Latest Detroit Tigers Prospects Ranking Includes Bevy of Top 100 Talent
The Detroit Tigers had a surprising amount of help from young players last season and still have plenty of highly-touted prospects coming down the pipeline.
The Athletic's Keith Law recently updated his Top 20 prospects ranking for each MLB team's farm system. For the Tigers, what stood out is just how much top 100 overall talent there is and the handful of youngsters that could end up there in the future.
The first five prospects in the ranking, in order, were outfielder Max Clark, pitcher Jackson Jobe, infielder Kevin McGonigle, catcher Thayron Liranzo and catcher/first baseman Josue Briceño.
Clark is the top-rated prospect of the group at No. 6 overall. He was the No. 3 selection in the 2023 MLB draft and has shown flashes of that so far as a professional.
He has a .269/.374/.414 slash line with 11 home runs and 34 stolen bases over his first 130 games. The 20-year-old still has the makings of a five-tool player.
The 21-year-old Liranzo was acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers trade in the Jack Flaherty rental last season. Flaherty is now back with the Tigers and the Dodgers won a World Series, so it looks like a true win-win trade.
Liranzo is another Top 50 player at No. 47 overall. He is a switch-hitting catcher with a strong arm that looks to be the long-term answer at the position for Detroit.
Each of the Tigers' top five prospects were in Law's Top 100 rankings. In fact, the first four of them are in the Top 50.
The No. 6 through No. 10 prospect on the list included shortstop Bryce Rainer, pitcher Jaden Hamm, infielder Jace Jung, second baseman Hao-Yu Lee and shortstop Franyerber Montilla.
Two more of the players were within the Top 100 in Rainer at No. 70 and Hamm at No. 94.
Rainer has the chance to be someone that could rise to the top of the MLB pipeline at some point. He was the No. 11 player selected in the 2024 draft out of high school.
He has yet to make his professional debut, but is expected to have a balanced attack at the plate.
The next five prospects were shorstop Josh Randall, catcher Enrique Jiminez, second baseman Max Anderson, pitcher Troy Melton and Joseph Montalvo.
None of these players are likely to make the Top 100 before they debut in the Majors, but they are still solid prospects in their own right.
Closing out the top 20 was pitcher Owen Hall, pitcher Ty Madden, pitcher Michael Massey, outfielder Roberto Campos and pitcher Ethan Schielfelbein.
