Tyler Paddor | March 13, 2025

Getting closer and closer to the top of our Top 40 rankings, today’s feature is Adael Amador, headlined by his remarkable offensive abilities. Though 2024 was not a smooth year for the Dominican infielder, lessons were learned and growth was achieved. Look for 2025 to be a much different story.

Full List of Prospects Rankings
Honorable Mentions | Prospects 36-40 | Prospects 31-35 | Prospects 30-26
Prospects 21 – 25 | Prospects 16-20 | Prospects 11-15 | Prospects 8-10 | Prospects 7-6 | Prospect 5

#4 – 2B Adael Amador

Amador looked extremely likely to be an MLB All-Star at some point in his career, following an incredible 2023 season which he spent primarily with High-A Spokane. In Spokane, Amador posted a .905 OPS with 31 walks to 26 strikeouts, 12 steals, and 9 home runs across 54 games–a roughly 35 stolen base and 25 home run pace over a full season.

Amador suffered a hand injury in the middle of the year which stagnated his progress as the switch-hitter struggled in a 10 game span in Double-A, carrying those struggles into 2024. With Hartford for a full season, the native of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic scuffled in some ways as a hitter compared to career norms.

Amador is praised for his hitting ability with great contact skills, a sound approach, and great pitch recognition which allows him to really grind out an at bat and adjust his swing to different velocity and pitch shape. A player with those skills is not expected to hit .230 with a .719 OPS in the minor leagues.

However, huge caveats exist. First, Amador’s hitting line was 11% above the Eastern League average (111 wRC+) and he managed a stellar .343 OBP still, thanks to a 13.6% walk rate that ranked 4th in the league. Amador also stole 35 bags, showing he will impact the big leagues on the basepaths. Not to mention, the second baseman was 21 for the entire year–almost 3 years younger than the average Eastern League player.

Not only did Adael have a fine season but he did so at an exceedingly young age, one of the most encouraging signs for a prospect.

That is not to say expectations have not cooled down slightly on the Rockies top middle infield prospect. As mentioned earlier, Amador looked like a multi-time All-Star following his 2023 season–an elite offensive second baseman with pure hitting ability you dream about and sneaky pop. Now, Amador still has all the same talent but expecting multiple All-Star appearances and perennial batting title contention may be lofty.

Amador still looks like a solid MLB regular–8 of those guys around the diamond would make any team good–as he’s reminding us in Spring. As of March 11th, Amador has a .467 OBP in Spring Training with 7 walks and 7 hits. He has not gotten in the extra base hit department much with just a singular double, but Amador’s focus needs to be on locking in as a hitter and making every at bat one he can win. The homers will trickle in–Amador should hit 10-15 homers annually at the big league level–and his speed and instincts out on the basepaths will always make an impact.

Amador has made an effort to improve his defensive ability–he’s a quality second base defender but at times, was not smooth enough for the more difficult routine plays and consistency on that side of the ball will be key for establishing a regular big league role.

With Thairo Estrada in the mix at the big league level, Amador is all but certain to start the season in Triple-A where he’ll lead a lineup of top prospects, including Yanquiel Fernandez, Sterlin Thompson, Ryan Ritter, and likely the pair of 2020 first rounders (Veen and Romo). When Amador’s name is inevitably called later this season, he’ll be ready to make an impact using his premium hitting ability and scrappy all-around game.