Will Yoelqui Céspedes land on Top 100 list?

Happy holidays to everyone, and since my next Pipeline Inbox won't be until January, here's hoping that your 2021 is better than your 2020. On to your questions ...

In recent years, the industry seems to have soured on drafting high school pitching. Would you say that it's still trending that way? Or is the pendulum going to move back as high school pitching starts to get undervalued?

Due to this, how late could Painter be on the board?
-- @vander1017

The industry considers high school catchers and pitchers (especially right-handers) the riskiest demographics in the Draft. The best ones typically go lower than media outlets rank them and Mick Abel (No. 15 to the Phillies, 2019) is the only prep arm to go in the upper half of the last two first rounds. But four did in 2018, Hunter Greene and MacKenzie Gore went second and third overall in 2017 and five of the first 12 picks were high school pitchers in 2016.

The 2021 Draft is still seven months away, but as of now, I don't anticipate many high school arms going in the first round. That's not because teams are running way from them, rather that the prep arms are a weaker class than usual. Calvary Christian Academy (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) right-hander Andrew Painter has the size, stuff and polish to go in the first 10 picks, though based on recent history it wouldn't be a surprise to see him last 5-10 selections longer than that.

Who were the next 10-15 players in order who were left off of the Draft top 100 list?
-- @JenkinsNahmir

No matter how long our Draft lists run, there's never enough space for everyone I'd like to include. We didn't rank players in order beyond our new Top 100, but I can tell you that from my half of the country (the Midwest and the Southeast minus Florida), the player I most regretted leaving off was Louisiana high school shortstop Peyton Stovall. Other close calls from my territory included South Carolina prep right-hander Daniel Brooks, Alabama high school left-hander Maddux Bruns and Mississippi lefty Doug Nikhazy.

Here are another dozen players (listed alphabetically) who received serious consideration: Oregon State righty Kevin Abel, Florida high school righty/catcher Jackson Baumeister, UCLA righty Jesse Bergin, Georgia prep shortstop Michael Braswell, Ohio State righty T.J. Brock, Maryland righty Sean Burke, California high school shortstop Davis Diaz, Georgia Tech lefty Brant Hurter, San Diego State righty Troy Melton, Florida prep shortstop Alex Ulloa, Virginia righty Mike Vasil and Canadian high school righty Calvin Ziegler.

Assuming Yoelqui Céspedes signs with a team as the international signing period begins, where would you expect him to land on the current top 100?
-- @jack_breen11

Jesse Sanchez reported Tuesday that the White Sox are expected to sign Céspedes for around $2 million when the international period opens on Jan. 15. The No. 1 prospect on Jesse's International Top 30, Yoelqui is the half-brother of Yoenis Céspedes and is a power-over-hit guy with a right-field arm.

We rarely immediately include an international signee among the game's Top 100 Prospects, though Shohei Ohtani and Yankees prospect Jasson Dominguez are two recent exceptions. I've watched enough highly touted Cubans struggle against quality pitching that I want to see how Céspedes fares before stuffing him on the Top 100. At 23, he's older than 78 of the prospects on the current list.

How might Jarren Duran’s surge this past season affect the Red Sox free agency plans in terms of outfield help?
-- @bahstonspahts

The Red Sox are excited about the strides Duran made at the alternate training site this summer and how he's playing in the Puerto Rican Winter League, where he's hitting .289/.333/.431 through 13 games. They're pleased with how he started driving the ball more consistently after altering his swing path and using his legs more, and also with how he continues to get better in the outfield as he gets more experience there after playing second base at Long Beach State.

All that said, it would be tough to count on Duran in the immediate future. He hit .250/.309/.325 with a 24 percent strikeout rate in 82 Double-A games in 2019 and his defense looked shaky in the Arizona Fall League that offseason. Boston loves Duran's upside but he's not a sure thing, so he shouldn't affect the club's free-agent planning much at this point.