Prospects of the year for every MLB team 2023

The honorees include 14 members of MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 Prospects list, including Holliday (No. 1), Rays third baseman/shortstop Junior Caminero (No. 6) and Nationals outfielder James Wood (No. 7). Brewers right-hander Carlos Rodriguez is the lone repeater from our 2022 winners. All 60 players were members of our organization Top 30 lists at some point during the season.

Blue Jays

• Alan Roden, OF (No. 7)
• The 2022 third-rounder was an on-base machine in his first full season, hitting .317 with a .430 on-base percentage while striking out only 12 percent of the time over 532 plate appearances with High-A Vancouver and Double-A New Hampshire. His 149 wRC+ led Blue Jays Minor League qualifiers, and his 24 steals ranked fifth.
• Chad Dallas, RHP (No. 13)
• Dallas led all Blue Jays Minor League hurlers in both strikeouts (144) and innings pitched (123 1/3) after impressing at High-A and Double-A. He also finished with a 3.65 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and .216 average against as one of only two full-season hurlers in the system to meet the qualifying standard.

Orioles

• Jackson Holliday, SS/2B (No. 1/MLB No. 1)
• There’s not much left to say about MLB Pipeline’s Hitting Prospect of the Year. The No. 1 pick in the 2022 Draft played his way from Single-A to Triple-A in his first full season, at age 19, and finished with a .323/.442/.499 line, 24 steals and a 159 wRC+.
• Alex Pham, RHP (No. 29)
• A 19th-round pick in 2021 who had pitched mostly as a reliever in college, Pham has taken an opportunity to start and run with it. He pitched his way from High-A to Double-A this year and led all Orioles pitchers with 100 innings or more in ERA (2.57), xFIP (3.68), WHIP (1.02) and K-BB% (19.9) while holding hitters to a .180 BAA and striking out 10.45 per nine.

Rays

• Junior Caminero, 3B/SS (No. 1/MLB No. 6)
• A Minor League Hitting Prospect of the Year finalist, Caminero clubbed 31 dingers in 117 games between High-A and Double-A and was the youngest of the 15 Minor Leaguers to hit 30+ homer this year, having accomplished the feat in his age-19 season. His .591 slugging percentage and .976 OPS each led qualified full-season teenagers, while his 156 wRC+ placed third.
• Yoniel Curet, RHP (No. 22)
• Curet tied with Mason Montgomery for the organization lead with 144 strikeouts and accomplished that number in just 104 innings between Single-A and High-A. His 33.3 percent K rate and .147 average-against both led Rays Minor Leaguers (min. 100 IP), while his 2.94 ERA and 1.19 WHIP each placed second.

Red Sox

• Wilyer Abreu, OF (No. 17)
• A Triple-A International League All-Star, Abreu slashed .274/.391/.539 with 22 homers in 86 games there before playing well with Boston down the stretch.
• Wikelman Gonzalez, RHP (No. 9)
• The Red Sox’s best pitching prospect, Gonzalez dramatically improved after moving from High-A to Double-A and posted a 3.96 ERA, .190 opponents’ batting average and 168 strikeouts in 111 1/3 innings between the two levels.

Yankees

• Ben Rice, C/1B (No. 23)
• A back injury cost Rice two months and prevented him from officially qualifying for Minor League leadership, but among players with 300 plate appearances, he ranked first in wRC+ (183) while batting .324/.434/.615 with 20 homers in 73 games and rising from Single-A to Double-A.
• Drew Thorpe, RHP (No. 5/MLB No. 99)
• MLB Pipeline’s Pitching Prospect of the Year, Thorpe led the Minors with 182 strikeouts in 139 1/3 innings in his pro debut while also ranking first in strikeout minus walk percentage (26.9) and second in wins (14), winning percentage (.875), WHIP (0.98) and strikeout percentage (34.0).

Guardians

• Johnathan Rodriguez, OF (No. 24)
• Rodriguez batted .286/.368/.529 in 135 games between Double-A and Triple-A and topped all Guardians farmhands in hitting, slugging, OPS (.897), homers (29), RBIs (88), extra-base hits (59) and total bases (263).
• Will Dion, LHP (No. 27)
• Dion continues to baffle hitters with deception and polish, ranking second in the Minors in ERA (2.39) and eighth in WHIP (1.08) while logging a .216 opponent average and a 129/35 K/BB ratio in 116 2/3 innings between High-A and Double-A.

Royals

• Samad Taylor, 2B/OF (graduated from Royals Top 30)
• Acquired from the Blue Jays last year for Whit Merrifield, Taylor made a good impression in his first full season as a Royal, leading full-season qualifiers in the system with his .301 average, .418 OBP and .884 OPS for Triple-A Omaha. His 43 steals in 89 games placed second, and it was that speed that played best during his Major League stints in 2023.
• Mason Barnett, RHP (No. 12)
• The 2022 third-rounder led Royals Minor League qualifiers with a 3.30 ERA, 137 strikeouts, a 28.8 percent K rate and a .205 average against spread out across 114 2/3 innings at High-A and Double-A. What’s more, he allowed only five homers over 23 starts.

Tigers

• Colt Keith, 3B/2B (No. 2/MLB No. 25)
• Keith gets the nod after leading the organization in hits (155), extra-base hits (68), total bases (280) and slugging percentage (.552). His 27 homers and .932 OPS ranked second among full-season Tigers while his 140 wRC+ placed third.
• Brant Hurter, LHP (No. 12)
• The 25-year-old left-hander spent the entire season with Double-A Erie and posted a 3.28 ERA and 1.19 WHIP with 133 strikeouts and 33 walks in 118 innings.

Reference