Top 40 Fantasy Baseball Prospect Rankings for 2024 Drafts (Redraft Leagues)

Eric Cross' top 40 fantasy baseball prospects rankings for 2024 drafts and redraft leagues. His impact MLB rookies and prospects to draft for fantasy baseball.

We're now over halfway through spring training and plenty has happened since my initial 2024 rookie rankings several weeks ago. We have prospects charging hard for opening day jobs, others that have fallen off, and plenty more still digging for roles to open the season.

In just the last few days, we had one of the biggest 2024 rookies, Noelvi Marte, get suspended for 80 games. A few other big names get optioned to minor league camp. Things can change so quickly, and we need to stay on top of these trends while we draft all of our teams for 2024.

Rookies and prospects are always a tricky landscape to navigate given all the upside and risk involved, but hopefully, these rankings can assist you during your drafts, whether you're in 10-12 team leagues or deeper formats.

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2024 Fantasy Baseball Prospect Rankings

These prospect rankings are for 2024 redraft league value only. These are MLB prospects to potentially make a fantasy baseball impact in 2024. 

You can also see our top fantasy baseball dynasty prospects rankings for longer-term outlooks, and our 2024 fantasy baseball rankings dashboard for all league formats.

Fantasy Baseball Prospect Notes

Let's dive into what's changed over the last several weeks that influenced these rankings positively or negatively since my initial rookie rankings in late January.

Wyatt Langford, Texas Rangers

In my initial 2024 rookie rankings, I had Langford third strictly due to my uncertainty that he would make the opening day roster. With that confirmed now, Langford moves up into the top spot here while his redraft ADP soars. I've even seen him get taken in the top-80 picks a few times over the last two weeks after Langford went on a home run barrage which currently has him tied for the spring lead with four longballs.

2 homers in 2 days for @langford_wyatt. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/qxxdx0AoL3

— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) March 2, 2024

Lanford is coming off a .360/.480/.677 slash line with 10 home runs and 12 steals in 200 plate appearances after the draft and his plus or better tools across the board offensively give him the highest upside of any prospect in baseball right now, both for 2024 and beyond. There's a legit chance that Langford puts up a .270/30/15 season in 2024.

Jackson Holliday, Baltimore Orioles

For the exact same reason as Langford above, I had Holliday a few spots lower in my initial rookie rankings. Even though he isn't going to be on the Opening Day roster, he should be up very soon for the Baltimore Orioles. Holliday is one of the best pure-hitting prospects we've seen over the last half decade and is hitting well this spring with a .286 AVG and five extra-base hits in nine games.

They picked out a home and called it "Holliday House" pic.twitter.com/KziiXx0TE7

— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) March 10, 2024

I'm still not sure how many home runs we see from him initially, but even if Holliday can get into the 15-18 range to pair with more than 20 steals and a likely higher average, he'll still be able to flirt with top 100 value in 2024.

Colt Keith, Detroit Tigers

With a contract extension signed and completed, Colt Keith is now expected to make the Detroit Tigers' opening day roster as their starting second baseman. This move is exciting on multiple levels as Keith will now also have dual 2B and 3B eligibility which also means corner and middle infield eligibility as well. You have to love that positional flexibility for Keith who proved to be one of the best hitting prospects in the minors over the last two seasons.

After a .301/.370/.544 slash line in 2022 after he was drafted, Keith fully broke out in 2023 with 38 doubles, 27 home runs, and a .306/.380/.552 slash line in 126 games last season between Double-A and Triple-A. Keith's plus hit/power blend was already intriguing at the hot corner but becomes even more exciting at second base where the offensive firepower isn't as notable.

Jackson Merrill, San Diego Padres

Coming into the spring, I would've put Jackson Merrill's chances of starting for San Diego on opening day at below 5%. Boy, did things change. Merrill was starting regularly in the Padres outfield this spring, and eventually won the center field job.

For me, Merrill doesn't project as highly as the names above him here, but there's an above-average to plus hit tool in his profile along with above-average power and around-average speed. Long-term, we could be looking at a 20/10 player and Merrill flirting with those numbers this season isn't out of the question while also providing a serviceable average and OBP. So far this spring, Merrill is hitting .286 in 10 games with more walks (three) than strikeouts (two).

DL Hall, Milwaukee Brewers

I've long been vocal about my concerns with DL Hall's command/control and ability to be a long-term starter, but Milwaukee is giving him a chance to start this season after acquiring Hall in the Corbin Burnes deal.

With Hall, we know the upside is immense, and he showed that in the minors with a 32.9% strikeout rate thanks to his electric stuff. In 2023, he recorded a whiff rate above 30% on his fastball, slider, and changeup. However, Hall also walked 13.4% of the batters he faced, which has been a red flag for me. In the majors though, Hall has improved the walk rate to 7.6% in 33 innings. Given the upside, I'm fine using a late-round pick on Hall because the upside is a top-50 pitcher or better if this transition to the rotation is successful.

Joey Ortiz, Milwaukee Brewers

The other piece Milwaukee got in the Burnes deal, Joey Ortiz, is the frontrunner to start at the hot corner for Milwaukee to open the 2024 season. Although, Sal Frelick has seen some time there as well. Ortiz was thoroughly blocked in Baltimore but now will have a chance to make a fantasy impact right away while potentially having dual eligibility as well.

Ortiz has been underrated for a while now and I'm guilty of that as well. While he doesn't stand out in any one area offensively, Ortiz is an above-average hitter with above-average raw power and enough speed to add double-digit steals annually as well.  He's off to a 5-for-19 start this spring with three extra-base hits, a home run, and a steal. If he gets more than 500 plate appearances, Ortiz will likely provide a hefty positive ROI this season.

Jarred Jones, Pittsburgh Pirates

Early on in spring, everyone was talking about Paul Skenes, and not many about Jared Jones. Well, they're certainly talking about Jones now as he trends towards making the rotation for Pittsburgh out of spring training. Jones has been touching 100 fairly consistently this spring and has yet to allow an earned run through 7 1/3 innings. In his outing Sunday, Jones averaged 97.8 mph on his 4-seamer while recording a stellar 48% whiff rate overall with seven of his nine whiffs coming on his slider. If he's indeed in the rotation for Pittsburgh all season, Jones could flirt with top 60 SP value.

Other Fantasy Baseball Prospect Notes

Joe Boyle, OAK: It appears that Joe Boyle will make the Oakland rotation barring a late-spring performance slide or injury. Boyle currently has a 2.16 ERA in 8 1/3 innings this spring with eight strikeouts and three walks. All three of those walks came in his last outing. If Boyle can keep the walk rate in check, which he did not do in the minors, we could see Boyle flirt with top 75 SP value this season thanks to his strikeout upside.

Noelvi Marte, CIN: This one stung with the power of ten thousand hornets. Noelvi Marte was my most rostered player this season, and not just among rookies. Now we won't be able to see him until close to the All-Star break after being suspended 80 games for taking a substance called Boldenone. You can cross him off your draft boards unless you have deep benches or play in 50-round formats, but Marte should still be a big impact bat for the second half of the season.

Pete Crow-Armstrong, CHC: With Cody Bellinger back with the Cubs, we might need to wait a little bit longer before we see Pete Crow-Armstrong playing regularly at the major league level. Bellinger played both center field and first base in 2023 for the Cubs and the duo of Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ have the corners locked down in the outfield. Once PCA does get that chance to start regularly though, the offensive upside would make him an attractive waiver wire target.

Jordan Lawlar, ARI: On Sunday, the Diamondbacks sent several players to minor league camp, including uber shortstop prospect, Jordan Lawlar. While Lawlar wasn't raking this spring, it's still disappointing to see him get sent to Triple-A to open the season in favor of Geraldo Perdomo who has limited upside and is struggling mightily at the plate this season. Don't be afraid to stash Lawlar in redraft leagues though as he probably won't be down for long and has the power/speed blend to be a top-100 player once he's up.

Colton Cowser, BAL: Cowser has been one of the best hitters in the league this spring and is currently tied for the spring lead with four home runs along with a .450/.577/1.050 slash line in nine games. If Mullins were to miss any regular season time, Cowser would stand to benefit from that and would become an exciting late-round upside target in 12-team leagues. If Mullins is back before opening day, which is more likely, then Cowser probably still starts in Triple-A.

Mason Miller, OAK: Entering spring training, Mason Miller was a buzzy RP2 pick after it was reported that he was moving to the bullpen this season. We all just assumed that he would step right into the closer role as Oakland's bullpen lacks many other exciting late-inning options. But alas, that won't be the case, at least not to open the season as Miller will be used more in high-leverage multi-inning roles, at least initially. If you don't play in leagues that value holds in some way, his value gets dinged a decent amount if he's not the closer.

If you enjoyed these rankings and want to see Eric's full prospect rankings for redraft and dynasty - along with additional rankings, analysis, and more - check out Eric's Toolshed Fantasy Patreon.

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