Eric Cross' Top 100 Dynasty Prospect Rankings for Fantasy Baseball (May 2024)

Eric Cross' updated top 100 dynasty prospect rankings for fantasy baseball (May updated). These are top MLB prospects to target in dynasty leagues for 2024.

It's hard to believe that we're already over a month into the season. At this point, all minor league levels are in full swing outside of the Dominican Summer League, and we're starting to see plenty of player movement up and down prospect rankings. This first in season upside is always an exciting one as new seasons bring new breakouts, new struggles, and new data to work with.

These rankings are geared toward standard 5x5 leagues (AVG) and consider many factors, including performance to date, scouting grades, future projection, and video and data analysis. Or, as I like to call it... PPP. Which stands for profile, performance, projection.

While these rankings are more slanted towards long-term fantasy value, proximity and short-term value do play a part in where a prospect lands in my rankings. If you want to see the full Top-500, then head on over to my Patreon!

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Top 100 Fantasy Baseball Dynasty Prospects

Prospect notes and analysis can be found following the rankings table below.

Prospect Eligibility: Less than 130 MLB AB or 50 IP (I'm ignoring service time)

Rankings Updated: May 9th, 2024

Rank	Player	Position	Team	Age	ETA	Prev
1	Wyatt Langford	OF	TEX	22.47	Debuted	1
2	Jackson Holliday	SS	BAL	20.41	Debuted	2
3	Jackson Chourio	OF	MIL	20.15	Debuted	3
4	Junior Caminero	3B	TBR	20.83	Debuted	4
5	James Wood	OF	WAS	21.63	2024	9
6	Jordan Lawlar	SS	ARI	21.80	Debuted	5
7	Coby Mayo	3B	BAL	22.40	2024	11
8	Paul Skenes	P	PIT	21.93	2024	21
9	Dylan Crews	OF	WAS	21.86	2024	6
10	Noelvi Marte	3B	CIN	22.55	Debuted	10
11	Colt Emerson	SS/2B	SEA	18.79	2025	42
12	Chase DeLauter	OF	CLE	22.57	2024	8
13	Jasson Dominguez	OF	NYY	21.24	Debuted	12
14	Spencer Jones	OF	NYY	22.97	2024	19
15	Matt Shaw	SS/2B	CHC	22.49	2024	17
16	Jackson Jobe	P	DET	21.76	2024	15
17	Walker Jenkins	OF	MIN	19.20	2026	14
18	Kyle Manzardo	1B	CLE	23.80	2024	28
19	Carson Williams	SS	TBR	20.86	2024	37
20	Samuel Basallo	C/1B	BAL	19.72	Brock	18
21	Joey Loperfido	OF/1B/2B	HOU	24.98	Debuted	47
22	Jared Jones	P	PIT	20.76	Debuted	86
23	Andy Pages	OF	LAD	23.40	Debuted	96
24	Cade Horton	P	CHC	22.70	2024	25
25	Emmanuel Rodriguez	OF	MIN	21.18	2025	36
26	Jordan Beck	OF	COL	23.04	Debuted	63
27	Lazaro Montes	OF	SEA	19.53	2025	30
28	Colt Keith	2B/3B	DET	22.72	Debuted	13
29	Jackson Merrill	OF	SDP	21.04	Debuted	20
30	Harry Ford	C	SEA	21.20	2025	35
31	Roman Anthony	OF	BOS	19.97	2025	22
32	Heston Kjerstad	OF	BAL	25.23	Debuted	55
33	Andrew Painter	P	PHI	21.07	2025	29
34	Graham Pauley	3B	SDP	23.61	Debuted	46
35	Tyler Black	1B/3B	MIL	23.77	Debuted	48
36	Max Clark	OF	DET	19.37	2026	33
37	Tyler Locklear	1B	SEA	23.44	2024	39
38	Brock WIlken	3B	MIL	21.88	2025	34
39	Christian Scott	P	NYM	24.89	2024	85
40	Jett Williams	SS	NYM	20.50	2025	23
41	Adael Amador	2B/SS	COL	21.06	2025	16
42	Pete Crow-Armstrong	OF	CHC	22.11	Debuted	26
43	Jonatan Clase	OF	SEA	21.95	Debuted	72
44	Marcelo Mayer	SS	BOS	21.39	2024	49
45	Owen Caissie	OF	CHC	21.82	2024	31
46	Abimelec Ortiz	1B	TEX	22.20	2025	41
47	Robby Snelling	P	SDP	20.37	2025	43
48	Brooks Lee	SS	MIN	23.22	2024	53
49	Ronny Mauricio	2B/SS	NYM	23.08	Debuted	54
50	Brady House	3B	WAS	20.92	2025	56
51	Luisangel Acuna	2B,SS	NYM	22.15	2024	45
52	Thomas Saggese	2B/3B	STL	22.06	2024	57
53	Ricky Tiedemann	P	TOR	21.71	2024	32
54	Kevin Alcantara	OF	CHC	21.81	2025	59
55	Joendry Vargas	SS	LAD	18.48	2026	60
56	Jacob Misiorowski	P	MIL	22.09	2024	62
57	Colson Montgomery	SS	CHW	22.18	2024	51
58	Ben Rice	C/1B	NYY	25.20	2024	78
59	Victor Scott II	OF	STL	23.22	Debuted	38
60	Gabriel Gonzalez	OF	MIN	20.09	2025	68
61	Drew Gilbert	OF	NYM	23.60	2024	40
62	Xavier Isaac	1B	TBR	20.38	2025	44
63	Hector Rodriguez	OF	CIN	20.15	2025	69
64	Blake Dunn	OF	CIN	25.66	2024	50
65	Connor Norby	2B	BAL	23.90	2024	74
66	Rhett Lowder	P	CIN	22.16	2025	94
67	Aidan Miller	3B,SS	PHI	19.90	2026	107
68	Ricardo Cabrera	SS	CIN	19.50	2025	83
69	Roderick Arias	SS	NYY	19.65	2026	76
70	Orelvis Martinez	2B	TOR	22.46	2024	136
71	Leo De Vries	SS	SDP	17.54	2027	77
72	Joey Ortiz	2B/SS	MIL	25.81	Debuted	75
73	Tink Hence	P	STL	21.74	2025	112
74	Zach Dezenzo	3B	HOU	23.98	2024	80
75	Ethan Salas	C	SDP	17.92	2026	67
76	Noah Schultz	P	CHW	20.75	2025	106
77	Josue De Paula	OF	LAD	18.94	2026	81
78	Noble Meyer	P	MIA	19.31	2026	70
79	Eduardo Quintero	OF	LAD	18.63	2026	84
80	Max Meyer	P	MIA	25.15	Debuted	130
81	Jace Jung	2B	DET	23.58	2024	95
82	Dustin Harris	OF	TEX	24.83	2024	210
83	Hurston Waldrep	P	ATL	22.18	2024	58
84	James Triantos	2B	CHC	21.26	2024	102
85	Dylan Beavers	OF	BAL	22.73	2024	98
86	Dalton Rushing	C/1B	LAD	23.20	2024	113
87	Owen Murphy	P	ATL	20.60	2025	229
88	Sebastian Walcott	SS	TEX	18.14	2026	66
89	Jefferson Rojas	SS	CHC	19.02	2026	128
90	Cam Collier	3B	CIN	19.45	2025	127
91	Drew Thorpe	P	CHW	23.59	2024	100
92	Ralphy Velazquez	C/1B	CLE	18.93	2026	176
93	Jairo Iriarte	P	CHW	22.38	2025	124
94	Felnin Celesten	SS	SEA	18.63	2026	103
95	Jacob Melton	OF	HOU	23.66	2024	104
96	Addison Barger	SS/3B/OF	TOR	24.48	Debuted	155
97	Jaison Chourio	OF	CLE	18.96	2025	173
98	Samuel Zavala	OF	CHW	19.80	2025	65
99	Dylan Lesko	P	SDP	20.67	2025	82
100	Termarr Johnson	2B/SS	PIT	19.89	2025	73

Top 10 Prospect Rankings By Position

Rank	Catcher	1st Base	2nd Base	3rd Base
1	Samuel Basallo	Kyle Manzardo	Colt Emerson	Junior Caminero
2	Harry Ford	Samuel Basallo	Matt Shaw	Coby Mayo
3	Ben Rice	Joey Loperfido	Joey Loperfido	Noelvi Marte
4	Ethan Salas	Tyler Black	Colt Keith	Colt Keith
5	Dalton Rushing	Tyler Locklear	Adael Amador	Graham Pauley
6	Ralphy Velazquez	Abimelec Ortiz	Ronny Mauricio	Tyler Black
7	Moises Ballesteros	Ben Rice	Luisangel Acuna	Brock Wilken
8	Austin Wells	Xavier Isaac	Thomas Saggese	Brady House
9	Alfredo Duno	Dalton Rushing	Connor Norby	Thomas Saggese
10	Kyle Teel	Ralphy Velazquez	Orelvis Martinez	Aidan Miller

Rank	Shortstop	Outfield	Pitcher
1	Jackson Holliday	Wyatt Langford	Paul Skenes
2	Jordan Lawlar	Jackson Chourio	Jackson Jobe
3	Colt Emerson	James Wood	Jared Jones
4	Matt Shaw	Dylan Crews	Cade Horton
5	Carson Williams	Chase DeLauter	Andrew Painter
6	Jett Williams	Jasson Dominguez	Christian Scott
7	Adael Amador	Spencer Jones	Robby Snelling
8	Marcelo Mayer	Walker Jenkins	Ricky Tiedemann
9	Brooks Lee	Joey Loperfido	Jacob Misiorowski
10	Ronny Mauricio	Andy Pages	Rhett Lowder

Fantasy Baseball Prospect Rankings Notes

Dylan Crews, Washington Nationals

For now, Dylan Crews holds a spot in my Top 10 overall, but that's not going to last much longer unless he turns his season around in the coming weeks. In 83 plate appearances this season, Crews is slashing .236/.317/.458 with a 34.9% strikeout rate. And since arriving in Double-A late last season, he's only hit .222 at the level in 39 games. It's a small sample size, and I'm not going to drop him too far yet as I'm a believer in the hit/power/approach blend he showed at LSU, but Crews' rising strikeout rate is a bit concerning.

Lazaro Montes, Seattle Mariners

After slashing .303/.440/.560 between the Complex Level and Lo-A in 2023, Lazaro Montes' encore this season has been equally as impressive. In 27 games for Lo-A Modesto, Montes is currently slashing .327/.432/.564 with six doubles, six home runs, and as many walks as strikeouts (19). Despite the high averages, Montes' contact rates are still on the lower side and continue to create some long-term concern. However, even if he can just get to around a 70% contact rate, Montes could be a middle of the order force when you factor in his massive power upside and rock-solid approach at the plate. His stock is trending up in a hurry.

"A magical [Lazaro] Montes moment once again!"

The @Mariners' No. 4 prospect launches a grand slam for the @ModestoNuts. pic.twitter.com/rJkTBKEECR

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 6, 2024

Harry Ford, Seattle Mariners vs Ethan Salas, San Diego Padres

There's plenty of discussion right now surrounding who the top catching prospect is. If you think Samuel Basallo will stick at the position (I don't), then he'd be my #1. Outside of him, the next two in the mix are Seattle's Harry Ford and San Diego's Ethan Salas. When I put a poll up for these two on Twitter last week, Salas won the poll with 60.7% of the vote. If you were ranking for real life and wanted to put Salas ahead of Ford, I wouldn't gripe about it. But for fantasy-focused prospect rankings, I sure as heck will.

We need to remember what a particular set of rankings are for and for fantasy, Ford is solidly ahead of Salas in my rankings. Let's start with the fact that there's a significant speed difference between the two with Ford grading as a plus runner and Salas more as an average to slightly below average runner long-term. Sure. Salas could provide a handful of steals, but Ford has been and should continue to be a player that provides more than 20 steals annually thanks to his plus speed and elite OBP abilities.

That's the other area that Ford stands out in over Salas. It's still too early to truly tell what type of OBP range Salas will settle in at, but it's probably not going to be the .400-.425 range that Ford is at. And for the bats, I think they're going to be closer than people thing. I'd be fine with someone projecting a slightly better bat for Salas, but at the moment, my mindset is that they're both going to be around 55-hit and 55-power long-term. Yes, I'm still a believer in more consistent power coming from Ford and he's shown glimpses of that level of power upside over the last couple of seasons.

Even if Ford is a slightly better bat, I don't believe it will be enough of an edge to offset the higher OBP and additional speed that Ford brings to the table.

Roman Anthony, Boston Red Sox

After seeing Roman Anthony several times between the end of 2023 and so far this season, my long-term outlook on him isn't all sunshine and rainbows as it was last summer. To put it simply, Anthony's swing decisions have been subpar, to say the least. He's been chasing plenty of breaking pitches below the zone and taking fastballs over the heart of the plate. Sure, he's walking at a solid clip, but the 31.9% strikeout rate is becoming rather concerning. I'm not going to drastically drop him down my rankings yet, but he did drop nine spots this month and will continue to slide if I don't see some improvements from him in the areas outlined above.

Roman Anthony smokes a triple down the right field line. #RedSox pic.twitter.com/jhvLDPgvOR

— Eric Cross (@EricCross04) May 7, 2024

With that said, there's still plenty of upside here with Anthony, so I wouldn't necessarily be rushing to sell him in dynasty leagues.

Adael Amador, Colorado Rockies

I've always thought that Adael Amador was underrated due to his lack of big power or speed. He's always been a fringe-average power/speed guy, but I thought he could still project to 15-20 homers thanks to Coors Field and his elite blend of contact and approach. Well, maybe not.

In 2024, Amador is still showing an elite approach with more walks (18) than strikeouts (16) and has 11 steals in 23 games, but he's doing absolutely nothing with the bat, currently hitting .124 with a .136 SLG, .012 ISO, and a whopping one extra-base hit (double). I'm not one to think an elite hitter magically stops being an elite hitter, so I'd be willing to buy low on Amador right now in dynasty leagues given how far his perceived value has dropped.

Owen Murphy, Atlanta Braves

Outside of Jared Jones, the most notable pitching riser in my May update was Atlanta's Owen Murphy. In six starts this season for Hi-A Rome, Murphy has recorded a 1.82 ERA, 0.78 WHIP, 9% walk rate, and a 36.6% strikeout rate. That's a lofty 27.6% K-BB rate, which is up 6.4% from his already impressive 21.2% mark in 2023. It's becoming a real three-horse race in the Atlanta system between Murphy, AJ Smith-Shawver, and Hurston Waldrep to see who will be the best arm moving forward. And at this point, the momentum is shifting heavily towards Murphy thanks to his three above-average to plus pitches and above-average command and control.

Sheer dominance from Owen Murphy 💪

The @Braves' No. 5 prospect takes a perfect game into the 7th and finishes with double-digit K's for the second straight start for @GoEmperors: pic.twitter.com/Gl1dQWR4rW

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 26, 2024

Ralphy Velazquez, Cleveland Guardians

If you follow me on Twitter, you'll already know that I've tweeted about Ralphy Velazquez a few times this season. So it should come as no surprise that he's risen considerably up my rankings and into my Top 100 overall. Velazquez has six home runs in 25 games so far for Lo-A Lynchburg along with a .276/.345/.486 slash line.

The bat is going to need to stand out as Velazquez is a 1B/DH long-term, but I certainly believe it will. Velazquez projects as an above-average hitter with plus or better raw power and he's shown a decent approach as well. The major question though is where does he fit in long-term with Bo Naylor, Josh Naylor, and Kyle Manzardo already in the picture in Cleveland.

Termarr Johnson, Pittsburgh Pirates

Rounding things out at spot #100 this month is Pittsburgh Pirates second base prospect, Termarr Johnson. And honestly, I probably should've dropped him further. After slashing .244/.422/.438 in 2023, Johnson has struggled to the tune of a .171/.373/.239 slash line this season in 118 plate appearances. He's always walked a ton and probably always will, but the rest of the profile is a giant question mark. When drafted, Johnson was considered a hit over power prospect and subsequently sold out for power in 2023. Now, he's struggling to make contact or hit for power. Will he ever be able to find that happy medium? I'm not so sure.

If you enjoyed these rankings and want to see the full Top 500 along with additional rankings, analysis, and more, check out Eric's Toolshed Fantasy Patreon.

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