Final 2026 MLB draft rankings: Top 250 prospects - ESPN

It's MLB draft week, so it's time to expand my ranking of this draft's top prospects to 250 players.

Though my final mock draft coming Friday will attempt to predict which teams will take which players, this list is based solely on how good those prospects are.

Behind the scenes, I've updated my minor league top-100 rankings (here's my recent top 50) to make adjustments and remove the graduated players, so I can tell you roughly where the top players in the draft would slot on that list the moment they sign. I've also included Future Value grades so you can see where those players would slot in your team's prospects rankings (now updated monthly). I've also included present and future tool grades for all players with a 45-plus FV or better.

This year's class is highlighted by a trio of talented position players at the top of the rankings. Which one is No. 1? Let's find out.

1. Roch Cholowsky (age: 21.3), SS, UCLA

Tools: Hit: 55, Power: 55, Run: 45, Field: 55, Arm: 60

Where he ranks in an MLB top-100 prospects list: 19

If it doesn't work out, what's happening? His bat speed and foot speed are one notch worse than expected, and he's a solid starter but not a standout.

To be clear, I flipped these three players a number of times down the stretch and even polled scouts and got every possible order. Think of these reports as a choose-your-own-adventure to learn which of these players you prefer because the sharpest minds in baseball cannot agree on this.

Cholowsky was prospect for the top two rounds in the 2023 draft out of an Arizona high school as a sure-handed, hit-first prospect with questionable overall impact. He hit .329 with 52 home runs and a 1.072 OPS over three years in Westwood and now could become the top pick