It’s never too early to begin preparing for your draft—even if that means readying for the 2018 draft.

So if you play in Strat league that prohibits the drafting of uncarded players—as I do—you will want to file the following names away for next year’s draft.

When I carried out this exercise a year ago I singled out Gary Sanchez (No. 2), Max Kepler (No. 1) and Jose Peraza (No. 6) as top uncarded prospects. All three should go off the board inside the top 30 picks in my league this year.

To add some heft to this ranking, I attached scouting grades on the traditional 20-80 scale to all 10 prospects. These grades are based on actual 2016 minor league performance and not the opinions of scouts. In other words, these are not projected future grades endorsed by the baseball industry. They are mathematic calculations in which 50 represents league average and 60 is one standard deviation above average and 70 is two standard deviations above average, etc.

I graded position players by batting average (hit), isolated slugging (power) and a simplified speed score (speed). I graded pitchers by strikeout rate (whiffs), walk rate (walks) and home run rate (homers). Average, isolated power and home run rate are adjusted for home ballpark.
 

Moncada went just 4-for-19 with 12 strikeouts during a September callup with the Red Sox, but he has few rivals in terms of physical ability, not to mention a long list of credentials. The 21-year-old Cuban claimed the Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year award in 2016, for a season he spent at high Class A Salem and Double-A Portland. In 106 games overall Moncada hit .294/.407/.511 with 15 home runs, 37 doubles-plus-triples, 45 stolen bases and 72 walks. Just don't expect him to win any Gold Gloves.

The Red Sox traded Moncada and three other prospects to the White Sox for Chris Sale at the 2016 Winter Meetings.

Batters saw the ball well out of De Leon's hand during his first four big league starts for the Dodgers. They lit him up for 19 hits, including five home runs, and a 6.35 ERA in 17 innings. However, De Leon is coming off an historic strikeout performance at Triple-A Oklahoma City, where he fanned nearly 33 percent of batters while working as a starter. Only a handful of Triple-A starters have ever cleared 30 percent strikeouts in a season of 80 or more innings.

The Rays acquired De Leon in January when they traded Logan Forsythe to the Dodgers.

Pilfered from the Tigers at the 2013 trade deadline, Paulino had Tommy John surgery soon after becoming Astros property. Houston knew that was the case but decided the wait was worth it. So far, so good. Paulino shows remarkable control for a 6-foot-7 pitcher and he can miss bats with three pitch types. The final hurdle for his development is durability, for he has not topped 100 innings in any pro season.

The Rays don’t let many promising young pitchers get away, but they might have in the case of Marquez, a 22-year-old Venezuelan righthander. Tampa Bay traded him to the Rockies following the 2015 season when the acquired Corey Dickerson. Marquez throws a lot of strikes and keeps the ball off the barrel very well for a young power pitcher. His 4.35 ERA at Triple-A Albuquerque was actually about 20 percent better than the Pacific Coast League average after adjusting for ballpark.

Forget Fulmer’s big league debut. On second thought, ignore his entire pro career up to this point. The White Sox attempted their trademark rush job on Fulmer, the second college righthander off the board in the 2015 draft, but he wasn't as ready as 2010 pick Chris Sale or 2014 pick Carlos Rodon to make an immediate impact. That's OK. Baseball men still rave about Fulmer's stuff and demeanor. Don't be surprised if he succeeds David Robertson as Chicago's closer.