Half the country may be covered in snow and ice, but it is time to warm everyone’s hearts with the best of the best, the crème de la crème. The top shortstop prospects and tiers for your viewing pleasure.

Tier 1 #1 – 6

Konnor Griffin has been talked about ad nauseam, Kevin McGonigle took the spotlight during the Arizona Fall League, so now it’s time to talk about JJ Wetherholt. He’s in this top tier of shortstops for a reason and is in fact someone I believe has the highest floor among the top six. While Griffin is a power/speed threat to dream on, Wetherholt is up there boasting some of the same profile tools. Wetherholt showed off his hit tools across Double-A Springfield and Triple-A Memphis in 2025, as he slashed .306/.421/.510, smacked 17 home runs, added 28 doubles, and stole 23 bags. His underlying statcast numbers reinforced his gaudy stats, with a 49.6% hard hit rate, 12.6% barrel rate, and a 90.7 mph average exit velocity. He also stood squarely at the outer edge of the top tier in all of those metrics (near the 90th percentile). To top all of that, his strikeout and walk rates were in the 82nd and 91st percentiles, leading to a plate discipline grade last year of 73 (on a 20-80 scale) from The Stat Ranch. There are not many prospects in baseball which display truly elite talent in all aspects of the game like he does. He is my target in this tier if you don’t want to be forced to pay astronomical prices for Griffin. (Brian Ladude)

Let’s talk about the best prospect in baseball for a minute, because why not? There are not many prospects who have 70-80 grade power, 70 grade speed, and possibly a 70 grade hit tool, but Konnor Griffin does, and he burst into minor league stardom last year. He put together one of the best seasons for a 19-year-old we have seen in recent years. He rose all the way from Single-A to Double-A and improved at each level. At Single-A Bradenton he started out strong with 50 games played and a very strong 156 wRC+. That would rise to a 170 wRC+ at High-A Greensboro in 51 games and an unbelievable 175 wRC+ in 21 games at Double-A Altoona. Overall on the season, he clobbered 21 home runs and swiped 65 bags while hitting .333/.415/.527. A 21.7% strikeout rate and an 8.9% walk rate were very good for the levels he played at given his age. His numbers were eerily reminiscent of Ronald Acuña Jr.’s age 19 minor league season. The only difference is that Griffin stole 21 more bases. Whether Griffin debuts in 2026 or 2027 isn’t of much concern, because one thing is for sure, we might be looking at the next major league superstar hitter who can truly do it all. (Daniel Labude)

Tier 2 #7 – 12

This second tier holds some of my favorite prospects in baseball. I’m not sure many will come close to Emil Morales, his hit tool is elite in my opinion, he has power to dream on, and has some speed to show off. You can read more about him and my quest to debunk his swing and miss label later this afternoon when the shortstop spotlight for this section drops. Another shortstop prospect that really showed off some tools in 2025 was Bryce Rainer. He could be right on the tail of Morales or even surpass him quickly when minor league baseball starts up in the spring. He was starting to break out and in a big way, slashing .288/.383/.438, hitting five home runs, and swiping nine bases in just 35 games. His home runs per flyball rate shined in the short sample, 19.2%. While his average exit velocity of 92.1 mph, hard hit rate of 52.8, and barrel rate of 10.1% all went to reinforce what his short sample was showing, he is on the cusp of stardom. A true power/speed threat which could see him shoot up to the top 15 one day. His two anchors holding him back are going to be his contact rate and launch angles, 71.4% and 5.2 degrees respectively. If he can improve upon those two metrics, there won’t be much stopping him from maximizing his prospect value and riding it to the major leagues in the next few years. (Brian Labude)

This tier has many similar hitters and projections, but the one that stands above the rest for me is Luis Peña. Debuting stateside last year at Single-A Wilson, the 18-year-old broke out in a big way, as he hit .308/.375/.469, with six home runs, 41 stolen bases, and a 139 wRC+. What was the eye-popping stat though, was the fact he only struck out in 13.3% of his plate appearances. That number jumped to 24.8% at High-A Wisconsin in 25 games, but he was still just 18-years-old. He ended the year with nine home runs overall, so if there was a prospect that could become something similar to a lighter version of Konnor Griffin, Peña might be that prospect and one to take a chance on despite his young age. (Daniel Labude)

Tier 3 # 13 – 25

The types of players you start to see in this third tier are really all over the place. It’s why Caleb Bonemer has really grown on me this offseason. In his first full season in professional baseball he broke out and didn’t stop even when he was promoted to High-A Winston-Salem. For the year, he played in 107 games, slashed .281/.401/.473, hit 12 home runs, added a massive 30 doubles, and stole 29 bases. His 30 doubles were good enough to be in the 98th percentile, in fact, he was in the 84th or better percentile in almost every statistical category. The only categories he wasn’t well above average in were strikeout rate (21.2%, 62nd percentile) and home runs per flyball rate (9.1%, 56th percentile). In the long run, he might be more of a gap power and doubles hitter, but your dynasty team could really use someone like him, as he looks to be a potential lead-off hitter for the Chicago White Sox one day. (Brian Labude)

Call this the Toronto Blue Jays Tier and they are oozing at the seams with multiple standout shortstop prospects here, each offering a different profile to watch grow over the next couple of seasons. First, there is JoJo Parker who heads our list of FYPD shortstop prospects. Right now he is all projection and dreams, but he is coming into the minor league battle ground with a wide depth of tools despite not being exceptional in a specific area. His hit tool is above average, his power can be above average with a good amount of room for building strength on his frame, and his speed is average. On the flip side, we have Arjun Nimmala who is still very raw, but has big power potential. He came out hot in 2025 at High-A Vancouver, however; he faltered, falling off the map completely. He hit under .200 with only four home runs in the last four months of the season. Strikeouts weren’t the problem like in 2024, so there is still hope he puts everything together at some point in the future. Juan Sanchez may be the perfect combination of Parker and Nimmala. He has the raw tools and has shown a good base of a hit tool already in the DSL. His next challenge will be coming stateside and still producing and putting up the gaudy numbers he did in 2025. Check out my prospect spotlight on him that is coming out later today for a more detailed breakdown. He could be the biggest riser of the Blue Jays trio in 2026. (Daniel Labude)