Gary Streiffer
Cleveland Baseball Insider's 2024 Season Top 50 Prospects: No. 38 INF Alex Mooney
As we prepare for a new year and spring training to begin, there’s no better time to bring you an up-to-date look at Cleveland Baseball Insider's top 50 prospects.
Rankings are based on seeing the players live, watching videos, and having conversations with evaluators within and outside of the organization, as well as other writers.
While prospect lists are fun and entertaining for fans, they are not an end-all-be-all in terms of who makes it eventually to the Major Leagues. Remember, José Ramírez was never a top-100 prospect nationally, and players like Steven Kwan and Will Brennan weren't considered top-20 prospects in the Guardians organization by many outside publications.
The ultimate goal here is to inform our readers and give you information on some of the young talent in the organization that they can follow and look forward to seeing in the future at the MLB level.
Alex Mooney - INF
AGE - 21 | BATS - R |
DOB - 7/06/2002 | THROWS - R |
HT - 6'1' | DRAFTED - 2023 7th Rnd |
WT - 195 | ETA - 2026 |
In 2021, Mooney was ranked as Michigan's best high school prospect and had some first-round interest, but went undrafted because of his commitment to Duke.
Mooney struggled some in his first year at Duke, but had a terrific showing in the Cape Cod League in 2022, where he hit .315 with a .436 OBP, 30 extra-base hits, and 21 stolen bases over 63 games.
That success in the Cape Cod League carried over to his sophomore season at Duke, where he started in all 68 games and hit .315 with 20 doubles, 21 stolen bases, and 68 runs scored.
Mooney was then drafted in the seventh round of the 2023 MLB Draft, signing for four times his slot value at $1 million dollars.
Scouting Grades
Hit - 50 | Arm - 55 |
Power - 45 | Field - 50 |
Run - 55 | Overall - 40 |
Mooney has very good bat speed and produces some very nice exit velocities when he barrels up the ball. He has 15-20 plus home run potential. But Mooney can struggle with some off-speed offerings and needs to show more consistent contact and improve his pitch recognition.
Mooney has a high baseball IQ to go along with leadership ability he displayed in college. He possesses above-average speed and is threat to steal or take an extra base.
Alex has an above-average arm with solid hands, but there are some that have questions about his range at the shortstop position and his ability to stay there as he moves through the system. He may in the long-term fit better at second or possibly third base at the MLB level.
2023 Stats
G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG | ISO | OPS | wRC+ |
17 | 66 | 8 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 13 | 4 | .152 | .263 | .212 | .061 | .475 | 47 |
Mooney struggled in his pro-debut at Low-A Lynchburg, hitting just .152 with a .475 OPS over 17 games at the end of the 2023 season. But these numbers should be taken with a grain of salt given such a small sample size of playing time. He did end on a bit of a high note by hitting .273 with a .500 OBP over his final four games, collecting a pair of doubles and three walks to only one strikeout.
2024 and Future Outlook
It will be interesting to see where the Guardians have Mooney start his 2024 season. I could see him starting back at Low-A Lynchburg with the glut of middle infielders in the system, and the fact that he didn't necessarily hit the cover off the ball in his 17 games played there last year.
I could also just as easily see him starting with High-A Lake County for the fact that he was a collegiate bat, and he is already 21 years old. Cleveland invested $1 million dollars in him and obviously thinks highly of him, and might want to test him early.
If he continues to develop at the plate, Mooney's ceiling could be a solid regular possibly at short, second and third base, with 15-20 plus home run potential.
His floor is that of a utility player who could handle multiple infield positions with some right-handed pop off the bench.
