Heading into the 2024 season, the Baltimore Orioles, yet again, had the best farm system in baseball. 

Headlined by the best prospect in the game, Jackson Holliday, the O’s had five young players within MLB Pipeline’s best 35. Four of those names, all but Samuel Basallo, have since graduated from prospect status. Basallo isn’t far behind them. 

Between graduations and trades, Baltimore’s farm was thinned entering 2025. Basallo and Coby Mayo were still top-15 prospects in the game, but they weren’t surrounded by the same kind of depth. 

However, between a seller’s deadline later that year and the internal development of some previously unheralded prospects, the O’s cupboards are stocked once again. Now, Pipeline ranks Baltimore in the top half in their organizational farm system rankings. 

Here’s a look at some of the biggest risers in their updated top 30 prospects: 

Nate George (Unranked → No. 3)

George, a 16th-round pick back in 2024, wasn’t on anyone’s radar entering 2025. He’s used to that. Now, he’s a top-100 prospect in the game. 

Baltimore’s Brooks Robinson award winner as the 2025 minor league player of the year, George flew through three levels of the minor leagues last season with a .337/.413/.483/.896 slash line and 50 stolen bases. A runner in high school, George’s exceptional athleticism earned him a 70-grade run tool on the 20 to 80 scale, according to Pipeline. 

“I love running,” George told me last summer. “Playing multiple sports helps you in all-around parts of your game and just being athletic.” Pipeline’s evaluation that George is “built like a running back” is spot on, too. 

He may be flying up prospect rankings, but George does his best to keep the noise out. “My dad does send me a lot of it,” he joked with me. 

The outfielder is likely to start the season in High-A, but don’t be surprised if he isn’t there for long. 

Luis De León (No. 14 → No. 4) 

Here is the complete list of big-league lefty starters that averaged over 97 mph on their fastball last season: Tarik Skubal. 

That’s it. 

Whenever he makes his major league debut, De León could join Skubal on that shortlist. 

The former international signing saw his ERA drop by nearly a run and a half from 2024 to 2025 while maintaining impressive strikeout numbers and reducing his walk rate. An impressive sinker is complemented by a slider, changeup and splitter that all grade well, as evidenced by the fact that he did not allow one home run in over 87 innings of work last year. 

Though his walk rate has come down in each of his professional seasons, that number will still need to be reduced before any major league phone calls. Still just 22-years-old, De León should see some more run in Double-A to begin the year. 

Esteban Mejia (Unranked → No. 8) 

Basallo was the first sign of things to come in Baltimore on the international market, and the quality prospect pipeline has done nothing but grow. 

Mejia, a 19-year-old from the Dominican Republic, has one of the most live arms in the system, with a 70-grade fastball, according to Pipeline. The teenager routinely hits triple digits on the radar gun, helping him rack up a whopping 111 strikeouts in just 24 career games. Even his slider and changeup reportedly work in the low-90’s. 

With only three High-A starts under his belt, Mejia should start the season at that level. There is plenty to clean up command-wise, but it’s easy to dream on the potential upside.