MLB Prospects

It's risky these days to call any prospect untouchable, as we've seen too many blockbuster deals in recent years to truly believe anyone is 100 percent safe from being moved in the right deal.

After all, who would have guessed that Yoan Moncada would be dealt this winter?

That said, a handful of prospects around the league come awfully close to being untouchable, as their future upside and expected long-term role with their teams make trading them highly unlikely.

Not every baseball fan keeps an eye on prospect development and the minor league ranks, but most are familiar with the top prospects around the league.

It wasn't just Boston Red Sox fans and Washington Nationals fans whose ears perked up when they heard that Yoan Moncada and Lucas Giolito had been traded during the winter meetings.

So what exactly is it that makes a previously unheralded prospect a household name? We'll lump them into two categories:

Nolan Arenado caught scouts' eyes in the Arizona Fall League when he was 20 years old. So did Derek Jeter, Corey Seager and Francisco Lindor.

Gleyber Torres is 19.

"He's playing against older guys," Carl Moesche of the Major League Scouting Bureau said in an interview on Saturday on MLB Network. "And he's not intimidated."

The Arizona Fall League gives some of baseball's top prospects chances to further hone their skills against some of the best talent minor league baseball has to offer.

This year, 21 players from among the league's top 100 prospects—according to rankings from MLB.com's Prospect Watch—are suiting up for one of the league's six teams.

This year's MLB All-Star festivities officially kick off Sunday afternoon with the 18th annual Futures Game from Petco Park in San Diego.

The game gets underway at 7 p.m. ET, with some of the league's top prospects making up the U.S. Team and World Team rosters.

While the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game are still the main attractions of MLB's All-Star Weekend, the Futures Game has continued to grow in popularity in recent years.

The annual prospect showcase gives fans a chance to see some of the game's future stars in action on the big stage, as minor league representatives from all 30 MLB teams square off in a World Team vs. U.S. Team format.

This year's game will be played on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET at Petco Park in San Diego.

MLB teams can't count on prospects flying in from the minor leagues to save the day. 

Last year's influx of talent spoiled baseball fans. Kris Bryant, Carlos Correa, Francisco Lindor and Noah Syndergaard wasted no time assimilating to the big leagues, instead offering All-Star production from Day 1. Welcoming such an exceptional crop of future stars isn't the norm.

The conversation began with Jorge Mateo, the 20-year-old shortstop Baseball America ranked as the best prospect in the New York Yankees' farm system.

"His speed is incredible, and he's good defensively," a veteran scout who follows the Yankees system said. "But you know, it feels like everyone has one. Right now, we might have the best group of young shortstops ever."

You know, he might be right.

The New York Yankees have the right idea. The bigger question is whether they have the right players.

The Yankees are trying to rebuild without rebuilding, to get younger and better without coming close to any charge of tanking a season. The process is difficult enough that they haven't won a playoff game since 2012 but so far painless enough that they've stayed in the 84-87 win zone that at least guarantees some form of contention.

Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton shared space atop draft boards in the spring of 2012, and they shared space on prospect lists in the years that followed.