Forty years ago, top prospect lists didn’t exist. In fact, in my copy of The Scouting Report: 1983 (because of course I have one), there is no list of prospects at all. As an example, the Philadelphia Phillies section doesn’t even mention Juan Samuel, who had just finished annihilating A-ball in 1982 and would have been considered a can’t-miss MLB prospect. (I mean, he hit .320/.373/.573 in 547 plate appearances, with 111 runs scored, 29 doubles, six triples, 28 home runs, 94 RBIs, and 64 stolen bases at Peninsula! Let’s not mention the strikeouts, though.) Ten years later, the 1993 version of the same publication (yeah, I have one of those, too) had a couple pages at the end of each team section for top prospects (Phillies had Mike Lieberthal! Todd Pratt! Brad Brink!), but nowhere near a “focus” on future major leaguers.

Now, of course, the prospect business is big business. Baseball America, Keith Law, Fangraphs, Baseball Prospectus, Bleacher Report, D1baseball.com, Major League Baseball itself, and Perfect Game, of course, which has a list of the top 500 players in the high school class of 2026. All of them have their focus and rationale, which is rather important, obviously, to know what a list is trying to do. (I know firsthand about this from the past when I’d rank the top VBL players based on performance. Love, love, love the comments like “Your list lacks credibility,” or “I can’t take your list seriously.” Insert rolling eyes emoji here.)

Preamble finished.

So Baseball America tends to be the list I pay the most attention to, for various reasons, including but not limited to the fact that I’ve been a subscriber for a long time. Since my semester finished up, I’ve had a little time to peruse BA’s 2024 Preseason Top 10 Prospects lists for each team, on the hunt, of course, for former VBLers in pro ball. BA not only listed the top prospects, but also a projected 2027 major league lineup and the best player “tools” in each system. A total of ten players with VBL ties were mentioned.

  • Rhett Lowder (Strasburg 21) is Cincinnati’s #2 prospect, and has the system’s best changeup and best control. He is listed as the team’s #3 starter for 2027. Lowder was the team’s first round draft pick in 2023, but did not pitch in the minors after being drafted. (By the way, does he also have top-ten hair?)
  • Carlos F. Rodriguez (Charlottesville 21) is Milwaukee’s #9 prospect, and is listed as the team’s #5 starter for 2027. Rodriguez went 9-6, 2.88 in 123 2/3 innings in 2023, while allowing only 87 hits and 57 walks, and striking out 158. He started 25 games in Double-A Biloxi and one at Triple-A Nashville. I fully expect him to make his major league debut in 2024. (As an aside, Rodriguez pitched in only one VBL game in 2021, on June 7, against Staunton, but it counnnnnnnnts!)
  • Connor Norby (Waynesboro 2019) is Baltimore’s #8 prospect. Norby spent all of ’23 in Triple-A Norfolk, and check out these stats: .283/.362/.493, 104 runs, 40 doubles, 3 triples, 21 home runs, 92 RBIs, and 57 walks. He’s been described as a “bat-first” second baseman, but there have been a few of those in the past: see Uggla, Dan, who played in the majors for a decade. Norby’s season was one of the best minor league performances by a VBL alum in the past 17 years. His runs total is tied for third all-time since 2006, hits are also tied for third, doubles are second most, and his RBI total is tied for 9th. (Maybe I’ll rank best minor league seasons someday? That sounds like fun.)
  • Wyatt Langford (Charlottesville 2021), of course, is on this list as Texas’s #2 prospect. (He’ll be #1 soon, as Evan Carter will exhaust his rookie eligibility in 2024.) Langford is also listed as the Rangers’s left fielder in 2027. He blasted through 44 games at four different levels after being drafted in 2023- hitting a combined .360/.480/.677 in 161 at-bats, with 36 runs, 17 doubles, 2 triples, 10 home runs, 30 RBIs, a silly 36/34 BB/K, and 12 stolen bases. He was rumored to be in the mix to play in the World Series last fall after Adolis Garcia got hurt. It would have made him the second player in MLB history (after Adalberto Mondesi in 2015) to make his debut in the World Series, but, alas, it was not to be (and honestly, I’m a little irritated that it didn’t happen. What a great story that would have been!). Langford will be playing in Arlington sooner rather than later.
  • Trace Bright (Charlottesville 2021) was listed as having Baltimore’s best minor league curveball. Bright spent 2023 at High-A Aberdeen and Double-A Bowie, and went a combined 3-6, 3.97, with 147 strikeouts in 99 2/3 innings pitched. By the way, notice something? Bright is the third Charlottesville player from 2021 through the first five guys on this list.
  • Sabin Ceballos (Winchester 2021) has Atlanta’s best infield arm. He played in 14 games after getting drafted last summer, and hit .300/.440/.375 with one home run.
  • Evan Justice (Charlottesville 2018) is listed as Colorado’s 2027 closer. Drafted in 2021, Justice made his MLB debut in 2023, appearing in nine games for the Rockies. In the minors, he has struck out 67 batters in only 42 innings in two seasons.
  • Vinnie Pasquantino (Charlottesville 2017) is listed as Kansas City’s 2027 first baseman. Pasquantino has had an eventful two seasons in the majors. In ’22, he hit .295/.383/.450 in 298 plate appearances, along with 35 walks and only 34 strikeouts, showing that he’s the future at the position. In ’23, he tore the labrum in his right shoulder in June and missed the rest of the season. Looking forward to 2024 for this young man!
  • Kyle McCann (Harrisonburg 2017) was named Oakland’s best defensive catcher. Drafted in 2019, McCann spent all of 2023 in Triple-A Las Vegas, where he hit .270/.351/.474 in 344 at-bats, with 17 doubles and 17 home runs. I don’t know McCann personally, but excellent defensive catchers who are good clubhouse guys can play forever (see Kratz, Erik).
  • Last but definitely not least, Brendan Donovan (New Market 2016) was listed as St.Louis’s first baseman of 2027. Donovan wasn’t a particularly highly rated prospect, but has put himself on the map with an outstanding rookie season in the majors in 2022, and a very solid sophomore season in 2023. In fact, Donovan finished third in Rookie of the Year voting and won a Gold Glove at the “utility” position (he played at six different positions) in ’22. For his MLB career, he’s hit .283/.381/.398 in 839 plate appearances, with 31 doubles, 16 home runs, and an excellent 93/123 BB/K ratio. That all comes out to a 120 career OPS+ (meaning his OPS is 20% higher than average).