Baltimore Orioles Prospects Dominate Top of Latest Top 100 Rankings

The Baltimore Orioles have a trio of prospects who are peaking at the top of the latest Top 100 rankings.

Aug 7, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Baltimore Orioles second baseman Jackson Holliday (7) hits a two run home run and celebrates with third baseman Coby Mayo (16) against the Toronto Blue Jays during the seventh inning at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: / Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

The Baltimore Orioles have one of the best farm systems in baseball. When it comes to highly-ranked talent, no organization comes close.

The Orioles had three Top 100 prospects when MLB Pipeline released its new rankings on Tuesday. That was to be expected.

But the trio — infielder Jackson Holliday, infielder Coby Mayo and catcher Samuel Basallo — weren’t just Top 100 players. They were three of the Top 11 players in the ranking.

Holliday was the site’s No. 1 prospect for the third straight rankings. This is the fifth time in the last seven rankings that the Orioles have had the top player in the rankings, along with catcher Adley Rutschman (midseason 2021) and infielder Gunnar Henderson (preseason 2023).

Rutchman and Henderson have already been All-Stars, Silver Sluggers and Henderson was last year’s American League Rookie of the Year.

Holliday is unlikely to follow in Henderson’s shoes this year. He hit his way to a Major League debut in April, but he struggled as he batted .059 in April and was sent back to Triple-A Norfolk to continue to work on hitting better against left-handers.

He’s back with the Orioles now and producing in a way that reinforces why the Orioles made him the No. 1 overall selection in the 2022 MLB Draft. His first MLB home run, just after his second call-up, landed on Eutaw Street at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

He’s playing enough to ensure that when the preseason rankings come out in 2025 he will have graduated, paving the way for a new No. 1 overall prospect.

Mayo is No. 10, making the Orioles one of three teams with two players in the Top 10. He is also with Baltimore right now, but with Triple-A Norfolk he’s had a great season, as he slashed .305/.385/.628/1.013 with 22 home runs and 63 RBI.

He was the Orioles’ fourth-round pick in 2020 and he may be on a path toward graduating from the rankings by next season.

Basallo is one of the youngest players in the rankings at just 19 years old. Baltimore signed him as an international free agent and he’s worked his way quickly through the system, earning a promotion to Double-A Bowie to start this season.

He played so well that he was selected to play for the American League in the MLB Futures Game during All-Star weekend in Arlington, Texas, last month.

Some of the Orioles’ large wealth of talent has graduated from the rankings, including outfielder Colton Cowser, who is a candidate for AL Rookie of the Year, and outfielder Heston Kjerstad, who has played enough in the Majors to graduate but is back with Triple-A Norfolk.