Here are the Orioles' 2024 Top 30 prospects

The Orioles brought an emphatic end to their long rebuild in 2023, winning their first American League East title in years on the strength of a roster full of young and mostly homegrown talent. As the focus shifts in Baltimore to maintaining that success, it would make sense for the Orioles’ farm system to be thinned out at least a little bit, especially compared to the days when they were more concerned with stockpiling prospects than big league wins.

That’s not the case. Remarkably, Baltimore’s long-running top system remains as stacked as ever.

In Jackson Holliday, the Orioles again boast baseball’s top overall prospect, for the second straight year. Holliday is also the third Orioles prospect to hold that distinction in the past two years, along with Gunnar Henderson and Grayson Rodriguez (and then there is Adley Rutschman, who was No. 2 overall in 2022).

All told, Baltimore’s five Top 100 prospects this year are tied for the second-most in baseball, and it would’ve stood alone in that position if not for the February trade that sent Joey Ortiz (No. 63 overall) to Milwaukee.

The O’s are also the only team with three players ranked in the Top 20: Holliday, fast-rising catcher Samuel Basallo (No. 17) and ‘21 first-rounder Colton Cowser (No. 19). Slugging third baseman Coby Mayo (No. 30) and ‘20 second-overall pick Heston Kjerstad (No. 32) join them in the Top 100, giving Baltimore more prospects in the Top 32 (five) than 24 other clubs have in the Top 100.

All are already knocking on the door or could join former Top 100 prospects Rutschman, Henderson, Rodriguez, Jordan Westburg and Ryan Mountcastle in Baltimore by mid-summer 2024. The Orioles aren’t content contending in baseball’s toughest division. The strength of their system proves they plan to contend for a long time.

Here’s a look at the Orioles top prospects:

1. Jackson Holliday, SS/2B (MLB No. 1)
2. Samuel Basallo, C/1B (MLB No. 17)
3. Colton Cowser, OF (MLB No. 19)
4. Coby Mayo, 3B (MLB No. 30)
5. Heston Kjerstad, OF (MLB No. 32)
   Complete Top 30 list ?

Biggest jump/fall

Here are the players whose ranks changed the most from the 2023 preseason list to the 2024 preseason list:

Jump: Trace Bright, RHP (2023: NR | 2024: 17)
Bright never put up eye-popping numbers in college, but won a College World Series title with Auburn and became a fifth-round pick of the O's in 2022. He then broke out during his first full pro season, striking out more than one-third of the hitters he faced at High-A Aberdeen and finishing 2023 at Double-A Bowie. In the process, he leapfrogged quite a few higher-drafted pitchers on the Orioles' organizational depth chart.

Fall: Hudson Haskin, OF (2023: 15 | 2024: 26)
The 39th overall pick in the 2020 Draft, Haskin has shown a dynamic combination of power and speed – but rarely both at the same time. He’s also had trouble staying healthy, and is 25 now coming off an injury-riddled year in 2023 that limited him to only 33 games. He’s fallen behind some amid the glut of talented outfielders in the O’s system, as a result.

Top 30s
NLE: ATL | MIA | NYM | PHI | WSH
ALE: BAL | BOS | NYY | TB | TOR
NLC: CIN | CHC | MIL | PIT | STL
ALC: CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIN
NLW: AZ | COL | LAD | SD | SF
ALW: HOU | LAA | OAK | SEA | TEX

Best tools

Players are graded on a 20-80 scouting scale for future tools – 20-30 is well below average, 40 is below average, 50 is average, 60 is above average and 70-80 is well above average. Players in parentheses have the same grade.

Hit: 70 -- Jackson Holliday
Power: 65 -- Coby Mayo
Run: 80 -- Enrique Bradfield
Arm: 70 -- Coby Mayo
Defense: 70 -- Enrique Bradfield Jr.
Fastball: 60 -- Chayce McDermott (Seth Johnson, Luis De Leon)
Curveball: 60 -- Trace Bright
Slider: 60 -- Chayce McDermott
Changeup: 55 -- Cade Povich
Control: 50 -- Justin Armbruester (Seth Johnson)

How they were built:
Draft: 18 | International: 9 | Trade: 3 | Free agent: 0

Breakdown by ETA:
2024: 11 | 2025: 8 | 2026: 8 | 2027: 3

Breakdown by position:
C: 2 | 2B: 1 | 3B: 4 | SS: 3 | INF: 1 | OF: 9 | RHP: 8 | LHP: 2