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What to watch at Winter Meetings: Draft Lottery, Rule 5 and more

December 5, 2025

It’s time for the Winter Meetings to set Hot Stove season aflame. This weekend, the baseball world focuses its offseason gaze on Orlando as the Winter Meetings arrive in the Sunshine State on Sunday. While the focus of the Winter Meetings is usually on the Major League happenings, there will

These are the Yankees' Rule 5 Draft candidates

8:20 AM MST

The Yankees added three prospects to the 40-man roster at the tender deadline last month, shielding Top 100 outfielder Spencer Jones (No. 4) and right-handers Elmer Rodríguez (No. 3) and Chase Hampton (No. 8) from Rule 5 Draft eligibility. But that still leaves a host of players in the system

Which Dodgers prospect could be the next to join the Top 100?

@benweinrib
12:04 PM MST

The Dodgers have become the most well-run machine in baseball -- not only as back-to-back World Series champions but also as the owners of the best farm system in the league. Through timely trades, smart drafting, excellent player development and more, Los Angeles has amassed envious depth and top-end talent.

NEW: Top 100 Draft prospects for '26

December 4, 2025

It might only be December, but there’s a serious case of Draft fever ranging. The root cause is the release of MLB Pipeline’s new 2026 Top 100 Draft Prospects list. The fans are definitely aflame, though, by the upcoming MLB Draft Lottery, which will determine the order of who gets

These 6 prospects for the '26 Draft are on the rise

December 5, 2025

This story was excerpted from MLB Pipeline's newsletter. Subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Top 100 prospect, 'The Password,' dealt to Pirates in 5-player trade

@AlexJStumpf
December 4, 2025

The Pirates came into this offseason looking to be aggressive and add to their outfield mix. On Thursday, they made their first swing, acquiring a Major League-ready Top 100 prospect. The Pirates acquired outfielder Jhostynxon Garcia, the No. 85 prospect in the game per MLB Pipeline, and right-hander Jesus Travieso

Draft Inbox: College RHPs? Projection for No. 1 Cholowsky?

December 5, 2025

Our 2026 Draft Top 100 list is freshly minted and we don’t know about you, but we can’t wait for next year’s amateur season to start so we can see how all these talented Draft hopefuls perform. For now, though, we can answer your questions about them, about the list,

Here are 30 Rule 5 candidates -- one from each club

@JesseABorek and @SamDykstraMiLB
December 4, 2025

The Rule 5 Draft can be a fascinating, if imperfect, process, and you only need to look at last year’s edition to see why. On one hand, the White Sox selected Shane Smith from the Brewers and watched him blossom into an All-Star before finishing with a 3.81 ERA and

These 10 teams have the prospects to swing a big trade at the Winter Meetings

December 2, 2025

The Winter Meetings begin Monday in Orlando, Fla., and prospects are certain to be on the shopping list for some clubs. Which team will get the best holiday-season deal? Who has the prospect capital to make that kind of deal happen?

3 Red Sox pitching prospects who could make jumps in the 2026 rankings

@benweinrib
December 5, 2025

Down on the farm, the 2025 season was full of breakout campaigns for Red Sox pitching prospects. Payton Tolle went from 16th on Boston's preseason rankings to becoming a Top 100 prospect and key part of the club's postseason run, alongside fellow southpaw Connelly Early (preseason No. 10, now No.

Each team's most recent Rule 5 keeper

@SamDykstraMiLB
December 5, 2025

While a solid percentage of picks in the Major League phase of the Rule 5 Draft get at least some big league time the season following their selection, it’s not so easy to stick around for an entire year.

With Competitive Balance rounds set, here's how the 2026 Draft order looks

December 3, 2025

The top of the 2026 Draft won’t be set until the MLB Draft Lottery plays out on Dec. 9. But the overall Draft order is beginning to take shape, now that the Competitive Balance rounds are set. Since 2017, Major League Baseball has used a formula that combines revenue, winning

Rays prospect Isaac reveals 'life-saving' brain surgery 

November 28, 2025

Rays prospect Xavier Isaac revealed Friday that he underwent “life-saving” brain surgery over the summer. Isaac posted on Instagram that he had a brain scan, which led to “the scariest moment of my life” and season-ending surgery in July. The 21-year-old first baseman, Tampa Bay’s No. 5 prospect according to

From 16 to 25, here is the best prospect at each age

@benweinrib
November 25, 2025

One of the big developments of the past year in baseball is how many young players have risen to the top of prospect rankings. A look at MLB Pipeline's Top 100 Prospects list will show you just one player in the top 10 older than 21. Of course, while there's

Here's an early look at the top 2026 Rookie of the Year candidates

November 19, 2025

With Nick Kurtz and Drake Baldwin taking home their leagues' respective 2025 Rookie of the Year Awards, it's time to turn our attention to 2026.

Here's a look at which ranked prospects got 40-man roster spots

November 19, 2025

The deadline has passed. All 30 Major League teams had decisions to make ahead of Tuesday's 6 p.m. ET deadline to set 40-man rosters. Eligible players who were not added to their respective organization's roster by then can be selected by another organization in the Rule 5 Draft, which is

Rangers' Walcott (arm fatigue) sidelined in Fall League

October 14, 2025

Here is the latest on injuries and roster moves involving MLB Pipeline's Top 100 prospects:

Mariners trade top catching prospect Ford to Nats for reliever Ferrer

42 minutes ago

The Mariners are sending highly touted catching prospect Harry Ford and righty pitching prospect Isaac Lyon to Washington in exchange for lefty reliever Jose A. Ferrer, the club announced on Saturday.

Ranking the top prospect hauls of all-time

December 5, 2025

Just about all of the headline-grabbing trades in baseball involve bundles of prospects -- you can't have a blockbuster without a Top 100 prospect or two (or more) changing organizations. This got us at MLB Pipeline thinking about how different trade packages involving prospect returns stack up over the years.

Eight years after winning the MLB Cup, A's prospect Shotaro Morii returns with MLB dreams

December 3, 2025

Eight years ago, A's two-way prospect Shotaro Morii was just a 10-year-old student with a dream of playing baseball. That year, he arrived to Japan's MLB Cup, a tournament featuring over 1,700 fourth- and fifth-grade ballplayers, where he and his team eventually won it all.

These are the Cubs' Rule 5 Draft candidates

December 1, 2025

The Cubs added three prospects to the 40-man roster at the tender deadline last month, shielding infielders Pedro Ramirez (No. 8) and James Triantos (No. 10) and lefty Riley Martin from Rule 5 Draft eligibility. But that still leaves a host of players in the system – including six of

After Semien trade, how does Jett Williams factor into Mets plans?

@SamDykstraMiLB
December 1, 2025

The Mets and Rangers swapping of outfielder Brandon Nimmo and second baseman Marcus Semien may have been a one-for-one trade (with some cash going to Texas, too), but it set up a series of dominoes on both sides, particularly when it comes to prospects. Last week, we covered how Mets

Bloom excited by upside of arms acquired in Gray deal

@JohnDenton555
December 1, 2025

ST. LOUIS – After promising to never sacrifice a shot at a brighter future for a present that is uncertain, Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom proved to be a man of his words when presented the opportunity to land the high-end potential of fireballing left-hander Brandon Clarke and

Does Justin Crawford have a place in the Phillies' '26 outfield?

November 26, 2025

The Phillies' outfield seems set for a shakeup this winter, and however that shakes out, it seems like Justin Crawford will be in the mix for a roster spot come Spring Training. The club’s No. 3 prospect (MLB No. 54), the 21-year-old Crawford has little left to prove in the

Cruz one step away from being third-generation big leaguer

November 25, 2025

Trei Cruz had just finished a workout last week and was headed back home when his phone started buzzing. The call was from Tigers vice president Ryan Garko, who in his role overseeing player development for one of the best farm systems in the game has followed Cruz’s career in