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Aroon Escobar (Photo by Mike Carlson/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
The first major in-season update of Baseball America’s Top 100 Prospects is live, and we’re sure you have plenty of questions. One certain to come up frequently is: Who else came close to making the list?
The answer? Plenty of players. Though the list is just 100 players deep, we discuss many more prospects along the way. That’s because this is nowhere near the final iteration of the list.
Three of the top five prospects—Roki Sasaki, Kristian Campbell and Jackson Jobe—are all likely to graduate from consideration in the coming days and weeks. No. 1 overall prospect Roman Anthony and Pirates righthander Bubba Chandler should reach the big leagues this year and also have a chance to graduate by season’s end.
When those guys leave the world of prospects in the rearview mirror, we’ll need to find their replacements. Good thing the sport is flush with talented players ready to join the ranks of the elite.
A sizable portion of the list’s assembly process comes with the help of feedback from executives around the game. With that in mind, here are a few players baseball’s decision-makers suggested should be considered for inclusion.
Asbel Gonzalez, OF, Royals
Anonymous entering the season, Gonzalez has been one of the hottest players in the minor leagues throughout the first month and change. He’s armed with a table-setter’s skills and the defensive chops to hang in center field. The speedy 20-year-old is second in the minors in average (.404), on-base percentage (.513) and stolen bases (31). Power is not likely to be a big part of Gonzalez’s game, but there’s a good chance he slashes and dashes his way to the major leagues.
Aroon Escobar, 2B, Phillies
After two nondescript seasons in the Dominican Summer League, Escobar came stateside last year and crushed the competition in the Florida Complex League. About the only thing that stopped him was a pair of shin splints that cut his season short. This spring, he was one of the stars of the Phillies’ Spring Breakout game and then carried that momentum into the season, which has seen him become a spark plug atop the lineup for Low-A Clearwater. All three of his triple-slash numbers rank among the best in the FSL.
Luis Perales, RHP, Red Sox
Perales is not likely to pitch this year, but that didn’t stop his name from coming up during feedback for this list. At his best, Perales can overwhelm hitters with a mid-90s fastball featuring plenty of life through the zone, as well as with a cutter and splitter that helped him punch out 56 hitters in 33 innings between High-A and Double-A before a torn ulnar collateral ligament required Tommy John surgery. If his stuff returns intact, he could add even more upside to an already bursting Boston system.
Andrew Salas, SS/OF, Marlins
As is family tradition, Salas skipped Rookie-ball entirely after signing with Miami on Jan. 15. Instead of spending his first season as a pro on a backfield in the Dominican Republic or Florida, the younger brother of Padres catcher Ethan Salas moved to the big diamond at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in the Florida State League. He wasted little time adjusting, collecting 21 hits in his first 78 plate appearances and placing among the FSL’s top three for both batting average (.350) and on-base percentage (.500) through his first 18 games. There’s probably some regression coming given Salas’ .447 BABIP, but he’s certainly holding his own at a mighty impressive rate for a player who will play all year at 17 years old.
Charlee Soto, RHP, Twins
Had it not been for a triceps injury, Soto would almost certainly have found a place in this update to the Top 100. Through his first three starts at High-A, he struck out 15, walked four and allowed just two runs. The 2023 supplemental first-rounder didn’t enter the year with a true plus offering on his card, but his four-seamer, slider and changeup each graded between 50 and 55 on the 20-80 scouting scale. Tie everything together with solid strike-throwing ability, and you get a player primed to rise. Now, he just needs to get healthy again.
