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Law: Rookies who can make a major MLB impact in 2018

J.P. Crawford is one of the rookies ready to deliver big results in 2018. Butch Dill/USA Today Sports

When I published my rankings of the top 100 prospects in baseball, I was considering the long-term value of the players on the list and off of it. I was also considering how far away they were and the risk that they might not reach their ceilings and might fail to reach the majors at all.

Potential impact in 2018 was just a small consideration. Although there’s clear value in being confident that Player X is going to produce for you this year, few teams will give up big, long-term upside for the certainty of a player in the short term. This list looks at only potential production in 2018, in light of what I think each player's likely playing time might be with two weeks left before teams set their Opening Day rosters. Many players I've written about here will probably start the year in the minors or on a bench, but they seem likely enough to get significant major league time in 2018 that I've ranked them accordingly.

I have written about the top 15 prospects for this year, and I have listed in a separate section at the end anyone else I think has a good shot to produce this year, in roughly descending order.