Ray Butler’s 2020 Midseason Top 200 Prospects

Written by: Ray Butler

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The midseason version of my 2020 top-200 prospect list is here.

There are a couple of things I’d like to quickly discuss before diving into the actual list. First, there’s been a bit of a paradigm shift the past few months within the prospect evaluation world. Long before and since I began ranking prospects in 2017, age has been such a popular talking point and point of valuation in the dynasty world. Prospects who have age on their side are commonly given the benefit of the doubt over their senior peers, and it can serve as a tiebreaker of sorts when margins become practically invisible in the latter half of a top-200 list. This will still hold true at certain points, but the conversation is in the process of evolving.

The average age of top-200 prospects is about to increase, and the end result will be fairly drastic before we experience normalization. Our John Calvagno wrote about this in June, and I’m sure you’ll realize it as you scroll this list. The COVID-19 shutdown and canceled 2020 minor league season will push back ETAs of 90% of the prospects on this list. That fact won’t really impact the evaluation process per se, but don’t be surprised if it affects trade negotiations in your dynasty leagues moving forward. Prospects who were fortunate enough to be assigned to taxi squads this summer will benefit from continued development, but it won’t stop the fact next preseason there will be 23-year-old prospects on top prospects lists who are yet to debut in full season minor league ball. A specific example: Bobby Witt Jr., who has a chance to someday be the top-overall prospect in the sport, is already 20 and is yet to play at a level higher than the Arizona League. We must re-calibrate how we account for age when evaluating prospects moving forward.

Secondly, the margins between top-end prospects are much tighter than usual. For the first time since I began evaluating prospects, I truly feel as though you could rank #2-7 in practically any order and form a strong argument to support your reasoning. In turn, if the gap between Jarred Kelenic and Gavin Lux is relatively thin, imagine how arbitrary the margins are on the opposite end of the list. The lack of a minor league season and in-person scouting has certainly not helped, either.

Without further ado, let’s dive in. If you have questions or a beef with a specific ranking, feel free to @ me on Twitter. I’m already in the process of writing a ‘behind the scenes’ article that explains some of the nuances of this list, so your question(s) might be answered within that process, too. Away we go!

Rank Player Name, (Team) Position Age
1 Wander Franco, TB SS 19
2 Jarred Kelenic, SEA OF 21
3 Luis Robert, CHW OF 23
4 Julio Rodriguez, SEA OF 19
5 Jo Adell, LAA OF 21
6 MacKenzie Gore, SD LHP 21
7 Gavin Lux, LAD 2B 22
8 Jesús Lúzardo, OAK LHP 22
9 Marco Luciano, SF SS 18
10 Spencer Torkelson, DET 1B/3B 21
11 Royce Lewis, MIN SS 21
12 Kristian Robinson, ARI OF 19
13 Dylan Carlson, STL OF 21
14 Andrew Vaughn, CHW 1B/3B 22
15 CJ Abrams, SD SS/OF 19
16 Jasson Dominguez, NYY OF 17
17 Carter Kieboom, WAS 3B 22
18 Forrest Whitley, HOU RHP 22
19 Casey Mize, DET RHP 23
20 Matt Manning, DET RHP 22
21 Adley Rutschman, BAL C 22
22 Nate Pearson, TOR RHP 23
23 Alec Bohm, PHI 3B/1B 24
24 Bobby Witt Jr., KC SS 20
25 Luis Patiño, SD RHP 21
26 Brennen Davis, CHC OF 20
27 Austin Martin, TOR IF/OF 21
28 Noelvi Marte, SEA SS 18
29 Nick Solak, TEX IF/OF 25
30 Grayson Rodriguez, BAL RHP 20
31 Alex Kirilloff, MIN 1B/OF 22
32 Nick Gonzales, PIT 2B 21
33 Dustin May, LAD RHP 22
34 Nico Hoerner, CHC IF/OF 23
35 Spencer Howard, PHI RHP 24
36 Trevor Larnach, MIN OF 23
37 Evan White, SEA 1B 24
38 Zac Veen, COL OF 18
39 Taylor Trammell, SD OF 22
40 Cristian Pache, ATL OF 21
41 Jordan Groshans, TOR 3B 20
42 Brandon Marsh, LAA OF 22
43 Jazz Chisholm, MIA SS 22
44 Riley Greene, DET OF 19
45 Drew Waters, ATL OF 21
46 Michael Kopech, CHW RHP 24
47 Vidal Brujan, TB 2B 22
48 DL Hall, BAL LHP 21
49 Nolan Jones, CLE 3B 22
50 Brendan Rodgers, COL 2B 24
51 Logan Gilbert, SEA RHP 23
52 Asa Lacy, KC LHP 21
53 Daulton Varsho, ARI C/OF 24
54 Sixto Sanchez, MIA RHP 22
55 Jose Garcia, CIN SS 22
56 Clarke Schmidt, NYY RHP 24
57 Tarik Skubal, DET LHP 23
58 Corbin Carroll, ARI OF 19
59 Ronny Mauricio, NYM SS 19
60 A.J. Puk, OAK LHP 25
61 Brendan McKay, TB LHP 24
62 Oneil Cruz, PIT SS 21
63 Emerson Hancock, SEA RHP 21
64 Max Meyer, MIA RHP 21
65 Nolan Gorman, STL 3B 20
66 Jesús Sánchez, MIA OF 22
67 JJ Bleday, MIA OF 22
68 Kyle Lewis, SEA OF 25
69 Shane Baz, TB RHP 21
70 Jeter Downs, BOS 2B 22
71 Geraldo Perdomo, ARI SS 20
72 Alek Thomas, ARI OF 20
73 Edward Cabrera, MIA RHP 22
74 George Valera, CLE OF 19
75 Matthew Liberatore, STL LHP 20
76 Jordyn Adams, LAA OF 20
77 Joey Bart, SF C 23
78 Lewin Diaz, MIA 1B 23
79 Garrett Mitchell, MIL OF 21
80 Triston Casas, BOS 1B 20
81 Robert Puason, OAK SS 17
82 Nick Madrigal, CHW 2B 23
83 Xavier Edwards, TB 2B 20
84 Erick Pena, KC OF 17
85 Kyle Wright, ATL RHP 24
86 Hunter Bishop, SF OF 22
87 Ian Anderson, ATL RHP 22
88 José Urquidy, HOU RHP 25
89 Tony Gonsolin, LAD RHP 26
90 Jordan Balazovic, MIN RHP 21
91 Nick Lodolo, CIN LHP 22
92 Simeon Woods-Richardson, TOR RHP 19
93 Brayan Rocchio, CLE SS 19
94 Sean Murphy, OAK C 25
95 Heliot Ramos, SF OF 20
96 Orelvis Martinez, TOR IF 18
97 Mick Abel, PHI RHP 18
98 Hunter Greene, CIN RHP 20
99 Ryan Mountcastle, BAL 1B/OF 23
100 Austin Wells, NYY C/1B/OF 21
101 Josh Lowe, TB OF 22
102 Robert Hassell III, SD OF 18
103 Nick Bitsko, TB RHP 18
104 Luis Matos, SF OF 18
105 Hudson Head, SD OF 19
106 Monte Harrison, MIA OF 24
107 George Kirby, SEA RHP 22
108 Josiah Gray, LAD RHP 22
109 Daniel Lynch, KC LHP 23
110 Sherten Apostel, TEX IF 21
111 Bobby Dalbec, BOS IF 25
112 Jhoan Duran, MIN RHP 22
113 Seth Beer, ARI 1B/OF 23
114 Pete Crow-Armstrong, NYM OF 18
115 Tyler Freeman, CLE IF 21
116 Sam Hilliard, COL OF 26
117 Greg Jones, TB IF/OF 22
118 Luis Medina, NYY RHP 21
119 Francisco Morales, PHI RHP 20
120 Jonathan India, CIN 3B 23
121 Austin Hendrick, CIN OF 19
122 Aaron Bracho, CLE 2B 19
123 Luis Campusano, SD C 21
124 Ke’Bryan Hayes, PIT 3B 23
125 Brailyn Marquez, CHC LHP 21
126 Alek Manoah, TOR RHP 22
127 Deivi Garcia, NYY RHP 21
128 Edward Olivares, SD OF 24
129 Kody Hoese, LAD IF 23
130 Brady Singer, KC RHP 23
131 Gilberto Jimenez, BOS OF 20
132 Khalil Lee, KC OF 22
133 Andres Gimenez, NYM SS 21
134 Isaac Paredes, DET 3B 21
135 Miguel Amaya, CHC C 21
136 Joe Ryan, TB RHP 24
137 Shane McClanahan, TB LHP 23
138 Daniel Espino, CLE RHP 19
139 Ethan Hankins, CLE RHP 20
140 Ed Howard, CHC SS 18
141 Heston Kjerstad, BAL OF 21
142 Liover Peguero, PIT SS 19
143 Michael Toglia, COL 1B 21
144 Yusniel Diaz, BAL OF 23
145 Luis Garcia, WAS IF 20
146 Zach DeLoach, SEA OF 21
147 Leody Taveras, TEX OF 21
148 Matt Tabor, ARI RHP 22
149 Bryan Mata, BOS RHP 21
150 Gabriel Rodriguez, CLE IF 18
151 Jeremiah Jackson, LAA IF 20
152 Michael Busch, LAD IF 22
153 Jared Oliva, PIT OF 24
154 Garrett Crochet, CHW LHP 21
155 Reid Detmers, LAA LHP 21
156 Cade Cavalli, WAS RHP 21
157 Tyler Soderstrom, OAK C/3B/OF 18
158 Josh Jung, TEX 3B 22
159 Jared Jones, PIT RHP 18
160 Tanner Burns, CLE RHP 21
161 Daniel Johnson, CLE OF 25
162 Aaron Sabato, MIN 1B 21
163 Andy Pages, LAD OF 19
164 Alex Canario, SF OF 20
165 Jake Fraley, SEA OF 25
166 Braxton Garrett, MIA LHP 22
167 Jackson Kowar, KC RHP 23
168 Daniel Cabrera, DET OF 21
169 Francisco Alvarez, NYM C 18
170 Abraham Toro, HOU 3B 23
171 Brett Baty, NYM 3B 20
172 Mark Vientos, NYM 3B 20
173 Luis Rodriguez, LAD OF 17
174 Alexfri Planez, CLE OF 18
175 Peyton Burdick, MIA OF 23
176 Kameron Misner, MIA OF 22
177 Tyler Stephenson, CIN C 23
178 Angel Martinez, CLE IF 18
179 Kris Bubic, KC LHP 22
180 Jordan Walker, STL 3B 18
181 Tucker Davidson, ATL LHP 24
182 Dean Kremer, BAL RHP 24
183 CJ Van Eyk, TOR RHP 21
184 Cole Wilcox, SD RHP 20
185 Dillon Dingler, DET C 21
186 Justin Foscue, TEX IF 21
187 Bryce Jarvis, ARI RHP 22
188 Isaiah Greene, NYM OF 18
189 Blake Walston, ARI LHP 19
190 Logan Webb, SF RHP 23
191 Luisangel Acuña, TEX IF 18
192 Jackson Rutledge, WAS RHP 21
193 Yerry Rodriguez, TEX RHP 22
194 Misael Urbina, MIN OF 18
195 Ezequiel Duran, NYY 2B 21
196 Johan Rojas, PHI OF 20
197 Tahnaj Thomas, PIT PIT 21
198 Oswald Peraza, NYY SS 20
199 Kevin Alcantara, NYY OF 18
200 Alejandro Pie, TB SS 18

Honorable mentions: Maximo Acosta, Keoni Cavaco, Justin Dunn, Dane Dunning, Estevan Florial, Luis Gil, Brent Honeywell, Daulton Jefferies, Jared Kelley, Jorge Mateo, Bobby Miller, Braden Shewmake, Carson Tucker, Arol Vera, Jordan Westburg, Will Wilson, Cole Winn 

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Featured image courtesy of site graphic designer Dorian Redden. Follow him on Twitter (@dRedden26) and Instagram (@d26gfx)

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