Inbox: Which prospects have above-average tools across the board?

I can't wait for the MLB postseason and the Arizona Fall League season in October! Let's answer your prospect questions while I count the days ...

You mentioned on this week's Pipeline Podcast that Dodgers outfielders Eduardo Quintero and Mike Sirota had at least 55-grade tools across the board, and wondered how many other prospects did as well. How many do?

-- Ben W., Nashville, Tenn.

Thanks to MLB Pipeline's Ben Weinrib for this question. On the 20-80 scouting scale, 50 represents big league average, and not many players are better than average in terms of hitting, power, running, throwing and fielding. As noted on the Pipeline Podcast, Quintero (No. 19 on our Top 100 Prospects list and the highest-rated prospect headed to the Arizona Fall League) and Sirota (No. 15) do so.

Only five other prospects clear that bar, and not surprisingly they're all on the Top 100. Brewers shortstop Jesús Made (No. 1) is the best prospect in baseball and Rays shortstop Grady Emerson (No. 10) was the top-rated talent on our 2026 Draft Top 250. The others are Twins outfielder Walker Jenkins (No. 14), Giants shortstop Josuar Gonzalez (No. 16) and Athletics outfielder Drew Burress (No. 40).

When the Mets traded him to the Cubs for Javier Báez and Trevor Williams in July 2021, Pete Crow-Armstrong had played just six pro games before tearing the labrum in his right (non-throwing) shoulder and there were questions as to whether he'd even develop 20-homer power. Nevertheless, I remember an executive with another club telling me that he couldn't believe New York parted with PCA.

Shortstop Leo De Vries is the highest-ranked player on the Top 100 (No. 2) who has been traded, but the Padres included him in a package to get Mason Miller from the Athletics, so both sides got value out of that deal. The Dodgers came out ahead in the two transactions involving Top 100 Prospects that the other side now regrets the most.

In January 2025, Los Angeles sent Gavin Lux to the Reds in exchange for Sirota and a supplemental first-round pick. Sirota had yet to make his pro debut after getting drafted in the third round out of Northeastern and quickly blossomed into a Top 100 Prospect, and so did the player the Dodgers selected with the supplemental first-rounder (outfielder Charles Davalan). Lux played one undistinguished season in Cincinnati before going to the Rays in a three-team deal that netted Brock Burke.

Los Angeles also made a lopsided February 2024 trade that shipped Caleb Ferguson to the Yankees for right-hander Christian Zazueta, who had spent his first two pro seasons in the Rookie-level Dominican Summer League. Ferguson lasted just four months in New York and has bounced around to five teams since, while Zazueta has developed into one of the game's best young pitching prospects.

Crow-Armstrong is bidding to become the seventh player with 40 homers and 40 steals in the same big league season, following Jose Canseco (1988), Barry Bonds (1996), Alex Rodriguez (1998), Alfonso Soriano (2006), Ronald Acuña Jr. (2023) and Shohei Ohtani (2024). To get there, a player must have plenty of power but also the hitting ability to get to it, while basestealing aptitude and aggressiveness may matter more than pure speed. Ohtani is more of a solid runner yet recorded a 50-50 season.

Made is the best bet of any current prospect to reach the 40-40 plateau because his bat, pop and wheels all grade as plus. Other candidates include De Vries, Rangers shortstop Sebastian Walcott and Giants shortstop Josuar Gonzalez. Giants outfielder Dakota Jordan and Reds shortstop Justin Lebron have the raw power and speed to do it but come with swing-and-miss concerns.

I enjoy working with Lance on MLB Network and Marquee Sports Network, and I also enjoy when he asks thought-provoking Inbox questions.

In terms of Top 100 Prospects, I wonder if I'm too harsh on Tigers shortstop Bryce Rainer, who would rank higher than No. 47 if I liked him as much as my colleagues Sam Dykstra and Jonathan Mayo do. I love Rainer's athleticism and tools, I love the patience and the top-tier exit velocities ... but I don’t love the 36 percent strikeout rate, which was the 11th-worst in the Minors this season.

Among non-Top 100 Prospects, it has to be Brewers third baseman Andrew Fischer, whose 48 home runs are the most in a Minor League season since Ron Kittle's 50 in 1982. The power is real, but so are the swing-and-miss issues (34 percent K rate), the extremely uphill left-handed stroke and the likelihood that he's really a first baseman. If he can make it work at the big league level, I'll feel foolish for not advocating that he make the Top 100.

I'm a fan of both Padres right-handers. I became intrigued by Borthwick while watching video from the U-18 Baseball World Cup in September 2025, when he won MVP honors and Team USA took home the gold medal. I didn't know much about Su before watching him during Spring Breakout in March, when he touched 97 mph while facing two Cubs in an inning of work.

San Diego's first-round pick in July out of a Florida high school, Borthwick is extremely physical at 6-foot-6 and 245 pounds and looks like he'll pitch in the front half of a big league rotation down the road. His fastball and slider both project as plus pitches and he features advanced command for an 18-year-old. He struck out six of the 15 batters he faced in the Single-A California League playoffs, overpowering them with a heater that sits at 93-95 mph and can reach 98.

Su also starred at the 2025 U-18 Baseball World Cup before signing for $775,000 out of Taiwan a month later. He's not nearly as physical as Borthwick at 6-foot-1 and 150 pounds, so the Padres handled him carefully in his pro debut and limited him to 47 2/3 innings in 17 regular-season outings before he fanned 11 of the 19 hitters he saw in the Cal League postseason. His fastball/slider/splitter combination, athleticism and feel for pitching could make him a mid-rotation starter.