Top 100 MLB Prospects 2024: Keith Law’s Rankings
Welcome to Keith Law's ranking of the top 100 prospects in baseball for 2024. This year's list features a high number of players from the most recent draft, as well as turnover from last year's list. Law discusses the criteria for inclusion on the list and explains his approach to evaluating prospects.
Introduction to Law's Rankings
Welcome to this year’s ranking of the top 100 prospects in baseball. I’ve been compiling and writing such rankings for 17 years now, and those of you who’ve read them before will find the format here similar to those from the recent past. My farm reports covering at least 20 prospects in each team’s system, and notes on prospects who might appear in the majors this year, or who might be breakout prospects for the 2025 rankings, will appear starting the week of Feb. 12.
This year’s list has more players from the most recent draft than any top-100 I’ve ever done (I think), with 20 percent of the list — that’s 20 players, if you’re struggling to do the math here — on this list being 2023 draftees. That’s a combination of what might be the best draft class of my career since I left the Blue Jays and a high degree of turnover from the 2023 top-100 list. We had a ton of graduations from last year’s list: seven of the top 10, plus 25 more from the rest of the list. And we had a few face-plants, too, including one guy who went from the top 10 last year to completely off the list this year, although, in my defense, he had it coming. Five others fell off the list due to injury or illness that either impacted their long-term outlook or hurt their performance so much that they were simply passed by other, healthy players.
Criteria for Inclusion
To be eligible for this list, a player must still retain Rookie of the Year eligibility for 2024, and have no experience in NPB/KBO, as those are major leagues and calling, say, Yoshinobu Yamamoto a “prospect” is pretty silly (not to mention it takes up the space I’d rather use on an actual prospect). I also don’t include the international free agents who just signed in January, since in nearly all cases those guys haven’t been scouted by other teams in a year or more.
I tend to favor upside in prospects more than certainty, but there is value in both. A player who is all ceiling and no floor isn’t as valuable, in the trade market now or in considering his expected value in the long term, as one who has a somewhat lower ceiling but a much higher floor. I want players who might be stars, and after that I want players who might be above-average big leaguers — but I also try to keep in mind that many of these prospects won’t reach their ceilings, and to consider what other scenarios exist for their futures.
Law's Evaluation Process
Law provides insight into his evaluation process, emphasizing the use of "seasonal age" and the 20-80 scale for tools. He discusses the importance of considering not only physical attributes and skills, but also a player's aptitude and mental attributes. His goal is to provide the most accurate perspective on prospects by incorporating his own evaluations as well as the opinions of industry experts.
When referring to starters, Law acknowledges the evolving role of pitchers in today's game and discusses the range of potential outcomes for each player. He provides context for his projections and predictions, highlighting the likelihood of certain outcomes and accounting for the uncertainty surrounding prospects.
