For the 23rd consecutive year, it's time to unveil the next generation of baseball's future stars.
MLB Pipeline will reveal its 2026 Top 100 Prospects list at 8 p.m. ET on Friday in a one-hour show on MLB Network and MLB.com, with Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo breaking down the list alongside host Greg Amsinger and analyst Steve Phillips. MLB Pipeline reporter Sam Dykstra will join the crew to provide supplemental digital-only coverage after the show.
This list tends to be a precursor to great success, as Top 100 prospects have a tendency of showing up in big places down the line. The list of former No. 1 overall prospects includes a Hall of Famer (Joe Mauer), future Hall of Famers (Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani) and current stars from across the league, like Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bobby Witt Jr. and Gunnar Henderson. Five of the six 2025 Rookie of the Year finalists -- including winners Nick Kurtz and Drake Baldwin -- were on last year’s Top 100 list.
Whether they are already household names, just debuting on the list or making huge year-over-year strides, the prospects of today will shape the game tomorrow, and these are the cream of the crop.
Who is your favorite team's top prospect? And who will earn the No. 1 overall spot?
How the Top 100 is determined
The MLB Pipeline team compiles the rankings using input from industry sources, including scouts, scouting directors and other evaluators. The rankings are an aggregate analysis, taking the players’ skill set, upside, proximity to the Majors and potential immediate impact to their teams into account.
The list only includes players with rookie status in 2026, meaning players who debuted in ’25 but did not accumulate the service time (45 days on the active roster), at-bats (130) or innings pitched (50) to graduate are eligible again this year. First-year players who fall outside of the international pool money rules laid out in the Collective Bargaining Agreement -- that is, who are at least 23 years old and played in international leagues deemed professional -- are not eligible. That excludes some older rookies debuting after careers in places like Japan, Korea and Cuba.
More from MLB Pipeline:
• Top 100 prospects | Stats | Video | Podcast | Complete coverage
Former MLB No. 1 prospects
Former No. 1 prospects include the likes of Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, Joe Mauer and numerous other players who count MVP trophies, Cy Young Awards or Rookie of the Year honors among their respective accomplishments. Last year's NL Cy Young Award winner, Paul Skenes, was No. 3 when the 2024 version of this list was unveiled.
MLB's preseason No. 1 prospects by year
2025: Roki Sasaki, RHP, Dodgers
2024: Jackson Holliday, SS/2B, Orioles
2023: Gunnar Henderson, 3B/SS, BAL
2022: Bobby Witt Jr., SS/3B, KC
2021: Wander Franco, SS, TB
2020: Wander Franco, SS, TB
2019: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 3B, TOR
2018: Shohei Ohtani, RHP/OF, LAA
2017: Andrew Benintendi, OF, BOS
2016: Corey Seager, SS, LAD
2015: Byron Buxton, OF, MIN
2014: Byron Buxton, OF, MIN
2013: Jurickson Profar, SS, TEX
2012: Matt Moore, LHP, TB
2011: Mike Trout, OF, LAA
2010: Jason Heyward, OF, ATL
2009: David Price, LHP, TB
2008: Jay Bruce, OF, CIN
2007: Delmon Young, OF, TB
2006: Delmon Young, OF, TB
2005: Delmon Young, OF, TB
2004: Joe Mauer, C, MIN