30 MLB teams, 30 breakout candidates: Holmes, Holliday, more - ESPN

Spring training is going strong and I've posted my minor league and draft prospect rankings, so now fans' attention has turned to potential major league sleepers.

Whether it's for the later stages of their fantasy drafts or the first to mention a name in your friend group, I've been inundated with requests for sleepers, with varied definitions of the term.

I've canvassed the league, chatting with agents, executives, and scouts to find the players who are emerging early in camp or seem primed to break out in the big leagues this season, even if it likely will be a little later in the season. With some overlap from Jeff Passan's recent scout buzz and my own bold prospect takes, here's whom you need to monitor, note, or draft — one for each MLB team — including plenty of bonus names.

Jump to team:

American League
ATH | BAL | BOS | CHW | CLE
DET | HOU | KC | LAA | MIN
NYY | SEA | TB | TEX | TOR

National League
ARI | ATL | CHC | CIN | COL
LAD | MIA | MIL | NYM | PHI
PIT | SD | SF | STL | WSH

Baltimore Orioles: Jackson Holliday, 2B

The expectations for Holliday were a little overwhelming last season, which usually happens with the top prospect in baseball. I'll pick him to beat his projections this year (2.0 to 2.5 WAR, slightly above league-average OPS) after expectations fell a bit below his talent level.

The O's are flush with solid choices: 3B Coby Mayo, CF Enrique Bradfield Jr. and LHP Cade Povich are all solid options to have louder-than-expected big league numbers this season. RHP Brandon Young is a sleeper and RHP Tomoyuki Sugano is the unproven veteran.

Boston Red Sox: Walker Buehler, RHP

I wrote a few times late last season that Buehler is a midrotation pitcher rather than the frontline starter he was in 2021, but his