Prospect Promotion Incentive: Pool Of Players Eligible In 2024
Image credit: Evan Carter (Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
Spring training camps open in a few weeks. A number of premium major league free agents remain on the market. Trades will add wins to rosters.
But as always, prospects are the central focus at Baseball America.
We unveiled our Top 100 Prospects ranking for 2024 in January. MLB Pipeline and ESPN followed suit. The pool of players eligible for Prospect Promotion Incentive draft picks flow from these three Top 100s.
The PPI initiative was introduced in 2022 as part of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. It incentivizes teams to carry prospects on Opening Day rosters, rather than suppress MLB service time by sending them to the minor leagues for a few weeks in April.
Players who qualify for PPI and subsequently factor for major awards will net their clubs a draft pick after the first round. In the first two years of the PPI program, Rookies of the Year Corbin Carroll, Gunnar Henderson and Julio Rodriguez have netted picks—and bonus pool dollars—for the D-backs, Orioles and Mariners in the 2023 and 2024 drafts.
For reference, Seattle added $2.8 million to its draft bonus pool via the PPI draft pick it added in 2023. The Mariners selected high school outfielder Jonny Farmelo with the 29th overall pick.
No PPI-eligible player has yet placed top three in MVP or Cy Young Award voting, but if one does, then that will yield a PPI draft pick as well.
The process by which players can qualify their clubs for PPI draft picks looks like this:
(1) The player must appear on a preseason Top 100 Prospects ranking by at least two of Baseball America, ESPN or MLB Pipeline.
(2) The player must be rookie-eligible and must have fewer than 60 days of prior MLB service.
(3) Any player who meets the requirements above must accrue at least one year of MLB service as a rookie. One year of service requires 172 days on an active roster, which means the player must break camp with the team or be called up within two weeks of Opening Day.
Players who meet all three of the criteria above and then win a Rookie of the Year award or finish top three in MVP or Cy Young Award balloting prior to qualifying for arbitration will net their clubs a PPI draft pick after the first round.
There is a limit of one PPI pick per organization per year, and a player may qualify his club for a PPI pick only once. In other words, Carroll, Henderson and Rodriguez no longer qualify their clubs for future PPI draft picks.
Now that the three qualifying Top 100 Prospects rankings have been published, we know the identity of prospects who could potentially gain PPI eligibility.
This is merely the first step. These prospects must earn 172 service days in 2024 and then win a ROY award or place top three for MVP or CYA in 2024, 2025 or 2026 to actually yield a PPI draft pick.
A total of 98 players made at least two of the three qualifying Top 100 Prospects rankings. They are sorted here by experience level and again by their ranking on the BA Top 100.
Potential PPI-qualifying players with MLB experience
Junior Caminero, 3B, Rays
Evan Carter, OF, Rangers
Jordan Lawlar, SS, D-backs
Jasson Dominguez, OF, Yankees
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF, Cubs
Noelvi Marte, 3B, Reds
Kyle Harrison, LHP, Giants
Colton Cowser, OF, Orioles
Masyn Winn, SS, Cardinals
Heston Kjerstad, OF, Orioles
AJ Smith-Shawver, RHP, Braves
Marco Luciano, SS, Giants
Curtis Mead, 3B, Rays
Austin Wells, C, Yankees
Connor Phillips, RHP, Reds
Brayan Rocchio, SS, Guardians
Nolan Schanuel, 1B, Angels
Ronny Mauricio, 2B, Mets
Ceddanne Rafaela, OF, Red Sox
Cubs third baseman Michael Busch and Brewers shortstop Joey Ortiz would have appeared on this list had they remained with their original clubs. But both were traded in the offseason, nullifying the potential PPI eligibility, which attaches only to the club for which players make their MLB debuts.
Note that not all traded prospects are ineligible for PPI. The Rays’ Shane Baz and the Twins’ Joe Ryan are two examples of traded prospects who retain PPI eligibility. That’s because they made their MLB debuts after their trades. The Nationals’ MacKenzie Gore, on the other hand, is not PPI eligible. He debuted with the Padres in 2022 and satisfied PPI qualifying requirements as a rookie, but his trade from San Diego to the Nationals that July nullified his PPI eligibility.
Baseball America has reached out to MLB for further confirmation and will update this story as necessary.
Mets second baseman Ronny Mauricio is expected to miss the season after having knee reconstruction surgery. If he does, he will accrue a full year of service on the major league injured list and will satisfy the PPI requirements.
Braves righthander AJ Smith-Shawver has more than 45 days of MLB service but remains rookie eligible. That’s because of his roughly 50 service days, fewer than 45 were spent on the active MLB roster. When Atlanta optioned Smith-Shawver to Triple-A on Sept. 13, he received MLB service for two weeks prior to his Sept. 28 recall—but during this time he wasn’t a member of the active roster. All payers optioned after the third day following Labor Day receive MLB service but not MLB salary.
Potential PPI-qualifying players who reached Double-A or Triple-A
Jackson Holliday, SS, Orioles
Jackson Chourio, OF, Brewers
Wyatt Langford, OF, Rangers
Dylan Crews, OF, Nationals
Ethan Salas, C, Padres
Paul Skenes, RHP, Pirates
Samuel Basallo, C, Orioles
James Wood, OF, Nationals
Andrew Painter, RHP, Phillies
Marcelo Mayer, SS, Red Sox
Colson Montgomery, SS, White Sox
Jackson Merrill, SS, Padres
Jackson Jobe, RHP, Tigers
Roman Anthony, OF, Red Sox
Ricky Tiedemann, LHP, Blue Jays
Cade Horton, RHP, Cubs
Coby Mayo, 3B, Orioles
Robby Snelling, LHP, Padres
Colt Keith, 3B, Tigers
Chase DeLauter, OF, Guardians
Jett Williams, SS, Mets
Matt Shaw, SS, Cubs
Jacob Misiorowski, RHP, Brewers
Jeferson Quero, C, Brewers
Brooks Lee, SS, Twins
Adael Amador, SS, Rockies
Carson Williams, SS, Rays
Spencer Jones, OF, Yankees
Owen Caissie, OF, Cubs
Hurston Waldrep, RHP, Braves
Brady House, 3B, Nationals
Drew Thorpe, RHP, Padres
Bubba Chandler, RHP, Pirates
Kyle Teel, C, Red Sox
Mick Abel, RHP, Phillies
Tyler Black, 3B, Brewers
Chase Hampton, RHP, Yankees
Jared Jones, RHP, Pirates
Tekoah Roby, RHP, Cardinals
Jace Jung, 2B, Tigers
Tink Hence, RHP, Cardinals
Jacob Melton, OF, Astros
Orelvis Martinez, SS, Blue Jays
Drew Gilbert, OF, Mets
Yanquiel Fernandez, OF, Rockies
Andy Pages, OF, Dodgers
Nick Frasso, RHP, Dodgers
Kyle Manzardo, 1B, Guardians
Luisangel Acuña, SS, Mets
Edwin Arroyo, SS, Reds
Daniel Espino, RHP, Guardians
Chase Petty, RHP, Reds
Carson Whisenhunt, LHP, Giants
Last year, three potential PPI-eligible players with no major league experience—which maps to the group above—made Opening Day rosters: White Sox outfielder Oscar Colas, Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe and Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker. Only Volpe made it through the MLB season without being demoted, thus accruing at least 172 service days to attach PPI eligibility.
Potential PPI-qualifying players who have not yet reached Double-A
Walker Jenkins, OF, Twins
Max Clark, OF, Tigers
Dylan Lesko, RHP, Padres
Noah Schultz, LHP, White Sox
Cole Young, SS, Mariners
Noble Meyer, RHP, Marlins
Dalton Rushing, C, Dodgers
Harry Ford, C, Mariners
Colt Emerson, SS, Mariners
Emmanuel Rodriguez, OF, Twins
Sebastian Walcott, SS, Rangers
Rhett Lowder, RHP, Reds
Chase Dollander, RHP, Rockies
Bryce Eldridge, OF, Giants
Justin Crawford, OF, Phillies
Roderick Arias, SS, Yankees
Xavier Isaac, 1B, Rays
Jacob Wilson, SS, Athletics
Termarr Johnson, 2B, Pirates
Luis Morales, RHP, Athletics
Leodalis De Vries, SS, Padres
Druw Jones, OF, D-backs
Tommy Troy, SS, D-backs
Ryan Clifford, OF, Mets
We won’t know the official list of players who will qualify their clubs for potential PPI draft picks until Opening Day rosters are announced, but now that Top 100 Prospects season is upon us, we do know the pool of players from which those names will be drawn.
