Hot on the heels of the Baseball America top 30 list, we get the fantasy-first Prospects1500 site’s list for the system. They’re the only shop that earnestly ranks to #50, and we often get a decent look into the down-stream prospects in our system in the eyes of an independent evaluator.
Prospects1500 is unabashedly a Fantasy site; they say it right in the subheading: “Your comprehensive dynasty League resource.” It caters to hard-core Fantasy baseball leagues who do dynasty drafting, meaning you draft prospects and keep them on your roster like a “real” team. I’ve run out of people even willing to do basic Fantasy Baseball, let alone the diehards who would do a keeper league with 18yr olds who may not show up for 7 years. That being said, it colors their rankings a bit. You’re going to see ceiling valued more than floor, you’re going to see positions of scarcity (i.e. Catchers) pushed up a bit as compared to things like corner OFs, and you’re going to see future save projections come into play with high-leverage relievers. We’ll cover them a bit below.
Here’s the top 50, along with their ranking for the same players last year at this time.
| Current Rank | Jan 2025 Rank | First Name | Last Name | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Travis | Sykora | RHP (Starter) |
| 2 | Not yet Drafted | Eli | Willits | SS |
| 3 | 5 | Jarlin | Susana | RHP (Starter) |
| 4 | Not yet Traded for | Harry | Ford | C |
| 5 | Not yet Traded for | Luis | Perales | RHP (Starter) |
| 6 | 17 | Luke | Dickerson | SS/CF |
| 7 | 4 | Seaver | King | SS |
| 8 | 7 | Alex | Clemmey | LHP (Starter) |
| 9 | Not yet Drafted | Coy | James | SS |
| 10 | Not yet Drafted | Landon | Harmon | RHP (Starter) |
| 11 | Not yet Drafted | Ethan | Petry | 1B/OF (Corner) |
| 12 | 6 | Yohandy | Morales | 3B |
| 13 | Not yet Traded for | Sean Paul | Linan | RHP (Starter) |
| 14 | 21 | Angel | Feliz | SS/3B |
| 15 | 37 | Jackson | Kent | LHP (Starter) |
| 16 | Not yet Traded for | Christian | Franklin | OF (CF) |
| 17 | 12 | Caleb | Lomavita | C |
| 18 | Not yet IFA signed | German | Marconi | SS |
| 19 | Not yet Traded for | Eriq | Swan | RHP (Starter) |
| 20 | Not yet IFA signed | Brayan | Cortesia | SS |
| 21 | Not yet Drafted | Miguel | Sime Jr. | RHP (Starter) |
| 22 | Not yet Drafted | Sam | Peterson | OF (CF) |
| 23 | 13 | Victor | Hurtado | OF (Corner) |
| 24 | 20 | Andrew | Pinckney | OF (Corner) |
| 25 | 18 | Cristian | Vaquero | OF (CF) |
| 26 | Not yet Traded for | Ronny | Cruz | SS |
| 27 | Not yet Drafted | Yoel | Tejeda Jr. | RHP (Starter) |
| 28 | Not Yet rule-5 Drafted | Griff | McGarry | RHP (Starter) |
| 29 | 11 | Cayden | Wallace | 2B/3B |
| 30 | Not yet Traded for | Josh | Randall | RHP (Starter) |
| 31 | Not yet IFA signed | Nauris | De La Cruz | OF (Corner) |
| 32 | 45 | Jorgelys | Mota | SS |
| 33 | 44 | Phillips | Glasser | SS |
| 34 | Not yet IFA signed | Daniel | Hernandez | C |
| 35 | outside top 50 | Riley | Cornelio | RHP (Starter) |
| 36 | Not yet Traded for | Browm | Martinez | OF (CF) |
| 37 | 26 | Kevin | Bazzell | C |
| 38 | Not Yet MLFA signed | Orelvis | Martinez | 2B |
| 39 | Not yet Traded for | Jake | Eder | LHP (Starter) |
| 40 | Not yet Traded for | R.J. | Sales | RHP (Starter) |
| 41 | 16 | Andry | Lara | RHP (Starter) |
| 42 | 15 | Elijah | Green | OF (CF) |
| 43 | outside top 50 | Dashyll | Tejeda | OF (CF) |
| 44 | 42 | Sir Jamison | Jones | C |
| 45 | 39 | Andrew | Alvarez | LHP (Starter) |
| 46 | 22 | Kevin | Made | SS |
| 47 | 28 | Jose | Feliz | RHP (Starter) |
| 48 | 33 | Marquis | Grissom | RHP (Reliever) |
| 49 | Not Yet Drafted | Boston | Smith | C/OF |
| 50 | 36 | T.J. | White | OF (Corner) |
Like with the BA list, lots of churn here:
- Only 22 of this top 50 were even ranked last year.
- Of those 28 new guys:
- 8 are new draftees
- 4 are Jan 2025 IFA signings
- 10 are Trade Acquisitions
- 1 is an off-season MLFA signing (Orelvis Martinez)
- 1 is our Rule-5 acquisition in December (McGarry)
- 2 were in our system last year just outside their top 50
- Of their top 50 last year? 18 of the 50 are no longer eligible:
- 9 graduated/exhausted rookie eligibility
- 4 hit MLFA status (De La Rosa, Acosta, Choi, Naranjo)
- 2 were released (Baker, Quintana)
- 1 was traded (Bennett)
- 1 was a Rule5 pick we returned (Reifert … remember him?)
- 1 was DFA’d and claimed (Brzycky)
- Furthermore, there were 8 guys ranked in last year’s top 50 who didn’t make it this time:
- Tyler Stuart, #14 last year and unranked this year (probably the biggest “Whaaa?” in this ranking)
- Rafael Ramirez Jr.
- Orlando Ribalta
- Armando Cruz
- Seth Shuman
- Brennar Cox
- Andres Chapparo
- Brandon Pimental
Ok lets do some quick analysis of the list. Obviously I’m not going to talk about all 50, so i’ll scan down the list and hit some highlights
- Sykrora at #1. We just had a list that dropped him to #5, but these guys keep him at 1-1. It’s obviously a projection of him returning 100% to form and getting to the majors in 2027.
- The rest of the top5 as expected.
- Dickerson way too high at #6, based on his pro debut.
- I’d have put Clemmey above King and Dickerson based on what he accomplished at his age.
- Our three big prep bonus babies come in at #9, #10, and #21. BA had them #9, #11, and #19 so similar thinking.
- The first big surprise was having Linan all the way up at #13. I like Linan that high (I had him #11 on my post-2025 season list), but BA had him all the way down at #23. Big arm, young guy, but 3 DL trips in 2025 give some pause.
- Angel Feliz a bit lower than I’d like to see him at #14; I think he’s edge of the top 10.
- Jackson Kent, who got some criticism in the last post … is also #15 on this list, same ranking as BA.
- Another big surprise: Eriq Swan at #19. BA didn’t even have him in their top 30. I had him too high in my post-season first cut, and early 20s seems right.
- Sam Peterson, the darling of the BA list, down at #22. I think he should at least be in the mid teens.
- Hurtado at #23 when BA didn’t have him at all. Seems like a bonus amount ranking still. Same with Vaquero at #25.
- Wallace and Randall keep their spots in the top 30 here by the skin of their teeth. I think this is about right for both.
- They’ve got Mota too low: #32 when BA has him at #20.
- Glasser comes in at #33, likely depressed b/c he’s not projecting to be a huge fantasy star.
- Cornelio is probably too low at #35; the guy’s on the 40-man roster, which mean’s he’s almost guaranteed to produce in the majors in 2026.
- First mention of under-the-radar trade acquisition Browm Martinez (that name is going to drive me crazy). He’s at #36.
- MLFA signing Orelvis Martinez at #38: i’m not surprised we don’t see more MLFA edge prospects showing up. He turned 24 just after the season ended, having exhausted his 7 years of service in his prior club. He’s now completely in FA years ahead of where a college draftee would be thanks to the early signing of the IFA market.
- Andry Lara at #40. I mean, really? Is he a prospect at all anymore?
- Green stays on the list like fellow big $$ signees Vaquery and Hurtado.
- Andrew Alvarez way too low at #45 … he should be 20 spots higher.
- 2025 Draftee Boston Smith debuts on any prospect chart at #49 … thanks to his Catcher eligiblity.
- TJ White rounds up the list at #50 … for some reason. He hit .231 repeating High-A for the third year as a corner outfielder … I guess its b/c he’s still just 22.
Best players missing:
- Tyler Stuart, as discussed above
- Davian Garcia: solved low-A in his first pro season and held his own in high-A rotation for a few turns. I’ll take that over a reliever who got shelled in AAA. He’s 2 years younger than Swan and had better numbers than him .. but Swan is #19 and Garcia is in the 50s?
- Armando Cruz: I mean, if we’re ranking Hurtado, Vaquero and Green, might as well throw this guy in there as well.
Weird list. These guys lean outrageously into upside over all else. How anyone in 2026 can rank Elijah Green with a straight face have to be all-in on upside, while stubbornly ignoring an ever growing counter body of evidence.
With that said, this top 4 is probably how I’d rank our top 4. Maybe swapping Susana and Ford? Not sure yet. But I have Sykora #1 still.
Dickerson where he is is yet another all-potential/ignore performance choice. He’s still talented, but it’s hard to rank him 6th, and especially hard to rank him after yet another massive upside player in Alex Clemmey. It’s a bit of a fool’s errand comparing bats to arms, yet Clemmey is 2 weeks older than Dickerson, and is two whole levels above of him. If any list wildly overrated Clemmey, I’d have expected it on a list like this.
Todd, you’ve pointed out most of the other weird placements. Petersen, Alvarez, Jose and Angel Feliz are way too low. While Dickerson and many other DSL products and HS picks, too high.
Will
13 Jan 26 at 2:57 pm
A few reactions / observations:
One, I don’t think it’s fair to lump Hurtado (age 18) with Vaquero (age 21) and Green (age 22). It’s totally fine to rate teenagers on upside / potential even if they struggle on the field. That story doesn’t keep working 3 or 4 years down the line.
I also don’t think it’s fair to lump Vaquero and his low-A 114 wRC+ and 24.7% K% with Green (92 wRC+ and 34.5% K% at low-A, and worse at A+).
Green is done for me as a prospect. I’m relatively in on Vaquero and have him about 20th. And Hurtado is certainly a prospect for me, but pretty fringe. Around 40th.
Two, this is another ranking that I think has Perales a bit higher than they would have had Bennett. I was mildly the other way at the time of the trade, and it’s interesting to see the consensus come down on the other side (at least for now).
Three, I kind of get it with Dickerson. At least at the time I last saw them, his statcast peripherals were among the best in the minors. And you can really tell the story of his season with the split around his getting beaned on the wrist. I’m sure the injury is not the whole explanation, but I’m happy to have him solidly in the top 10 at this point.
Four, agree with Mota and Alvarez being too low. But I don’t begrudge Lara being ranked where he is. He had a terrible year, one of the worst in the system and possibly the worst of any ranked prospect, but he’s not that old yet and unless you have a specific rationale explaining why he can’t recover what he had in 2024, he’s still a fringe prospect for me.
Lastly – Marconi German has his first and last names switched on the table.
SMS
13 Jan 26 at 3:47 pm
@SMS: probably a fair point with these big-bonus IFAs not being all treated the same … I guess i’m frustrated that the team has missed on So.Many.Of.These.Big.Money.IFAs. I mean, several times in the last decade they went with an all or nothing approach with a guy and it hasn’t even come close to working out. Cruz in 2021, Vaquero in 2022, Hurtado & Feliz in 2024. So when these guys can’t even hit in the DSL after signing, one just has to say WTF is this team doing? Ok i get it; not everyone pans out .. but how do they pay someone 7 figures and then they hit .200 in the DSL?
Hurtado:
– Signs in Jan at age 16 for $2.8M, turns 17 in may.
– age 17 season: .218/.310/.331
– age 18 season, repeating DSL: .236/.359/.314.
He’s 6’3″ so he’s not a true CF. He shows no speed. He’s not showing any power. so what the hell did they invest in??
They’ve summarily cut one of their million dollar bonus kids before he even got off the island recently, they’ve gotten nothing for these other guys.
In the last 9 years of IFA signings they’ve produced exactly two guys who have made it to the majors at some point: Lara and Ferrer. They’ve given out something like $50 million signing bonuses and have gotten a former starter with an 8 ERA in AAA this year and a hard-throwing closer-quality lefty who they’ve since traded.
Marconi German: that’s not the first time i’ve screwed that up. I think its backwards on a XLS versus my big board.
Todd Boss
13 Jan 26 at 8:19 pm
On the IFAs, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that there was significant turnover in leadership in the International Scouting Operations side of things in the dying years of the Rizzo regime – from Dipuglia to Fausto Severino to Victor Rodriguez in 3 years.
Much like Kris Kline presiding over more than a decade of domestic scouting futility before finally getting canned, Dipuglia had absolutely no results to show since Luis Garcia in the 2016 draft class until his departure after the 2023 IFA class.
That 2023 draft class, with Edwin Solano and Andy Acevedo as the centerpieces, is truly the peak of futility. I’m still amazed the Nats released Edwin Solano almost exactly 2 years after handing him $1.3m. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Acevedo getting cut on his 3 year anniversary.
I’m curious who Toboni is bringing in on the international side of things. Presumably they already cut deals years ago with their 2026 draft class that will be honored, but it’ll be interesting to see the profiles of scouts they bring in, especially with emerging/previously untapped regions like Brazil, the Dutch and English Caribbean and East Asia.
Will
14 Jan 26 at 6:54 am
I can understand why they’re still ranking Green and nobody else is. Elijah Green remains one of the best athletes in baseball. He can do everything brilliantly–except hit the damn ball. He almost certainly won’t develop a hit tool, even with the presumably better player development system the Nats have built. But if he does learn to hit the ball, he would be an MLB star, something like James Wood but as a good center fielder. He’s still arguably worth it for dynasty drafting.
Ebenezer Scrooge
14 Jan 26 at 9:19 am
The “since Luis Garcia” line overly harsh because it includes the two IFA classes where the team was penalized with a $300k bonus cap. The fact that they were able to pull one good major leaguer out of 2017 and 2018 combined has to be at least a median result.
The woeful performance stretch really began in 2019 (Lara’s the best and we’re discussing if he’s still a fringe prospect) and continued in 2021 (a huge swing and miss on A Cruz and no low dollar surprises). There was no 2020 class bc of covid.
I’d say the return from 2022 – Vaquero and Mota – seems reasonable and at least is in the ballpark of expectations. And then 2023 was a disaster, with fringe prospect Jose Feliz the best of the lot.
So I think the fair call out is maybe 2019-2023. That’s 4 years, 100 players and more than $20M in bonuses to get Lara, Vaquero, Mota and Jose Feliz. That’s not great.
I guess if you’re all the way out on Hurtado, you can add 2024 as an underperforming class, but I think with A Feliz it looking promising it’s in line with 2022 – a middling class, maybe a bit worse than should be expected, but not much.
SMS
14 Jan 26 at 11:47 am
@SMS: Yes, I absolutely cherrypicked that IFA cutoff line 🙂 Just like a good sportswriter, I picked the exact time to maximize my point.
To be totally fair: If you go back one more year, the 2016 class was pretty fruitful: 4 guys who made it the MLB: Garcia, Pineda, Adon, and Yadiel Hernandez (who was 28 when signed, so not really in this same discussion). And, of course, 2015 included Juan Soto. How many useless classes do you get if you produce a Juan Soto?
I’ll throw something out there about the 2026 class we’re signing … but by all accounts, it’s looking like another stars and scrubs draft: nearly our entire bonus pool allotment looks to be going to the top 4 guys.
Todd Boss
15 Jan 26 at 10:04 am
from what I’ve read the signings are the result of 2-3 years of negotiations so we’ll be getting the what the old regime decided on.
FredMD
15 Jan 26 at 1:56 pm
@Fredmd: agreed; just new posted on the class and mentioned the same.
Todd Boss
15 Jan 26 at 2:25 pm