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Yahoo Sports’ 26-and-under power rankings are a remix on the traditional farm system rankings that assess the strength of MLB organizations’ talent base among rookie-eligible and MiLB players. By evaluating all players in an organization entering their age-26 seasons or younger, this project aims to paint a more complete picture of each team’s young core. Our rankings value productive young major leaguers more heavily than prospects who have yet to prove it at the highest level, and most prospects included in teams’ evaluations have already reached the upper levels of the minors.
To compile these rankings, each MLB organization was given a score in four categories:
Young MLB hitters: scored 0-10; 26-and-under position players and rookie-eligible hitters projected to be on Opening Day rosters
Young MLB pitchers: scored 0-10; 26-and-under pitchers and rookie-eligible pitchers projected to be on Opening Day rosters
Prospect hitters: scored 0-5; prospect-eligible position players projected to reach MLB in the next 1-2 years
Prospect pitchers: scored 0-5; prospect-eligible pitchers projected to reach MLB in the next 1-2 years
We’re counting down all 30 organizations’ 26-and-under talent bases from weakest to strongest, diving into five teams at a time. In addition to the scores for each team in each category, we’ll highlight the key players who fall into each bucket and contributed most to their organization's place in the rankings. Below, we dig into Nos. 10-6.
Read more: Nos. 30-26 | Nos. 25-21 | Nos. 20-16 | Nos. 15-11
10. Detroit Tigers (total score: 16/30) | 2025 rank: 14
Young MLB hitters (6/10): OF Riley Greene, 3B Colt Keith, 1B Spencer Torkelson, OF Wenceel Pérez, OF Parker Meadows, SS Trey Sweeney, INF Jace Jung
Young MLB pitchers (4/10): RHP Reese Olson, RHP Jackson Jobe, RHP Keider Montero, RHP Troy Melton, RHP Ty Madden
Prospect hitters (5/5): SS Kevin McGonigle, OF Max Clark, C/1B Josue Briceño, INF Max Anderson, INF Hao-Yu Lee, C/1B Thayron Liranzo, SS Bryce Rainer
Prospect pitchers (1/5): RHP Jaden Hamm, LHP Jake Miller, LHP Andrew Sears, RHP Dylan Smith
Normally we begin these write-ups focusing on the big-league team, but the Tigers are different. Their farm system demands our attention, more specifically the abundance of impact hitters who have marched their way to Detroit’s doorstep. Kevin McGonigle and Max Clark give Detroit an unrivaled duo of position-player prospect talent. McGonigle’s sublime offensive skill set combined with a strong chance to stick on the left side of the infield earns him the clear designation as baseball’s best prospect not named Konnor Griffin. Clark, with an advanced lefty stick and plus speed and defense in center field, would be the top prospect in nearly every other organization. Clark and McGonigle reached Double-A at age 20 last year, putting both in position to debut at some point in 2026.
Those two alone are enough to earn Detroit a perfect score in the prospect hitters category, but there’s more: Josue Briceño, a physical backstop with big left-handed power,also raked his way to Double-A at age 20. Max Anderson and Hao-Yu Lee are less sexy profiles, but they too might hit their way into Detroit’s plans.And there might be another future star lurking in the lower levels if Bryce Rainer can get healthy.
Over the course of this season, some combination of those hitting prospects will arrive in Detroit and join an already deep group of young position players who have shown flashes of star potential but finished last year on a sour note. The Tigers’ offense got progressively worse as the 2025 season wore on, and Detroit ceded the AL Central title to Cleveland in shocking fashion. Even after advancing past the Guardians in the postseason, the Tigers’ offensive output was one of the worst collective October showings we’ve seen in years, with the U26 hitters the primary culprits. It was a discouraging sequence no matter how you slice it, but it shouldn’t completely overshadow the talent still present.
Riley Greene earned multiple All-Star invites before turning 25, which is no small feat. There’s a version of Greene that can thrive while striking out a bunch, but he’s still looking to strike the right balance; by the end of last season, the whiffs were piling up too often for him to be relied on as the team’s best bat. Spencer Torkelson faces a similar challenge, wielding proven prodigious power but still needing to refine his on-base skills. Colt Keith had a brutal postseason after returning from a rib injury, but his regular-season production was rock-solid; same goes for Wenceel Perez, who provides more versatility as a switch-hitter and plus outfield defender. If these big-league bats can find more consistency in tandem with the arrival of the hot-shot prospects, this lineup could coalesce into something special quickly.
Optimism surrounding a bright future for the Tigers’ bats is dampened somewhat by a murkier outlook on the mound. Injuries have been a frustrating trend. Jackson Jobe was widely regarded as the top pitching prospect in baseball at this time a year ago, but he underwhelmed early in his rookie season before needing Tommy John surgery in June. Reese Olson has been effective in a starting role the past three seasons, but durability has repeatedly been a challenge, and he just underwent season-ending shoulder surgery. Troy Melton,the most promising arm to arrive in the majors last season, has yet to pitch this spring due to general arm soreness. Hopefully Melton’s issues aren’t anything serious, but it’s still a troubling development.
Beyond the injuries, there’s also a total lack of top-end pitching talent in the upper minors; pick a top-10 Tigers prospects list from whichever outlet you prefer, and you probably won’t see a pitcher included. This lack of clarity on the next wave of young Tigers arms was likely a motivating factor behind Detroit’s offseason spending spree on veteran pitching (Framber Valdez, Justin Verlander, Kenley Jansen) — and why capitalizing on what could be Tarik Skubal’s final year as a Tiger is so crucial. — J.S.
9. Kansas City Royals (total score: 16/30) | 2025 rank: 19
Young MLB hitters (10/10): SS Bobby Witt Jr., 3B Maikel Garcia, OF Jac Caglianone, C Carter Jensen
Young MLB pitchers (3/10): LHP Noah Cameron, RHP Ryan Bergert
Prospect hitters (1/5): C Blake Mitchell, OF Carson Roccaforte, 2B Peyton Wilson, OF Gavin Cross, 2B Javi Vaz, 2B Sam Kulasingam
Prospect pitchers (2/5): RHP Luinder Avila, RHP Ben Kudrna, RHP Mason Black, RHP Steven Zobac, RHP Kendry Chourio
A year ago, the Royals boasted an all-world talent in Bobby Witt Jr. but such a dearth of proven commodities beyond him that it felt ridiculous to push them too far up the rankings on the basis of one individual. In the year since, Kansas City has watched Witt cruise along as his superstar self — albeit with enough of an offensive drop-off to plummet from 2024 MVP runner-up to merely fourth place in 2025 — and enjoyed enough steps forward elsewhere on the roster to vault the Royals into the top 10 for the first time in the four-year history of these rankings.
The leap starts first and foremost with Maikel Garcia. Garcia had already entrenched himself at the hot corner thanks to his spectacular defense, but his bat took an enormous jump in his third full season, in which he became an all-around force, posting a 121 wRC+ after registering a paltry 77 mark across the previous two campaigns. That uptick in productivity at the plate combined with his stellar glovework and plus baserunning made Garcia one of the most valuable players in the American League and set the stage for a long-term contract extension that ensures Kansas City will have one of the best left sides of the infield in baseball for the foreseeable future.
Joining Witt and Garcia as the next potential core pieces of Kansas City’s lineup are Jac Caglianone and Carter Jensen, who had wildly different debuts last season. Caglianone arrived in June with a heaping helping of hype following his legendary collegiate career and speedy ascent through the minors, but he faceplanted as a rookie, ranking as one of the least productive hitters in baseball. That Cags was exposed so harshly was not a massive surprise, considering his hyper-aggressive approach. Now it’s on the talented 23-year-old to flush his forgettable debut and figure out how to tap into his tremendous raw power more reliably against the best arms on the planet.
Jensen, meanwhile, did not debut until September but made a far more encouraging first impression, sustaining the momentum from a dominant showing in the upper minors across an equally impressive month of mashing in the majors. He’s a natural heir apparent to franchise icon Salvador Perez behind the plate, and the two will alternate catching and DH duties as long as Perez is still around.
The Royals had one of the lowest scores of any team in the young MLB pitching category last year; it’s safe to say we did not forecast left-hander Noah Cameron finishing fourth in AL Rookie of the Year voting. Cameron might not project as a bona fide frontline arm, but his emergence gives Kansas City some much-needed stability in the rotation. The upper-level depth of young talent on the mound is rather underwhelming otherwise, though perhaps another Cameron-esque rotation candidate surfaces soon.
For the most part, Kansas City’s highest upside prospects — 18-year-old right-hander Kendry Chourio, top 2025 draft picks Josh Hammond and Sean Gamble, recent high-dollar international signees Yandel Ricardo and Angeibel Gomez — are nowhere near the majors. That noticeable lack of upper-level prospect depth is what prevented the Royals from climbing any higher in these rankings. — J.S.
8. Arizona Diamondbacks (total score: 16/30) | 2025 rank: 12
Young MLB hitters (10/10): OF Corbin Carroll, SS Geraldo Perdomo, C Gabriel Moreno, OF Alek Thomas, OF Jorge Barrosa, OF Jordan Lawlar, C Adrian Del Castillo, 1B Tyler Locklear
Young MLB pitchers (2/10): RHP Justin Martinez, LHP Brandyn Garcia, LHP Blake Walston, RHP Cristian Mena, RHP Juan Burgos, RHP Grant Holman
Prospect hitters (3/5): OF Ryan Waldschmidt, INF Tommy Troy, SS Cristofer Torin, 3B LuJames Groover, INF Demetrio Crisantes, OF Kristian Robinson, OF AJ Vukovich
Prospect pitchers (1/5): RHP Yilber Diaz, LHP Kohl Drake, RHP David Hagaman, LHP Mitch Bratt, RHP Dylan Ray, LHP Yu-Min Lin, RHP Daniel Eagen, RHP Patrick Forbes
At the top of the roster, the D-backs mirror the Royals with a no-doubt face of the franchise in Corbin Carroll and an emergent co-starin Geraldo Perdomo. Sort all the hitters eligible for inclusion in this year’s rankings by 2025 fWAR, and Arizona and Kansas City account for four of the top five, with Carroll, Perdomo, Witt and Garcia joined by Seattle’s Julio Rodriguez. These terrific pairs earned both clubs a perfect score for young MLB hitters. But while we’d rather have Witt and Garcia than Carroll and Perdomo if we were starting a franchise today, the Snakes take the narrow edge in these rankings due to their superior depth on both sides of the ball.
Sticking with the parallels, while the Royals are hoping Carter Jensen can become their next franchise catcher, there is zero doubt that the D-backs have their guy behind the dish in Gabriel Moreno. Injuries have prevented Moreno from amassing a full-season’s workload, but when he has played, he has been excellent. It’s more on-base than slug but still plenty of production for a backstop who also impacts the game defensively with his framing and fantastic control of the running game. On a less positive note, Alek Thomas is running out of time to prove his light bat warrants regular playing time. Meanwhile, former top prospect Jordan Lawlar has entered the outfield mix, which could boost his chances of remaining in Arizona’s long-term plans. Is he now a post-hype breakout candidate, or was his original prospect value improperly inflated? We’ll find out soon enough.
And there are more bats on the way. Ryan Waldschmidt is going to hit his way into the big-league picture sooner rather than later, and Tommy Troy could do the same, though his path to playing time is more obscured due to the veterans ahead of him on the infield depth chart. Demetrio Crisantes and LuJames Groover are two more advanced hitters to monitor.
There is notably less upside present in this org on the mound, a reality that Arizona has sought to address, though results have been limited so far. Flamethrower Justin Martinez dominated as a rookie in 2024, but he underwent Tommy John surgery in June. Trades have netted several candidates to pitch in the majors soon — Cristian Mena, Brandyn Garcia, Juan Burgos, David Hagaman, Kohl Drake, Mitch Bratt — but none of them feels like a lock to stick in a big-league rotation. The more exciting arms to track are homegrown hurlers such as Daniel Eagen and the recently drafted Patrick Forbes. — J.S.
7. Baltimore Orioles (total score: 16/30) | 2025 rank: 2
Young MLB hitters (9/10): SS Gunnar Henderson, C Samuel Basallo, 2B Jackson Holliday, OF Dylan Beavers, OF Colton Cowser, 3B Coby Mayo, INF/OF Jeremiah Jackson
Young MLB pitchers (1/10): LHP Cade Povich
Prospect hitters (2/5): OF Enrique Bradfield Jr., OF Nate George, 2B Aron Estrada, C/1B Creed Willems, INF/OF Peyton Eeles
Prospect pitchers (4/5): RHP Trey Gibson, LHP Luis De Leon, RHP Nestor German, RHP Levi Wells, RHP Juaron Watts-Brown, RHP Braxton Bragg, RHP Anthony Nuñez, RHP Tyson Neighbors
Baltimore dropped five spots on this year’s list after ranking second last year. Why the dip?Jordan Westburg turned 27. Jackson Holliday has yet to explode. Grayson Rodriguez missed the entire season and got traded to the Angels. Coby Mayo’s swing might not work in the bigs. There might not be an All-Star position player in the farm system, and there’s a total lack of young impact pitching.
But let’s pivot to the positive because this is still an organization with a bright future, as evidenced by its No. 7 ranking. GunnarHenderson had an “underwhelming” 2025 and still produced 5.3 bWAR. Now fully healthy, we think the 24-year-old will return to MVP finalist form and make last season look like a blip. Going forward, Bobby Witt Jr., Corbin Carroll and Paul Skenes are the only players in this entire exercise that we’d consider taking over Henderson. Samuel Basallo might be Rafael Devers in catcher's gear, an in-box monster capable of jaw-dropping homers to all parts of the yard. And while he’s not a stellar defender, Basallo is still just 21 years old and has a cathedral offensive ceiling. It’ll be interesting to see how the Orioles deploy him between catcher and DH this season.
It’s way, way too early to give up on JacksonHolliday, who turned 22 over the winter. The former No. 1 pick has been a disappointment thus far in his career, with a pedestrian .660 OPS and middling defensive metrics. Now a hamate issue will delay Holliday’s start to the season, but he’s still one of the more compelling young characters in the game. Both Colton Cowser (swing-and-miss) and DylanBeavers (corner OF, bad against lefties) have real flaws, but they should find a way to reach league-average production. JeremiahJackson might be a valuable, late-blooming utility type.
On the mound, the Orioles remain high on CadePovich, who looks like a budget Max Fried, but not high enough to preclude them from adding three starters this winter. One culprit behind Baltimore’s disastrous 2025 was a lack of homegrown pitching capable of covering big-league innings. That should change this year. TreyGibson’s mid-90s heat and hammer curve should make him a viable back-end arm at some point in 2026 or ‘27. NestorGerman’s journey from 11th-rounder to likely big leaguer is already a developmental win. His extreme over-the-top release should help an otherwise mediocre fastball play up. LeviWells, Anthony Nuñez and TysonNeighbors could all contribute in the big-league ‘pen this year. — J.M.
6. New York Mets (total score: 18/30) | 2025 rank: 13
Young MLB hitters (5/10): INF/OF Brett Baty, C Francisco Alvarez, INF Ronny Mauricio, INF Mark Vientos
Young MLB pitchers (6/10): RHP Nolan McLean
Prospect hitters (4/5): OF Carson Benge, 1B Ryan Clifford, C Chris Suero, 3B Jacob Reimer, INF/OF AJ Ewing, OF Nick Morabito
Prospect pitchers (3/5): RHP Jonah Tong, RHP Will Watson, RHP Jack Wenninger, LHP Jonathan Santucci, RHP Ryan Lambert, RHP Dylan Ross
Amid the wreckage of the catastrophic 2025 Mets season, silver linings abound. Nolan McLean wowed in an eight-start debut and is the runaway favorite for 2026 NL Rookie of the Year. He’s the best 26-and-under pitcher not named Paul Skenes; we could not be higher on the guy. BrettBaty was another bright spot, solidifying himself as a solid big-league regular. But with Bo Bichette and Marcus Semien now in town, at-bats might be harder to come by for Baty and MarkVientos, who took a step back in ‘25. Injuries derailed the first half of FranciscoAlvarez’s season, but the pugnacious backstop had a .921 OPS in 139 plate appearances after returning from an IL stint on July 21.
Few minor-league hitters made bigger leaps in 2025 than CarsonBenge, who will play a big part on the 2026 Mets, whether or not he makes the team out of camp. We think his swing is downright special, not to mention beautiful. He’s really lanky right now but already has above-average juice and should grow into more. Even if he doesn’t stick in center field, Benge should make multiple All-Star teams. Watch this 13-pitch backfield at-bat against Nolan McLean, and you’ll see what we mean. AJEwing and JacobReimer are both under-the-radar, fourth-round high school picks tracking like big-league regulars.
Jonah Tong debuted late last summer and was more memorable than impactful. It’s a special fastball from a deceptive slot, but a lack of command and subpar secondary stuff kept success at bay. Tong is a superb athlete and still only 22 years old, so we think he’ll figure some things out. But there’s a lot going on with his delivery, and he doesn’t seem to have a great feel for spin, two factors that might make him more of a mid-rotation type than a perennial All-Star. Still, this is a very good prospect.
New York’s reputation for pitching development has skyrocketed over the past few years under director of pitching Eric Jagers. That group helped turn McLean (third-round, two-way college guy) into a potential ace, Tong (seventh-round, Canadian high schooler) into a real starter and JackWenninger (sixth-round, cold-weather college kid) into a likely back-end starter. We trust this apparatus to continue to churn out impressive arms. — J.M.