When diving into the draft process, MLB organizations go far beyond just throwing together a list of prospects, ranked Nos. 1 to 500. This is where the true strategy comes in – where the understanding of tiering becomes a game-changer. In the war room, decision-making is about flexibility and adaptability, not about just taking the next guy off a massive list.

Think about it this way: If were to rank the top-500 players in order, you would be telling a story that is neat, tidy, and linear – and baseball’s amateur draft is anything but. There are too many nuances at play to treat it as a linear exercise. It is far more complex than that. It is about understanding the layers between tiers of players, because that is where the real flexibility comes into play. A player in one tier can have a vastly different risk profile, development timeline, and potential than a player in another tier, even if they fall within the same overall ranking range.

This is where tiering allows you to filter out noise and focus on the essential factors. Rather than being caught up in the race to pick the highest-ranked player from a linear list, teams can pivot between tiers to select the right player who fits their immediate and long-term goals. A college hitter in the second tier may offer more reliability and a quicker path to the majors than a high school pitcher in the top tier, even though the pitcher might be ranked higher overall.

To further cloud the picture, a prospect’s signability often comes into play. A college player in the fourth round will likely cost less than a high school prospect committed to a top program with a lucrative NIL deal. The prep player may have higher upside, but his commitment to college and NIL financials can complicate negotiations. The college player, however, is typically easier to sign and projects more quickly to professional baseball. Signability becomes a crucial factor, as teams must balance talent with the financial risks of getting a player to sign. In the end, the decision is about weighing the upside against the uncertainty of securing a commitment.

In the war room, there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all decision. Flexibility is key – sometimes a team will lean into a riskier pick because their system needs a potential star, while other times, they might opt for the safer, more polished option if they are looking for someone who can make an impact sooner. The top 1-500 list does not provide that level of nuance; tiering does. It is not about going for the highest name on the list—it is about selecting the player who fits the mold of your team’s needs, whether that is high upside with high risk, or a steady presence who might take less time to develop.

In the end, Prep Baseball’s tiered approach maximizes draft analysis. The top overall list (top-200 in Prep Baseball’s case) is a helpful reference, but the real value comes from studying both college and high school prospects together. Combining these groups provides a deeper understanding of each player’s potential, risk, and development timeline. It forces a closer look at high school players with high upside versus college players closer to MLB-ready.

Below, a look at Prep Baseball’s Draft Board, Version 2.0.

NOTE: This is an evaluative list rather than predictive. This means that it is not meant to capture when a player will be drafted, but to represent their talent value as identified by Prep Baseball reports scouting department (“Big Board”). This is the reason that there are more high school players featured even though many (most) will end up going to campus and more college players will ultimately be drafted. In all likelihood, approximately 15 of this year’s college players will be first-rounders whereas the 2025 high school class will produce 30 first-rounders between this year's MLB Draft and the 2028 Draft (and maybe even a couple draft-eligible sophs in 2027).

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DRAFT HQ: TOP-200

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