Inbox: Who will join the Top 100 when Crews, Wilson and Lowder graduate?

While our Top 100 list is now in the rearview mirror and work on our team Top 30s is underway in earnest (Coming to you March 3-5), we still like breaking down the big list and the players on it. That¡¯s why in this week¡¯s MLB Pipeline Podcast, Jim Callis and I drafted a lineup from our Top 10 by positions lists (We also answered a question about who could be this year¡¯s version of Jackson Merrill in our Mailbag).

That draft has caused some confusion and I want people to understand that the idea was borne out of a MLB Pipeline Inbox question a few years back: drafting a team while only being able to take one player per position and one player per ranking spot. This meant three outfielders for each side from the same list, but still, the ranking spot rule applied. Which meant wacky things happened, like Roman Anthony and Roki Sasaki, No. 1 on our outfield and right-handed pitchers list, not getting drafted. But we played by the rules. Take a look and let us know who you think had the better squad.

For now, though, let¡¯s get to your questions and who knows, maybe one of them will get turned into annual content.

Who is prospect number 101 ¨C the one who inevitably joins the rankings once Roki Sasaki graduates? ¨C @aaronburkart on X

We touched on this during the podcast as well, when we discussed players who just missed the Top 100 (We named one for each team recently). Before I answer the bulk of the question, I wanted to point out that Sasaki will not be the first Top 100 prospect to graduate off the list. We use the same guidelines for rookie status to determine who is on the list. That¡¯s 130 at-bats for hitters and 50 innings for pitchers, or 45 days on the active roster for either. For example, Dylan Crews (No. 4) is at 35 days and 119 at-bats, so it¡¯s only going to take a couple of weeks, at most, for him to graduate. Jacob Wilson (No. 31) is at 36 days and a pitcher like MLB No. 35 Rhett Lowder (32 days, 30 2/3 IP) will come off well before Sasaki.

OK, on to the important part of the question: Who is first up when we need one of those replacements? I can say with confidence that we have consensus: It will almost certainly be Mets outfielder Carson Benge. The Mets took Benge in the first round (No. 19 overall) in last year¡¯s Draft after he posted a 1.109 OPS with 18 homers and 10 steals at Oklahoma State. He¡¯s a former two-way player, and that plus arm would look really good in right, though he might have the skills to stick in center while providing above-average power.

With Top 100 rankings beginning to be published, can you speak to why prospects like Max Clark/Sebastian Walcott have so much volatility with their place on everyone's list? ¨C @JGWillis22 on X

I wanted to take this opportunity to say publicly that we at MLB Pipeline will never malign or disparage any other publication¡¯s list. We all do things differently, with different methodologies, and I will never answer a question like this by throwing one of our prospect-covering brethren under the proverbial bus. But I do think this question points to something that gets to the core of what we all do: Regardless of the method, this is a VERY subjective business. Sure, we look at all the lists and like to compare them and see where we differ; it makes for lively internal debate, and even with some of our colleagues who put out their own lists.

I think Clark (No. 6) and Walcott (No. 17) provide specific examples of what¡¯s taken into account when deciding where to rank them. First and foremost, it¡¯s important to point out that Clark will be 20 years old for all of the 2025 season; Walcott turns just 19 in March. So much of who they are lies in projection, which lends itself to a wide range of opinions. Specifically to them, it might be Clark¡¯s power or Walcott¡¯s hit tool/long-term position that leads to them landing in different spots on Top 100 lists.

Which college pitchers could you see vault into a lottery selection that may not currently be on the radar? Similar to Cade Horton's stock leading into the Draft a few years back. ¨C @KDub1988 on X

With the college season set to start on Feb. 14, I thought this was a good time to answer this one, though I¡¯m not going to predict a Horton-like climb for anyone because, honestly, that came so late, and was so surprising, that it might not be something that can be replicated. In the Top 100 list we put out back in December, we had only two college arms in the top 25: Florida State¡¯s Jamie Arnold and Santa Barbara¡¯s Tyler Bremner. Teams are always looking and hoping for college pitchers to separate themselves with their performances in their Draft year and there are a few who could vault up boards if they do so. Oklahoma¡¯s Kyson Witherspoon is athletic with two plus pitches. If his changeup and command come along this spring, he¡¯ll come in higher than the No. 26 he¡¯s at on our list. Down a little further, keep an eye on LSU¡¯s Chase Shores and Stanford¡¯s Matt Scott. Shores is coming off of 2023 Tommy John surgery (as close to a Horton-esque path as I¡¯ll get), is 6-foot-8 and was touching triple digits before he got hurt. Scott is 6-foot-7 with the chance to have three plus pitches, but he hasn¡¯t shown the ability to handle a starting pitching load yet.

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Do Terry Crews and Dylan Crews get together in the offseason and holidays? ¨C @BoodDarlin on X

Man, I sure hope so.