Ranking MLB's Most Impressive Top Prospects so Far in 2016

We know what you're thinking: Here comes another prospects piece that's going to rehash the same old stuff about the same old prospects that we've been hearing about for way too long. In some regards, you're right—Julio Urias is absolutely going to make an appearance here.

But the criteria we've come up with for inclusion on this list opens the door for some lesser-known prospects to have a light shined on them for once.

Aside from the obvious—performance—there are only two boxes a prospect had to check off in order to be considered: That they've not yet reached the big leagues and that they appear on MLB.com's top 100 prospects list.

That first part disqualifies players like Byron Buxton and Joey Gallo, but really, what could we possibly say about them that hasn't already been said? Both have had success in the minors but struggled mightily in the majors. Nothing aside from sustained big league success is going to change anyone's opinion of them.

Two things you're apt to notice on the pages that follow: There's a whole lot of talent working its way toward the big leagues besides the Buxtons and Gallos of the world—and the Carolina League (High-A) is absolutely stacked with much of that talent.

As far as the actual rankings go, a number of factors were taken into consideration, including but not limited to a player's performance and the level at which they're currently playing. But ultimately, these are completely subjective. What stands out for us may not do the same for you.

That said, let's take a look at the most impressive prospects thus far in 2016.

Honorable Mention

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Sean Manaea

All of the following prospects meet the criteria for inclusion on our list but have been outdone by the 10 players we've selected as the most impressive. If you can make a case as to why one of these players should be in our top 10 over someone else, feel free to do so in the comments section below.

• Josh Bell, 1B, Pittsburgh Pirates
• Willson Contreras, C, Chicago Cubs
• Anderson Espinoza, RHP, Boston Red Sox
• Amir Garrett, LHP, Cincinnati Reds
• Jeff Hoffman, RHP, Colorado Rockies
• Sean Manaea, LHP, Oakland A's
• Hunter Renfroe, OF, San Diego Padres

10. Ian Happ, 2B/OF, Chicago Cubs

2016 Stats (High-A): 19 G, .309/.440/.529, 8 XBH (3 HR), 15 RBI, 11 R, 15 BB, 20 SO, 3-for-3 SB

MLB ETA: Mid-to-late 2017

If you think Ian Happ's numbers are impressive, consider this: He began the season 0-for-8 with four strikeouts and, through his first 10 games, was hitting .225 (9-for-45) with 14 strikeouts. To say he's been on a tear since would be an understatement.

"I feel like I've been seeing the ball really well lately, and that has a lot to do with it," Happ, the Carolina League's Offensive Player of the Week, told MiLB.com's Sam Dykstra. "At the beginning of the season, I didn't feel quite in rhythm yet. But as things have gotten going, I'm feeling more and more comfortable, and I've tried to be patient up there. That's led to some pretty good results."

Ranked No. 73 on MLB.com's top 100 prospects list, the 21-year-old, selected ninth overall in last year's draft by Chicago, finds himself alongside Boston's more highly touted prospects, Andrew Benintendi and Yoan Moncada, near the top of the Carolina League leaderboards in multiple categories, including OPS.

Primarily an outfielder, Happ has spent the bulk of his time thus far in 2016 at second base, a position he played almost exclusively in the Arizona Fall League. Regardless of where he winds up defensively, the switch-hitting Happ has quick hands through the zone and projects as a 20-20 player down the road.

9. Josh Hader, LHP, Milwaukee Brewers

Morry Gash/Associated Press

2016 Stats (Double-A): 4 GS, 0-0, 0.53 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 17 IP, 12 H, 8 BB, 27 K

MLB ETA: Early 2017

Josh Hader serves as a reminder that not all top prospects are selected in the first few rounds of a draft or signed to lucrative contracts as international free agents. A 19th-round pick by Baltimore in 2012, the 22-year-old is now with his third organization in four years. But it looks like he's finally found a home.

Acquired by Milwaukee last year as part of the package the Brewers received for Mike Fiers and Carlos Gomez, Hader has been absolutely filthy, allowing only one earned run through his first four starts of the season.

Named the 58th-best prospect in baseball by MLB.com heading into the season, Hader relies on a fastball-slider combination and a still-developing changeup to keep batters off balance. His biggest issue has been working deep into games, as he's worked into the fifth inning only once this season.

It's an issue he's aware of and looking to improve upon, as he explained to MiLB.com's Kelsie Heneghan after tossing four no-hit innings against Pensacola, Cincinnati's Double-A affiliate.

"I was working deep into hitters, but that's one of the things that to go deep into games, you have to limit that and get early outs and at-bats. But my stuff was working. A lot of foul balls and getting behind on guys and not shutting them down early."

While his high pitch counts are a concern and keep him from climbing higher on our list, his numbers show the kind of upside he has. If he's able to work deeper into games, it's not out of the question that he could debut with the Brewers before the end of the season. But early 2017 seems like a more realistic timetable.

8. Yoan Moncada, 2B, Boston Red Sox

2016 Stats (High-A): 17 G, .344/.463/.469, 4 2B, 2 3B, 8 RBI, 15 R, 14 BB, 19 K, 13-for-17 SB

MLB ETA: Late 2017/Early 2018

Expectations surrounding Yoan Moncada have been high ever since he signed a deal with the Boston Red Sox that included a $31.5 million signing bonus in early 2015. Just over a year later, the 20-year-old is demolishing those expectations.

"He's going to be a freaking superstar," one scout remarked to Yahoo! Sports' Jeff Passan, who then tweeted it, and it's hard to argue with that assessment. Currently in the midst of a 15-game hitting streak, Moncada has reached base safely in every game he's played this season, causing havoc with his speed.

While his speed and base-stealing acumen are the first thing that jumps out at you, Moncada is far more than a one-trick pony, as MLB.com noted in its preseason scouting report:

"

Few middle infielders can match Moncada's huge offensive ceiling, which earns him comparisons to Robinson Cano with more speed. He's a switch-hitter with outstanding bat speed who makes consistent hard contact from both sides of the plate. Moncada doesn't have much loft in his swing, which could cap his home run production at 15 annually, though he has the potential for 20-25 per season if he alters his approach.

"

The only thing keeping Moncada from ranking even higher on our list is his defense. He's averaging an error every four games, which is simply far too high for someone at a premium position. But given his age and athletic ability, there's no reason to believe he won't get significantly better with the glove.

7. Brent Honeywell, RHP, Tampa Bay Rays

2016 Stats (High-A): 4 GS, 1-0, 0.73 ERA, 0.69 WHIP, 24.2 IP, 15 H, 2 BB, 26 K

MLB.com Rank: Mid 2017

The Florida State League leader in innings pitched and strikeouts, Brent Honeywell is absolutely dominating the competition. You can't ignore a ridiculous 26-to-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio, or the fact the he's allowed as many earned runs on the year as he's issued free passes.

The son of former Pittsburgh farmhand Brent Honeywell Sr. and the cousin of Mike Marshall, the 1974 National League Cy Young Award winner, the 21-year-old mixes a fastball that consistently sits in the high-90s with a rapidly improving curveball, a solid changeup and a nasty screwball.

A fierce competitor, Honeywell has no doubt that he'll be toeing the rubber in Tampa Bay before too long, though he understands it may not happen as quickly as he likes, as he explained to MiLB.com's Guy Curtright.

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I'm confident where I'm eventually going to end up (the majors). So right now, I have to be patient. Obviously, I would have liked to be in Double-A. But there are a lot of good pitchers ahead of me and some good ones behind me, too.

I'll keep working at it and my time will come. I'm not worried about that. This organization is loaded with pitching, and it's fun being part of that. It just makes it more exciting to think about what's ahead.

"

While the Rays tend to take things slow with their pitching prospects, Honeywell is going to force their hand, as he's quickly pitching his way out of High-A ball and onto the rotation at Double-A Montgomery.

6. Victor Robles, OF, Washington Nationals

2016 Stats (Single-A): 18 G, .349/.475/.587, 8 XBH (2 HR), 13 RBI, 22 R, 9 BB, 11 K, 11-for-14 SB

MLB ETA: Early 2019

No player on our list is further away from making an impact in the majors than 18-year-old Victor Robles, but it's sure going to be fun watching him develop over the next few years.

Signed out of the Dominican Republic as an athletic, toolsy 16-year-old in 2013, the now 18-year-old Robles continues to make Washington's scouting department look good. As Jarrett Seidler wrote for Baseball Prospectus after a recent trip to watch Robles in person, it's impossible not to be impressed.

"

I could write at great length about Victor Robles being a five-tool wonder. I saw two games from Robles last week, and everything I saw fit well within the reports that give Robles the potential for four plus or plus-plus tools — hit, run, field, and arm — with credible power as well. Everything Robles got a bat on was smashed. If anything, the tools will play up because of his on-field instincts.

"

But don't think for a second that Robles has only begun impressing people this season—he's been doing just that since arriving stateside.

“He’s fun to watch,” Johnny DiPuglia, the Nationals' international scouting director told Baseball America's Ben Badler last year. “He can make a highlight defensive play, steal three bases or hit for the cycle. And every team he plays for, he’s an Energizer Bunny [...] It’s a long ways away, but he has a chance to be a really special guy.”

MLB.com's No. 60 prospect heading into the season, it'd be a shock if Robles didn't crack the top 30 by season's end—and find himself facing more advanced competition with High-A Potomac.

5. Jameson Taillon, RHP, Pittsburgh Pirates

2016 Stats (Triple-A): 3 GS, 2-0, 1.65 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, 16.1 IP, 13 H, 16 K

MLB ETA: Mid 2016

Noticeably absent from Jameson Taillon's stat line above are walks, and there's a good reason for that—the 24-year-old has yet to issue a free pass in 2016.

What makes that even more remarkable is that Taillon, MLB.com's No. 51 prospect heading into the season, has missed the past two seasons due to injury—Tommy John surgery in 2014 and hernia surgery last year.

You'd expect to see some rust on his arm after such a lengthy layoff. But that hasn't been the case.

“In baseball, [you] constantly get judged by your box score, and your results and your stats,” Taillon said while a guest on 93.7 FM "The Fan Morning Show," per CBS Pittsburgh. “And for two years, I didn’t have any numbers attached for my name…so to be able to come back and put up some good numbers, and realize that I do belong, and all the work I’ve done has made me better, it’s really reassuring.”

His fastball sits consistently in the mid-to-upper 90s, a pitch he compliments with a still-developing changeup and a big, sweeping, knee-buckling curveball that was becoming his go-to strikeout pitch before the health setbacks.

So long as he stays healthy, there's every reason to believe Taillon will finally realize his dream of pitching in the major leagues this season.

4. Dansby Swanson, SS, Atlanta Braves

2016 Stats (High-A): 19 G, .324/.412/.500, 11 XBH (1 HR), 10 RBI, 13 R, 11 BB, 13 SO, 6-for-7 SB

MLB ETA: Late 2016/Early 2017

Few people know a player as well as their manager, so while he's certainly biased, Carolina Mudcats skipper Rocket Wheeler knows what he's talking about when it comes to Dansby Swanson.

“I use the word great, not good,” Wheeler remarked to The News & Observer's Kip Coons. “That’s what I think of Dansby Swanson. He’s one of the best I’ve ever seen." Whether it's at the plate or in the field, Wheeler says that Swanson can do it all. "He’s got the total package.”

That package of talent includes an advanced approach at the plate and developing pop that finds Swanson leading the Carolina League with nine doubles and among the league leaders in a number of categories while having the requisite agility and arm strength to provide terrific defense at a premium position.

A promotion to Double-A Mississippi isn't far off, and it's not crazy to think he could make his MLB debut later this year. With the team going nowhere fast, getting Swanson his first taste of the big leagues, with no pressure, could pay huge dividends down the road.

3. Julio Urias, LHP, Los Angeles Dodgers

2016 Stats (Triple-A): 3 GS, 2-1, 3.00 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, 15 IP, 11 H, 2 BB, 20 K

MLB ETA: Mid-to-late 2016

Back in March, Bleacher Report's Seth Gruen wrote that were Scott Kazmir to flop in Los Angeles, Julio Urias was deserving of a promotion to the big show. While he wasn't wrong in his assessment, the truth is that the 19-year-old phenom deserves a promotion to the big show—period.

Sure, Urias' 3.00 ERA doesn't jump off the page as a number belonging to a pitcher that's having a truly stellar season. But then you look at his 0.87 WHIP, excellent walk and strikeout rates (1.2 BB/9 and 12.0 K/9) and realize that he's struck out more batters than he's allowed baserunners (20-to-13).

Then you remember that he's only 19 years old and laying waste to batters despite the fact that they're all significantly older and more mature, both physically and mentally than than he is.

Really, there's nothing left to write about Urias that hasn't already been written. He's baseball's most electrifying pitching prospect for a reason, and from the way he's looked at Triple-A, that's not going to change anytime soon.

The Dodgers could call him up next week or next month, and it wouldn't be fast enough for some.

2. Andrew Benintendi, OF, Boston Red Sox

2016 Stats (High-A): 18 G, .342/.395/.616, 8 2B, 6 3B, 11 RBI, 15 R, 5 BB, 4 SO, 4-for-6 SB

MLB ETA: Early 2017

High-A is typically the first real challenge that players drafted the previous season face. But someone forgot to tell that to Andrew Benintendi, the seventh overall pick in last year's draft—because it doesn't look like he's being challenged at all.

In the midst of a 15-game hitting streak, the 21-year-old has reached base safely in all but two games this season. What's most impressive about Benintendi is his approach at the plate, working himself into hitter's counts more often than not, something Baseball Prospectus' Adam McInturff recently noted.

His six triples lead the Carolina League, and you can find his name among the league leaders in nearly every major offensive category. It'd be surprising if he wasn't testing himself against more advanced pitching at Double-A Portland by the All-Star break.

1. Alex Bregman, SS, Houston Astros

2016 Stats (Double-A): 13 G, .340/.431/.660, 6 XBH (5 HR), 14 RBI, 11 R, 6 BB, 5 SO, 2-for-3 SB

MLB ETA: Mid 2016

We touched on Alex Bregman potentially needing to move off shortstop so that he had a clear path to the big leagues earlier this month. No matter how talented he may be, he's not bumping Carlos Correa off the position in the majors. And he's not going to replace Jose Altuve at second base, either.

That leaves third base, and with the big league club in Houston floundering, ESPN's Jim Bowden is on board with the idea of sliding Bregman over to the hot corner, noting the domino effect such a move could have on the Astros.

"Bregman could help the team this season, particularly with his ability to make contact regularly," writes Bowden, "and once he's ready, the Astros could make regular third baseman Luis Valbuena the left-handed-hitting portion of a DH platoon with Evan Gattis."

The second overall in last year's draft, Bregman is tied for the lead in home runs in the Texas League and among the league's top five in batting average, slugging percentage and OPS. If the Astros decide to make the position change soon, Bregman could very well be ready for the majors in mid-to-late June.

Unless otherwise noted, all statistics courtesy of MiLB.com and are current through April 26.

Hit me up on Twitter to talk all things baseball: @RickWeinerBR.