These 7 teams could be front-runners in '27 Spring Breakout tournament

By now, you’ve heard the news. The Spring Breakout series is headed to a tournament format in 2027 and 2028.

In its first two years, Spring Breakout has brought us memorable moments featuring baseball’s top prospects, like Paul Skenes’ strikeout of Jackson Holliday in 2024 or Roman Anthony’s long homer that silenced “overrated” chants from Rays fans. But those have been played in exhibitions -- fun exhibitions, mind you, but exhibitions all the same. The switch to a tournament will make the games matter all the more and give players from every organization the opportunity to claim a title before the regular season even gets underway.

While we’re a year out from the new format and still await the announcement of the actual structure of the event, it isn’t too early to ponder which farm systems will be worth paying close attention to in 2027. Here are seven that, as things stand, might have the best chance to win the first-ever piece of Spring Breakout hardware:

Chicago White Sox: Let’s start with No. 1 -- the first overall pick in the 2026 Draft, that is. The White Sox won this year’s Draft Lottery at the Winter Meetings, setting themselves up to take UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky come July. Cholowsky is not only the consensus top talent in this class; he’s one of the easiest No. 1 calls in years as a true shortstop with plus hit and power tools. If Chicago pivots to someone like Grady Emerson or Justin Lebron, it’ll still have a big name representing the organization in his first Spring Training by tourney time. The White Sox also remains in rebuilding mode, so even if they graduate Top 100 prospects Braden Montgomery (No. 36), Noah Schultz (No. 49) and Hagen Smith (No. 72) in ‘26, they should be building a conveyor belt of talent toward the South Side with other shortstops Caleb Bonemer (MLB No. 61) and Billy Carlson (MLB No. 73) leading the charge.

Los Angeles Dodgers: The two-time defending World Series champs have another great chance to win a tournament, this time with prospects, because of the depth they’ve built in the Minor Leagues. As things stand now, all five of the club’s Top 100 prospects -- outfielders Josue De Paula (No. 15), Zyhir Hope (No. 27), Eduardo Quintero (No. 30) and Mike Sirota (No. 60) and shortstop Emil Morales (No. 92) -- have ETAs of 2027 or later, meaning they’ll likely be Breakout-eligible next spring. Assuming one takes DH duty, that’s a lineup that could be half-filled with Top 100 talent. Throw in some speed with 100-steal man Kendall George and the breakout potential of 2025 41st overall pick Charles Davalan, and the lineup could be even more dynamic, if heavy on the grass. Pitching might be light, but the Dodgers’ successful history of internal development should get the organization enough arms to be competitive on the Arizona side of the bracket.

Milwaukee Brewers: Jesús Made is already the No. 3 prospect in the sport before his 19th birthday, and despite briefly touching Double-A last year, he likely won’t graduate from prospect status by next spring. With his quick-twitch style and abundance of tools, he might be the No. 1 prospect in the sport by then. Fellow infielder Luis Peña (No. 26) will similarly be one year older and more mature physically and could be a star of the tourney. This is also the Brewers we’re talking about, one of the best orgs at internal development. Hitters like Andrew Fischer, Marco Dinges and Josh Adamczewski could all be Top 100-worthy before joining the bigs, while Bishop Letson could do the same from the mound with his combination of good stuff and Misiorowski-level extension.

Pittsburgh Pirates: Nobody here is predicting that Konnor Griffin (MLB No. 1) or Bubba Chandler (MLB No. 11) will still be rookie-eligible by the 2027 tournament. But the Bucs will have more cavalry coming once those two top 15 overall prospects graduate, headlined by 2025 first-rounder Seth Hernandez (MLB No. 29) on the mound and outfielder/first baseman Edward Florentino (MLB No. 50) in the box. Florentino feels especially ready to pop off if he can hold his high quality of contact over 100+ games in ‘26. It’s also worth noting that Pittsburgh possesses the fifth overall pick this year with the potential to add another big name to the heap of talent.

St. Louis Cardinals: St. Louis’ MO right now is to build toward the future, and a competitive Breakout team would bring a lot of hope to Cards fans. With the likely loss of JJ Wetherholt (MLB No. 5) to graduation, Rainiel Rodriguez (MLB No. 37) seems primed to take over as the face of the farm with his plus-plus raw power as a 19-year-old catcher. A starting battery of Rodriguez and 2025 first-rounder Liam Doyle (assuming the fire-balling left-hander currently ranked No. 34 overall is still prospect-eligible) would be downright electric. The Cardinals have added significant depth to their system since last year’s Trade Deadline too, so the lineup and pitching corps wouldn’t be so dependent on those two. What’s more, St. Louis now has six of the top 86 picks in the 2026 Draft, meaning more reinforcements are coming.

Tampa Bay Rays: The Rays always pride themselves on having a deep system, and after a down year in 2025, they’ve built up the overall strength of the farm this offseason via trades for prospects like Anderson Brito, Slater de Brun and Caden Bodine, each of whom should be Breakout roster considerations for 2027. Theo Gillen (currently MLB No. 76) could easily jump into the top half of the Top 100 with a fully healthy 2026 as a center fielder with plus speed, a solid hit tool and budding power. Last year’s 14th overall pick Daniel Pierce also got some Top 100 consideration this offseason and could jump up to that level if he adds some power on the pro side as a glove-first shortstop. Finally, the Rays own the No. 2 pick in the 2026 Draft, their highest selection since 2008, and could give their Breakout roster a true star even if Cholowsky is off the board.

Washington Nationals: Here’s a dream 2027 scenario for D.C. -- MLB's No. 54 prospect Travis Sykora (Tommy John) and No. 80 Jarlin Susana (lat surgery) are both healthy and slated to start Games 1 and 2 of the Breakout tournament. MLB No. 13 Eli Willits, the 2025 first overall pick, quiets the concerns about his power and cements his place as one of the game’s best shortstop prospects. Fellow 2025 pick Gavin Fien, acquired in the MacKenzie Gore trade, takes off as a hitter under the organization’s new player-development apparatus, and a few others -- like Luke Dickerson and Devin Fitz-Gerald -- join him on the Top 100 heading into the Breakout tourney. That’s optimistic and aspirational, but under new management, that future is in play for the rebuilding organization. And Spring Breakout would be just the place to put that future on display.