight: 185 | Bats: L | Throws: R | Age: 20
I don’t know what to make of Salas right now, as he missed nearly all of the 2025 season with a stress fracture in his lower back, playing in only 10 games and doing nothing when he did take the field. He’s still young, turning 20 this June, but the only place he’s hit was in Low A back in 2023, and he didn’t hit well in High A in 2024, although you can argue he was very young for the level at 18. Even now he’d be a college sophomore, and if he hits passably in Double A this year he’ll be ahead of the game. When healthy, he’s a plus defender who as a hitter has a good feel for the strike zone, flashing raw power in batting practice that hasn’t shown up in games. I don’t like giving up on prospects who are this young and inexperienced unless there’s some clear evidence that they can’t hit or they won’t throw strikes or something like that, and we don’t have enough evidence either way on Salas. His 2026 season isn’t a make-or-break year by any means, but it is going to be significant for everyone’s projections on him going forward, because we haven’t had enough looks or data in the past 18 months.

[Nationals]

BP Top 101:

7 Trey Yesavage
36 Bryce Rainer
52 Jurrangelo Cjintje
56 Emil Morales
94 Chase DeLauter

[Nationals]

FG Cardinals top prospects:

5. Jurrangelo Cijntje, SPVideo
Drafted: 1st Round, 2024 from Mississippi State (SEA)
Age 22.7 Height 5′ 11″ Weight 200 Bat / Thr S / S FV 50
Tool Grades (Present/Future)
Fastball Slider Changeup Command Sits/Tops
55/60 50/60 50/60 30/40 94-97 / 99
Cijntje was traded to the Cardinals as part of the three-team Brendan Donovan deal. Here is Brendan Gawlowski’s report on the switch-pitcher from our January Mariners list: Cijntje is a switch-pitcher with a gorgeous delivery from both sides of the rubber. Naturally left-handed, the Curaçao native has been switch-pitching since he was a kid, and is now far better as a righty. He was also a solid prospect as a hitter, and was drafted by Milwaukee as a shortstop out of high school. It’s a stunning collection of abilities, and Cijntje is in the running for the best athlete, with the best body control, in all of the minor leagues.

Right-handed Cijntje is a Dude. He’s touched 99 mph and sits in the mid-to-high 90s with bat-missing carry. The slider and change both flash plus, and when he’s in a groove, he can pump strikes and move the ball around the plate. Catch him on the right day and you might put a no. 2 grade on him. But he’s inconsistent, perhaps not unexpectedly given how many reps he’s lost. His velo can dip mid-outing, and (and this is true from both sides of the rubber) he’ll lose his release point and start spraying the ball everywhere but the target. The movement on his slider and change can also vary wildly within outings, and he can sometimes get frustrated to the point of exacerbating both problems. By and large, he’s out-stuffing guys so far — some of the homers on his ledger were puny Everett specials, where the wall in right center is 315 feet from the plate — but there’s work ahead.

Were he a lefty only, Cijntje would be a prospect, if not an especially interesting one. He’s touched 95 from that side, but tends to work either side of 90, without bat-missing shape or sharp command. He hasn’t had nearly the same number of reps to polish his secondaries, so while there’s a slider that flashes average, it’s inconsistent. His control is also subpar presently. It’s up-down stuff now and projects a little better than that given the athleticism at play and lack of reps from that side, but there’d be a long road ahead.

The Mariners are still trying to figure out how to best develop and deploy Cijntje. They’ve had him start a game as a righty and then work out of the bullpen as a lefty a few days later. They’ve also had him start games (or innings) left-handed before switching it up for the remainder of the day (or inning). In my looks, those were scripted appearances, but he’s also switched arms to play matchups in the past.

The ideal path forward is a fascinating dilemma. How do you best develop the two arms without putting too many miles on Cijntje’s legs? Do you try to build two starters here? Do you maximize flexibility with him in a relief role? Could you feasibly use him as a starting pitcher once a week and let him eat innings with the other arm and add precious depth to the bullpen without needing a roster spot to do so? There are so many ways this can go, and this may prove to be a case where “optimal” and “most fun” are at odds. For better or (for non-Mariners fans) worse, the smart answer is probably to prioritize the dominant side, and if that slows Cijntje’s progress with the left hand to the point of it not being viable, so be it. Cijntje projects as a no. 3 starter with wiggle room on both sides, and may need more seasoning to reach it than most college pitchers in his draft orbit. It’s closer stuff if the control continues to lag and he winds up in relief.

[Nationals]

FG Tigers Top Prospects

3. Bryce Rainer, SS
Drafted: 1st Round, 2024 from Harvard-Westlake (CA) (DET)
Age 20.6 Height 6′ 3″ Weight 195 L/R FV 55

Hit Raw Power Game Power Run Fielding Throw
30/40 50/60 35/60 55/55 40/55 70
Rainer pitched and played all over the field with high school Team USA, and he was generally seen as a pitching prospect until things began to shift in the fall and winter of 2023, when he was suddenly hitting for big power against good varsity prep pitching. He solidified himself as an early first round hitter at 2024 NHSI, was drafted 11th overall, and got $5.8 million to sign. His Lakeland debut in 2025 was cut short by a dislocated shoulder suffered diving back to a base just 35 games into the season. Rainer needed surgery and missed the rest of the year, but he hit .288/.383/.448 (with a 52% hard-hit rate to boot) during the window when he was healthy.

How Rainer will end up trending as a hitter is still up in the air. Despite his slash line, his underlying data and spray charts had some warning signs in 2025. He only managed a 71% contact rate (he was sub-70% on the high school circuit), and his long levers make it tough for him to time fastballs, which he tends to pepper down the left field line. Once he gets his hands moving, however, his bat speed is pretty nutty, and while his swing is noisy, it’s possible he’ll be able to tone it down without neutering his power once he gets stronger and can shorten up. If he can do that and get his contact performance closer to average, he’s going to be a star.

Rainer’s arm strength is incredible. He was pumping mid-90s gas off the mound in high school, and he can sizzle the baseball across the diamond with the flick of his wrist. His hands and actions need polish, but that’s fine; this was a pretty serious two-way prospect not long ago. Lefty-hitting shortstops with this kind of size and power projection are rare, and this FV grade reflects a combination of Rainer’s upside as a 30-homer shortstop, as well as the risk that his hit tool is sketchy but yet to be exposed due to a lack of actual playing time.

[Nationals]

MLB Top 30s:

Juan Valera (Red Sox) #5:

Scouting grades: Fastball: 65 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 50 | Overall: 50

Though he signed for just $45,000 out of the Dominican Republic in 2023, Valera quickly has developed into one of the most coveted arms in Boston's system. The Red Sox have parted with five teenage right-handers in deals during the last two years but refused to give up Valera. He pitched in High-A last season at age 19, posting a 5.45 ERA but also striking out 28 percent of the batters he faced.

Valera throws harder than most players his age, operating at 96-98 mph and touching 100 with natural cutting action, and he improved his ability to create carry at the top of the zone in 2025. His tight slider also features impressive power, sitting at 87-89 mph and reaching 93 with two-plane depth at its best. His low-90s changeup is too firm and resembles a two-seam fastball more than a true cambio, but it does get swings and misses.

Using a simple side-step delivery with a three-quarters arm slot, Valera repeats his delivery and will alter his tempo to throw hitters off balance. He continues to improve his control and command as he gains experience, cutting his walk rate to 6 percent last year. He also stands out with his mound presence and work ethic, adding to his chances of pitching in the front half of a rotation. He came down with a sore elbow last May and sat out three months mostly as a precaution, but he's fully healthy for 2026.

Conrad Cason (Red Sox) #30:

Scouting grades: Fastball: 60 | Slider: 50 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 45 | Overall: 40

Scouting grades: Hit: 40 | Power: 50 | Run: 55 | Arm: 65 | Field: 55 | Overall: 40

The Red Sox were split on whether Cason had a brighter future as a right-hander or a shortstop when they drafted the Georgia prepster in 2024's eighth round and gave him the opportunity to do both after signing him for second-round money ($1.25 million). Most other teams preferred him on the mound, but he wanted the opportunity to play both ways. After a two-inning outing and a game at DH last May, he developed elbow soreness that eventually led to Tommy John surgery in August. He won't pitch in 2026 but possibly could get some at-bats.

As an amateur, Cason showcased a 93-95 mph fastball, topped out at 97, and displayed the aptitude to carry it up in zone or sink it down at the knees. He showed better feel for killing spin on a split-grip changeup in the low 80s than producing it on a tight slider with similar velocity. His athleticism helps him get down the mound well, though he'll rush his delivery at times and lose some control.

Cason also offers an intriguing combination of solid raw power and speed, though he comes with questions about his hitting ability. He struggled against breaking balls and changeups on the high school showcase circuit, and his right-handed stroke gets too long when he gets aggressive. He has fluid actions and an obviously strong arm at shortstop.

Peter Kussow (Mets) #23:

Scouting grades: Fastball: 55 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 45 | Overall: 40

Gavin Lux, Jarred Kelenic and JD Dix have been the most prominent high school bats to come out of Wisconsin in the last decade, and the state deserves credit for being the home of 2025 NL Rookie of the Year Drake Baldwin before he shipped off to Missouri State. But the Badger State has been considerably lighter on prep arms, at least until 2025. Kussow was Wisconsin’s top prospect heading into last year’s Draft and ended up being the only player from the state selected when the Mets took him in the fourth round. His $897,500 bonus was more akin to mid-third-round money and was the highest-ever paid to a Wisconsin high school pitcher.

New York has favored college arms higher up in the Draft in recent years, but it isn’t hard to see what they see in Kussow to change strategy. Standing 6-foot-5, the right-hander generates good extension and gets down the mound to create a low release point that make him difficult to read. He showed a low-90s fastball as a prepster and touched 97 with carry and armside run. An upper-80s, high-spin slider gives him a breaking-ball weapon that could take off under the Mets’ guidance, and there are the workings of a mid-80s changeup in there.

Kussow’s delivery was under some scrutiny as an amateur, and he’ll likely need to smooth out his mechanics to deliver strikes consistently on the pro side. As a cold-weather arm, he has a lot of potential that the Mets, who have made tremendous gains in pitching development in recent years, could tap into in the coming years.

Daniel Pierce (Rays) #5:

Scouting grades: Hit: 55 | Power: 45 | Run: 60 | Arm: 55 | Field: 55 | Overall: 50

Listen to coaches, scouts and staff describe Pierce long enough, and you’ll realize that some of the commonly held beliefs about coach’s kids just might be true. Pierce’s father, Paul -- no, not the former NBA star, although LeBron James once made that mistake on social media -- was his coach at Mill Creek HS in Hoschton, Ga. Pierce was his dad’s best player and exactly what you’d expect, given his background: a sponge for knowledge, a tireless worker and someone who gets the most out of his ability. The Rays liked what they saw in terms of his physical ability and makeup, prying him away from a Georgia commitment with a $4,313,100 bonus as the 14th overall pick in 2025.

Pierce is generally regarded as a well-rounded player, not your typical showcase star. He has a mature, all-fields, contact-oriented approach at the plate. The right-handed hitter controls the strike zone well and doesn’t necessarily sell out for power, although he should grow into more pop as he continues to grow and add strength. He put on some muscle in his first professional offseason, and the Rays saw encouragingly early leaps in his exit velocity readings heading into his debut season.

If there is one standout tool at Pierce’s disposal, it’s his plus speed. He runs well enough to project as a future stolen-base threat, and he uses his natural athleticism at shortstop. He’s a confident, aggressive defender there with good hands, range, actions and arm strength. He still needs to improve his body control, but that’s to be expected of someone his age. Pierce draws rave reviews for his competitiveness, makeup and work ethic. He’s tried to model his game after Bobby Witt Jr., and while he may not reach that level of superstardom, he could develop into an all-around impact player.

[Nationals]

MLB Top 30s:

Khal Stephens (Guardians) #7:

Scouting grades: Fastball: 60 | Slider: 55 | Splitter: 55 | Control: 60 | Overall: 50

After an up-and-down sophomore season at Purdue as the Boilermakers' top starter, Stephen transferred to Mississippi State, where he parlayed a strong summer on the Cape into a breakout junior campaign. The Guardians were eager to draft him in the third round in 2024, although the Blue Jays beat them to the punch by selecting him 59th overall and signing him for a below-slot $1,116,750 bonus. Less than 13 months later, Cleveland acquired him for Shane Bieber as the right-hander was wrapping up an impressive debut season with a 2.53 ERA, 110 strikeouts and just 20 walks in 103 frames across three levels.

The Guardians were thrilled to land Stephen because borderline Top 100 pitching prospects -- right shoulder impingement at the time of the trade notwithstanding -- aren't often available for veteran rentals. Stephen is a high-probability starter with a workhorse 6-foot-4 frame and a deep arsenal, albeit one without a knockout secondary offering. That may work, though, as his fastball, which he throws more than half the time, is so effective. Stephen gets nearly seven feet of extension on his delivery and exceptional ride on the pitch, which makes up for the average velocity (averages 93 mph, up to 96).

Stephen's best chance at another plus pitch is his low-80s slider, which produced the highest whiff rate (38 percent) of any of his offerings. His mid-80s splitter keeps hitters off the fastball and is quite a weapon against lefties, while he'll also show a little-used upper-70s curve and upper-80s cutter. Stephen is a good athlete for his size with a sound, repeatable delivery, which helps him command all of his pitches well. He should continue to move quickly through the Minors and projects as a strong No. 3 starter but could become even more if he can develop one more pitch into a plus offering.

Welby Francisca (Guardians) #13:

Scouting grades: Hit: 55 | Power: 40 | Run: 60 | Arm: 55 | Field: 50 | Overall: 45

Francisca was the centerpiece of the Guardians' 2023 international class and landed a $1,375,000 bonus out of the Dominican Republic. He very much fits the club's favored profile as a switch-hitting middle infielder, although he's grown well beyond his listed 5-foot-8 size to nearly 6-foot, which gives him a higher ceiling than other Guardians infield prospects. The 2025 season was a step back in production, though, as he slashed just .229/.320/.302 in his first full campaign at Single-A after posting a wRC+ of 144 and 141 in his first two pro seasons, largely in Rookie ball.

At his best, Francisca has flashy tools, led by a special knack for finding the barrel. With a more consistent approach, his pitch recognition and ability to adjust could give him a potentially plus hit tool. A natural right-hander, the team hopes to get more power from his righty swing, although some scouts like him better from the left side, so there could be discussion down the line of him focusing on just the left side. His once-precocious bat speed backed up in 2025 -- perhaps in part due to a shoulder injury -- but there's potential for power as he continues to grow.

Francisca is an athletic, aggressive runner who gets the most out of his impressive speed on the basepaths. He has the tools to play shortstop, but throwing issues plagued him last season. Francisca can show plus arm strength, but he wasn't able to access it fully because his feet were often out of position and his accuracy was lacking. Things are trending more toward him playing second base long-term, although he'll have to continue to remain versatile with the bevy of infield prospects in the lower rungs of the Guardians' system.

Robert Arias (Guardians) #22:

Scouting grades: Hit: 55 | Power: 40 | Run: 65 | Arm: 50 | Field: 55 | Overall: 40

The jewel of the Guardians' 2024 international crop, Arias, ranked as the No. 14 overall prospect in his class, signed for $1.9 million out of the Dominican Republic and is living up to his reputation as a potential leadoff hitter. He has thrived in two levels of Rookie ball, most recently leading the Arizona Complex League in stolen bases (29) and BB/K (1.32) while slashing .287/.389/.402.

Arias is currently hit-over-power with a great feel for contact in his quick, left-handed swing. He has a discerning eye and makes good swing decisions, making him hard to beat in the zone as he sprays the ball to all fields. Arias has put on 30 pounds since signing and has more room to fill out his 6-foot-1 frame, which will be needed to tap into more power since he doesn't consistently put the ball in the air.

His big selling point, though, is his elite speed. Arias can absolutely fly and has been very efficient on the basepaths, which suggests that he could be even more aggressive. His legs work well in center, too, although he's still learning the finer points of center-field defense, as one would expect of a teenager. The lefty thrower should have enough arm for center.

Bryce Rainer (Tigers) #3:

Scouting grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 60 | Run: 55 | Arm: 70 | Field: 55 | Overall: 55

After playing both ways in summer showcases and for Team USA, Rainer could have gone either direction as a senior at Harvard-Westlake in 2024. However, he had a desire to hit and showed enough with the bat to push up Draft boards and go 11th overall to the Tigers before signing for $5.8 million. He headed to Single-A Lakeland for his first full season and got off to a strong start with a .288/.383/.448 line, five homers and nine steals through 35 games. But on June 3, he suffered a dislocated right shoulder diving back to first base on a pickoff attempt and underwent season-ending surgery.

Before the injury, the 6-foot-3 left-handed slugger hit some absolute rockets in the Florida State League, leading to a 107.9 mph 90th-percentile exit velocity (in the same territory as Juan Soto, Corey Seager and Rafael Devers in the bigs) and a 52.8 percent hard-hit rate. A lot of that was on the ground or to the opposite field, keeping Rainer from more eye-popping traditional numbers, but the data spoke to raw power not typically possessed by teenagers. While he didn’t expand the zone much, he swung over more than his fair share of sliders -- even those in the zone -- with his kinetic hands, and unless that gets cleaned up, he’s trending toward power-over-hit territory.

Rainer can use his long levers to get moving at a good clip, and while he may not have wowed with the glove in Lakeland because of slower actions, his plus-plus arm strength -- retained from his days pumping mid-90s fastballs on the bump -- covers up plenty. Much will be tested for him coming off the major shoulder injury, but Rainer also used the downtime to add more strength, setting up what could be a big comeback.

[Nationals]

Emil Morales (Dodgers) #5:

Scouting grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 60 | Run: 50 | Arm: 55 | Field: 50 | Overall: 55

Born in Spain and trained in the Dominican Republic, Morales had one of the highest ceilings in the 2024 international class and signed for $1,897,500. He was named Rookie-level Dominican Summer League MVP and top prospect during his pro debut that summer and continued rake when he came to the United States last year. He topped the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League in hits (70), extra-base hits (25) and total bases (116) before batting .339/.420/.548 in the final six weeks at Single-A at age 18.

Morales is more physical and hits the ball much harder than most teenagers, and he could have well-above-average power once he's a finished product. He already displays aptitude for lifting and pulling the ball, and while he looks to do damage, he keeps his approach under control. He had a 17 percent swing-and-miss rate against fastballs compared to 41 percent against everything else during his brief time at Single-A, so he'll have to prove he can handle secondaries from more advanced pitchers.

Morales moves well for his size -- 6-foot-3 and at least 15 pounds stronger than his listed 191 -- and is an aggressive runner with average speed. He's not the rangiest shortstop but moves well and puts himself in position to make plays. His instincts, hands and arm help his chances of sticking at short, though he'll wind up at third base if he loses any quickness as he continues to mature physically.

Jhostynxon Garcia (Pirates) #5:

Scouting grades: Hit: 45 | Power: 55 | Run: 50 | Arm: 60 | Field: 50 | Overall: 50

Signed initially by the Red Sox in July 2019 for $350,000, Garcia’s progress was slow, first halted by the pandemic and then by poor performances in his first two seasons in the United States (2022 and 2023). Ahead of the 2024 season, Garcia focused on adding strength and bat speed, and the results came as he reached Double-A and then earned a spot on Boston’s 40-man roster after smashing 23 homers with 17 steals. He lofted 21 more home runs hit in 2025 over the top two levels of the Minors and made his big league debut in August. The Pirates, looking for bats with pop that were at least close to big league-ready bats, acquired him in December in the Johan Oviedo deal.

Hovering around 165 pounds when he entered pro ball, “The Password” is now a solid 224 and brings impressive strength and right-handed raw power to the Pirates. He started finding more loft in 2024 and that continued in 2025 to go along with high exit velocities. His bat comes through fast with really quick hands through the zone. He’ll need to keep toning down his aggressive approach and making better swing decisions, and his strikeout rate did elevate when he got to Triple-A last year.

Even with the added bulk, Garcia is a solid athlete and an average runner. He’s played a lot of center field and is fine there, but he’s probably better suited for a corner long term. Both his strong arm and power potential could profile well there. He showed up to Pirate City as soon as he was allowed in February, making a very strong first impression.

Jurrangelo Cjintje (Cardinals) #5:

Scouting grades: Fastball: 60 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 45 | Overall: 55

Cijntje grew up wanting to be like his father, Mechangelo, who was a right-handed pitcher in the Netherlands. So even though he was a natural lefty, he used his dad’s glove and learned how to pitch right-handed. That’s how the switch-pitching legend was born, and he took it to the international stage, throwing with both arms in the 2016 Little League World Series and continuing it through two years at Mississippi State. The Mariners took him No. 15 overall in the 2024 Draft, and he pitched his way to Double-A during his first full season of pro ball, striking out a pair of batters in a scoreless Futures Game inning as well. Seattle traded Cijntje to the Cardinals in the offseason as part of the three-team deal involving Brendan Donovan.

Despite his natural left-handedness, Cijntje is clearly a much better pitcher right-handed, and the Mariners announced ahead of Spring Training that he would be focusing on that side in 2026. With a three-pitch mix as a righty, he has the chance to start. His fastball has very good carry up in the zone, and he can run it consistently up into the upper 90s. He misses plenty of bats with a mid-to-upper-80s slider that can flash plus, and he is able to mix in an effective firm changeup with fade. He will still throw some bullpens left-handed to work on his low-to-mid-90s fastball and low-80s slider combination.

A tremendous athlete on the mound, Cijntje is a better strike-thrower from the right side as well. The Mariners experimented with the left-handed pitching both in starts and in separate relief stints, without a ton of success. Never say never on him returning to throwing lefty occasionally, but now in his second organization, Cijntje’s ceiling remains highest as a righty starter.

Winston Santos (Rangers) #5:

Scouting grades: Fastball: 60 | Slider: 50 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 55 | Overall: 45

A bargain $10,000 signing from the Dominican Republic in 2019, Santos made some mechanical adjustments after getting rocked in High-A in 2023. He took off the following year, leading the system in wins (11) and strikeouts (138 in 110 1/3), appearing in the Futures Game, reaching Double-A and grabbing a spot on the Rangers' 40-man roster. He made just two starts in Double-A in 2025 before a stress reaction in his back sidelined him for four months, though he returned for the end of the season and the Arizona Fall League.

Santos maintained a quality fastball during his rough 2025, sitting at 95-97 and touching 100 with impressive carry and armside run, though his secondary pitches regressed a bit. His tight mid-80s slider was merely an average offering rather than the plus weapon it was the season before. His slightly harder changeup tumbled at times but lacked consistency.

Santos isn't very physical and has never pitched more than 110 1/3 innings in a season, so he still needs to prove he can hold up as a starter. His athleticism helps his cause, as does his ability to provide reliable strikes from a low release height. If he can refine his fastball command and hone his slider and changeup, he could be a mid-rotation starter.

Jostin Florentino (Cubs) #18:

Scouting grades: Fastball: 50 | Slider: 50 | Cutter: 40 | Changeup: 45 | Control: 50 | Overall: 40

After signing for $10,000 out of the Dominican Republic at the advanced age of 18 in 2023, Florentino drew little attention while spending his first two pro seasons in the Rookie-level Dominican Summer League. He made a spectacular U.S. debut in 2025, earning Cubs Minor League Pitcher of the Year accolades. He posted a 2.43 ERA, .201 opponent average and a 30 percent strikeout rate despite a lack of physicality and velocity.

Florentino has a slender 6-foot frame and a fastball that sits around 90 mph with a peak of 92 without notable carry or run. But lower-level hitters haven't done damage against his heater because his low arm slot and ability to get down the mound produce an elite low release height and quality extension. His slider parks in the mid-70s but missed a lot of bats last summer with high spin rates and plenty of sweep.

Florentino relies mainly on his fastball and slider, occasionally turning the latter into a mid-80s cutter and also fiddling with a mid-80s changeup with fade, though neither of those offerings fool hitters at this point. He has a simple, effortless delivery that has allowed him to provide consistent strikes throughout his career. He could be very intriguing if he can find some more power for his main two weapons, and the fact that his heater gained 5 mph from 2024 to 2025 is an encouraging sign.