The calendar has turned the page and in the new year, there sure is a lot to talk about prospect-wise.

We just finished up our four-part series on the MLB Pipeline Executive Poll, surveying front offices on everything from prospects to tools to farm systems. The international signing period opens on Monday and everyone is eagerly anticipating seeing where this year’s top international prospects will sign.

And, judging from the questions that started to come this week when I put out the call for Inbox, people are ready for new rankings to come out. It’s always a sign of a new year when the “When are the new rankings coming?” queries float our way.

• MLB Pipeline | Top 100 prospects | Prospect video

You’re in luck! We’ll be getting started very soon. You can find the immediate rollout schedule here. The Top 100 will be released in conjunction with the MLB Network special, which will air on Friday, Jan. 26 at 8 p.m. ET.

Where would Leo De Vries be on your top 100 prospects right now? -- @AlScott1998

In honor of the international signing period, we answered this question on the most recent edition of the MLB Pipeline Podcast. De Vries is currently No. 1 on our international Top 50 list and there’s always excitement around where international signees belong on team lists, at the very least.

As we discussed on the pod, though, it’s very rare that a new signee joins the Top 100 right out of the gate. We did it with Kevin Maitan back in 2016 and we’ve seen how that turned out. In 2019, Jasson Domínguez was added after he joined the Yankees and while his production has been up and down, he was in the big leagues hitting homers at age 20, so I’ll say that one has worked out to date.

But we didn’t even add last year’s top international guy, Ethan Salas, to the Top 100 right away, and we knew he was super advanced. It didn’t take long as Salas jumped onto the list on April 13, but by then he had stood out in Spring Training and we knew he was going to make his pro debut stateside. Obviously, we didn’t know he was going to reach Double-A in his first taste of pro ball, but my point is we knew he was on a different level than the typical signee and still we waited a bit. So De Vries is unlikely to break into the Top 100 right away and we’ll have to see what transpires this summer and beyond to see how quickly he shows he belongs.

This year’s Draft class seems to have quite a few players with potential impact bats but low defensive value. Does the universal DH impact the perceived value of these kind of draft prospects? -- @j7142128h

Follow up to JH question. Also with so many hard throwing RHP with control issues or reliever arms, where do these fall in the 2024 MLB Draft? Do you take them early and hope to figure it out? --@Ito3051441401

Are there any college pitchers you can see breaking out this year to contend for 1-1 in the Draft with the like of Wetherholt and Kurtz? -- @The_Duke68

I decided to lump these three questions together because they are all about the top of the 2024 Draft class and the second one deserves a special nod because they followed up on someone else’s question (the first one).

I don’t think the advent of the universal DH changes the perceived value of prospects all that much. Does it help to know that every team has one spot for a guy who doesn’t fit in a defensive home? Sure. But I don’t see it dictating Draft strategy. It just happens to be a weird year where the best players, as of now, are all hitters who don’t profile at a premium spot. JJ Wetherholt and Travis Bazzana likely are second basemen, though Wetherholt will play short at West Virginia this year. And while second isn’t the premium spot short is, it’s still up the middle and neither of these guys are DH candidates. Nick Kurtz is a first baseman only, sure, but he’s a good defensive one.

One of the reasons why all those bats are at the top -- the top 12 of our current Draft Top 100 are all hitters or two-way guys -- is the lack of arms to seriously consider. There aren’t any I can seek at this point contending for No. 1 overall pick, but since we haven’t started the spring season yet, we should never say never. There’s plenty of premium stuff with elite-level velocity, as mentioned above, coming with command issues and reliever risk. If a Chase Burns or Brody Brecht suddenly come out throwing a ton of strikes, then maybe they become part of the conversation, but right now I see them being able to pitch their way into the back end of the top 10 more than to supplant the impressive college bats at the top.

Would Skenes be a better prospect if he shaved his mustache or grew the full beard? -- @RDavidK

I’ll be honest here. Typically, I’m not a huge fan of the mustache-only look. It seems dated, from a bygone baseball era, or at least from the days of Tom Selleck on Magnum PI.

But there are exceptions to every rule and for whatever reason, the Skenes Stache works. I wouldn’t mind if he turned it into a full-on handlebar/Rollie Fingers-esque kind of deal, but even as-is, it kind of adds to his aura. And under the “don’t mess with a win streak” umbrella, the guy was absolutely, ridiculously dominant at LSU last year with the lip fur, so under no circumstances should he shave it now. Use the power of the 'stache to get to Pittsburgh and see how it plays in the big leagues.

Does ice cream taste better in a mini helmet? -- @MiLB

This really doesn’t need an answer because any self-respecting baseball fan knows that it does. But some of it might be based on the setting, on where you’re having the ice cream. If you’re at home, or your favorite creamery, then a bowl is just fine. But if you’re at a ballpark? There is no other receptacle better for your iced dairy desert than a mini helmet.

Except, of course, for a full-sized helmet.