Fantasy baseball rankings: Top 25 prospects to know for 2024 MLB season

We’re almost there, everybody: After a long, cold, frustratingly slow offseason, MLB’s regular season begins on Wednesday, March 20, with the Dodgers and Padres squaring off in Seoul (the 28 other teams will get things started on Thursday, March 28). With precious little time to go until Opening Day, now is the time to start cranking up your fantasy baseball drafts — and we’re here to be your one-stop shop for all things draft prep. We’ve already unveiled our top 300 overall for redraft leagues, but now let’s drill down a little deeper and take a look at the 25 prospects you need to know about entering the year.

A couple caveats before we get started. 1: This ranking is made with redraft leagues in mind, meaning we’re only considering prospects who stand a good chance of helping your fantasy team in 2024. 2: Foreign free agents, like Yoshinobu Yamamoto or Shota Imanaga, won’t be included here; we’ve talked about them plenty elsewhere, and you can also see where we rank them in our top 300. This is intended to be a breakdown of names to know from the Minors entering 2024, from guys who broke in last season to those who everyone will be talking about in just a few months time.

Pitcher Prospects for Fantasy Baseball

Shane Baz, Tampa Bay Rays

Remember him? Baz comes with plenty of risk: He made just 10 starts combined in 2022 before missing the entire 2023 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, and the Rays have said they’ll bring him along slowly this spring — Opening Day is very much in doubt. But that risk is baked into his draft price, and here’s your reminder that the righty was an elite pitching prospect before he got hurt. Baz posted a ridiculous 33.6% K-BB rate in the Minors back in 2021, and both his slider and curveball had had a whiff rate above 40% in his Major League debut. If you’ve already established a solid foundation to your rotation, go ahead and take the plunge.

Kyle Harrison, San Francisco Giants

I get that Harrison’s iffy command is a concern — his career walk rate in the Minors was a bloated 12.3% — but the stuff is big, the home park is excellent, his MLB debut last fall went promisingly enough (4.15 ERA over seven starts and 34.2 innings) and, just as importantly, he’s locked into a rotation spot given the injuries to Alex Cobb, Robbie Ray and Tristan Beck. He’s a consensus top-50 prospect for a reason, and he’s put up gaudy K totals everywhere he’s been.

Cade Horton, Chicago Cubs

The back end of Chicago’s rotation is wide open right now, and why can’t Horton fill that void eventually? He’s done nothing but dominate since being taken seventh overall in the 2022 draft and put up a 2.65 ERA and 1.00 WHIP with 117 strikeouts over 88.1 innings across three levels last year. If Javier Assad or Jordan Wicks stumble, look out — Chicago didn’t go after a free-agent target like Jordan Montgomery for a reason.

Jackson Jobe, Detroit Tigers

Back issues continued to plague Jobe in 2023, and he threw just 64 innings during the regular season due to lumbar spine inflammation. But once back on the mound in late summer he looked every bit the top-of-the-rotation talent that went third overall in the draft back in 2021, with a big fastball complimenting a truly wipeout slider. He’ll need to build up his strength and stamina in the Minors first, but he could be a difference-maker in the second half for a Tigers team that could be better than you think.

Mason Miller, Oakland Athletics

Miller has been garnering some buzz in drafts as a potential closer in Oakland, but I’m skeptical — for starters, manager Mark Kotsay has already come out and said he sees his top pitching prospect as a multi-inning weapon right now, and it’s anyone’s guess when (or if) he gets ninth-inning duties. Miller has top-10 RP upside this year, but there are too many question marks right now.

Hitter Prospects for Fantasy Baseball

Wyatt Langford, Texas Rangers

Langford got taken fourth overall in last year’s draft, then slashed a ridiculous .360/.480/.677 with 17 doubles, 10 home runs, 12 steals, and more walks (36) than strikeouts (34) in 200 plate appearances in the Minors. He’s off to a strong start this spring, and seems ticketed for a spot somewhere in the Opening Day lineup. I like him better than his teammate Carter, given the latter’s high strikeout rate, platoon concerns and lack of significant power.

Jackson Holliday, Texas Rangers

I’m (relatively) cool on Holliday, however. While he has a broad base of skills that will make him solid across the board, I’m just not sure he’ll be excellent anywhere — he doesn’t project for a ton of power, and he projects for 15-20 steals over a full MLB season. Oh, and there are questions as to whether he starts the year as the O’s shortstop, making his current ADP a bit too rich for me.

Colt Keith and Parker Meadows, Detroit Tigers

Both of the Detroit rookies are intriguing targets at their respective ADPs this season. With the news of his extension, Keith is a lock for the Opening Day roster and will likely gain dual 2B/3B eligibility early in the season; he won’t run a ton, but he has 25-30 homer power and will play every day. Parker Meadows is among my favorite dart throws late in drafts, a genuine 20-20 (or more) candidate whose OBP skills and strong center field defense could keep him atop the Tigers lineup all year.