Known Grade Changes

by John Sickels on Jan 10, 2026 1:02 PM EST

Some early grade changes below the fold. Top 20 lists will be revised to include these later today.

Nick Ahmed, INF, Atlanta Braves Grade C+ revised down to Grade C
Jorge Alfaro, C, Texas Rangers Grade B- revised down to Grade C+
Jarred Cosart, RHP, Houston Astros Grade B- revised up to Grade B
Michael Fiers, RHP, Milwaukee Brewers Grade B- revised down to Grade C+
Kevin Matthews, LHP, Texas Rangers Grade B- revised down to Grade C+
Kelvin Herrera, RHP, Kansas City Royals Grade B revised down to Grade B-
Bubba Starling, OF, Kansas City Royals Grade A- revised down to Grade B+
Yordano Ventura, RHP, Kansas City Royals Grade B revised down to Grade B-

I must have been in a good mood when I wrote up the Royals since three of their guys were a notch too high in retrospect.

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Read More: Kelvin Herrera (P - KAN), Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros, Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers

Comments

Starling

Why the downgrade?

by Burlin White on Jan 10, 2026 1:08 PM EST reply actions

raw enough to concern me. B+ will still get him into the Top 50.

by John Sickels on Jan 10, 2026 1:09 PM EST up reply actions

not surprised

Seeing a professional AB before handing out an A makes sense to me.

by Burlin White on Jan 10, 2026 1:21 PM EST up reply actions

+1

by John Sickels on Jan 10, 2026 1:36 PM EST up reply actions

+1

Ray Guilfoyle
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by Ray Guilfoyle on Jan 10, 2026 2:09 PM EST up reply actions

Thanks for the updates

Already have changed my spreadsheet…

moves the Royals down to 10th ranked, and Brewers down from 25th to 27th.

by backtocali on Jan 10, 2026 1:12 PM EST reply actions

yeah it makes a difference.

by John Sickels on Jan 10, 2026 1:13 PM EST up reply actions

Alfaro

#thelegend will make you regret that ranking.

The Dodgers won't win a playoff series until the Cool-a-Coo returns.

by mckeeno on Jan 10, 2026 1:15 PM EST reply actions

Takes adversity to grow a legend, baby.

But seriously, why does Thierry Henry care what happens to Jorge Alfaro?

by goyo70 on Jan 10, 2026 1:21 PM EST up reply actions

Hey yo!

Nice

"Albert hits good pitches hard and bad pitches even harder. And when he gets in the batter's box, if you pray, then you start praying. And if you don't pray, you think about starting."--Brian Bannister

Trevor Rosenthal Update (as of end of regular season)
120 1/3IP, 133 K, 52 BB/HBP, 55 ER, 7 HR, 3.04 FIP
Postseason: 2 Starts- 15 IP, 9 H, 10 K, 2 BB, 3 ER, 19:10 GO:AO

by VolsnCards5 on Jan 10, 2026 7:18 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

Good call.

B- seemed a tad low on Cosart.

The bird is struggling out of the egg. The egg is the world. Whoever wants to be born, must first destroy a world.

by Stupendous Man on Jan 10, 2026 1:25 PM EST via mobile reply actions

I agree. Good to see Cosart bumped up. Hopefully this year we will see Cosarts stats start to catch up to his potential.

by conroestro on Jan 10, 2026 2:34 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

Personally

I liked Cosart’s grade where it was. A guy with that kind of stuff should be able to do better than 6 K/9 against AA hitters. I understand going with upside, I just have him red flagged for right now…

by KentuckyPirate on Jan 11, 2026 10:01 AM EST up reply actions

I think if we’re going strictly on upside and quality of his pitches, Cosart deserves an A-. It’s the issues you mentioned (low K/9, as well as scary delivery) that knock him down to B.

The bird is struggling out of the egg. The egg is the world. Whoever wants to be born, must first destroy a world.

by Stupendous Man on Jan 11, 2026 2:05 PM EST via mobile up reply actions