Baseball America writers convened in mid February to rate the best rookie bets for 2024, accounting for both talent and opportunity.
The resulting ranking of top 20 rookies was developed before Cactus and Grapefruit league action began.
Rookies have taken on more prominence since the introduction of the Prospect Promotion Incentive in the 2022 Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Gunnar Henderson and Corbin Carroll ranked No. 1 and 2 on our top 20 rookies list last year, and each won a Rookie of the Year award while meeting the service time requirement. Thus each netted a PPI draft pick for his club after the first round of the 2024 draft.
The same was true of the Mariners and Julio Rodriguez, the No. 2 rookie on our ranking in 2022. Seattle used the resulting PPI draft pick to select high school outfielder Jonny Farmelo with the 29th pick in 2023, making him the first player ever drafted with a PPI pick.
1 YOSHINOBU YAMAMOTO
TEAM: DODGERS AGE: 25 POS: RHP
After winning every award there was to win in Japan, Yamamoto signed the richest contract ever for a pitcher when he agreed with the Dodgers for 12 years and $325 million. He heads stuff and command and is a heavy favorite to win National League Rookie of the Year.
