2018 Organization Talent Rankings With Reports
SEE ALSO: 2018 Organizational Talent Rankings
Ranking the talent in farm systems is an always-changing metric. A week ago, these rankings would have looked different with the Brewers ranking higher and the Marlins ranking lower before the Christian Yelich trade. A week from now, a trade may cause these rankings once again. For recent trends, we used previous rankings as posted in the Baseball America Prospect Handbook.
1. Atlanta Braves
Recent Trends: The Braves have long had one of the strongest farm systems in baseball, but it bottomed out not long ago. They ranked as low as 29th in 2015, but the new front office inherits a farm system that has ranked No. 1 in back-to-back seasons.
Top 100 Prospects: 8
The Skinny: The Braves still have more pitching prospects than hitting, but OF Ronald Acuna, the No. 1 prospect in baseball, 3B Austin Riley and OF Christian Pache give the team position prospects scattered around the game’s group of pitching prospects.
2. New York Yankees
Recent Trends: Steady improvement. The Yankees youth movement pushed them to No. 3 in last year’s rankings and they move up another spot this year.
Top 100 Prospects: 6
The Skinny: Atlanta has more close-to-the-majors pitching prospects, but in pure numbers, no one can match the Yankees’ seemingly endless waves of power arms. Gleyber Torres and Estevan Florial give the team a pair of high-upside position prospects.
3. San Diego Padres
Recent Trends: Just two seasons ago, the Padres ranked 25th in our talent rankings with a Top 10 that included Ruddy Giron, Jose Rondon and Austin Smith. A massive international spending spree and a fruitful two most recent drafts have fixed that.
Top 100 Prospects: 6
The Skinny: The heist of Fernando Tatis Jr., in the James Shields trade is the cherry on top of an extremely deep farm system that is filled with high-upside arms and athletic but far away position players. No team has a larger number of intriguing prospects in the lower levels of the system, but many are very high risk and years away from contributing.
4. Chicago White Sox
Recent Trends: Chicago ranked in the bottom third of the talent rankings from 2013-2016 before selling off their veterans in blockbuster trades. Yoan Moncada, Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez all graduated, but the rebuild is moving along with a second-wave of prospects led by Eloy Jimenez, Michael Kopech and Luis Robert.
Top 100 Prospects: 5
The Skinny: The White Sox’s system lacks depth of the Braves, Yankees or Padres, but their top prospects match up quite well, if not even better. If they had held onto Fernando Tatis Jr., they’d rank even higher.
5. Tampa Bay Rays
Recent Trends: The Rays long had productive farm systems, but this is only the second time they have ranked in the top five in the past five years. From 2007-2011, the Rays never ranked worse than fourth.
Top 100 Prospects: 6
The Skinny: Not only do the Rays have five players in the top 50. In addition, righthander Brent Honeywell and shortstop Willy Adames are as big league ready as any prospect duo in the minors. Both spent all of last year in Triple-A, but should spend much of 2018 in St. Petersburg.
6. Philadelphia Phillies
Recent Trends: The Phillies ranked in the bottom third of the talent rankings seven times in 10 years from 2006-2015, but they now have three consecutive showings in the top third of farm systems, including back-to-back sixth-place rankings.
Top 100 Prospects: 5
The Skinny: The Phillies rebuild keeps rolling along. Philadelphia’s pitching depth stretches far beyond the Top 100, and the combination of J.P. Crawford and Scott Kingery gives the Phils a pair of middle infield prospects with Triple-A experience.
7. Toronto Blue Jays
Recent Trends: The Blue Jays ranked fifth in 2012 and fourth in 2011, but this is their first Top 10 ranking since then. Unless Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette graduate this year, they are a safe bet to return to the top 10 next year as well.
Top 100 Prospects: 4
The Skinny: The Blue Jays run out of top-tier prospects rather quickly, but the one-two combo of Guerrero Jr. and Bichette are a pairing any team would to top a farm system. Toronto does have a number of interesting starting pitching prospects as well, led by 2017 first-rounder Nate Pearson.
8. Los Angeles Dodgers
Recent Trends: The Dodgers ability to spend freely has helped, but their five-year run as the NL West champions has been made possible by an excellent farm system. Los Angeles ranked first in 2016 and had three consecutive top three finishes before falling to eighth this year.
Top 100 Prospects: 4
The Skinny: After graduating Corey Seager, Cody Bellinger, Austin Barnes and Julio Urias in the past two years, the Dodgers still have one of the best pitching prospects in the game (Walker Buehler), a big league ready outfielder (Alex Verdugo) and one of the best catching prospects around (Keibert Ruiz), not to mention enviable depth.
9. Cincinnati Reds
Recent Trends: The Reds have had a good but not great farm system in recent years. Cincinnati has not ranked worst than 17th in the past decade, but this ninth-place ranking is also the team’s best since 2012 and is only the third top 10 finish this decade.
Top 100 Prospects: 5
The Skinny: The Reds are reaping the benefits of picking at the top of the draft. Nick Senzel is one of the best hitters in the minors, Taylor Trammell had an outstanding first full season and Hunter Greene‘s special right arm is ready for full season ball.
10. Houston Astros
Recent Trends: The world champs have ranked in the top five in three of the past five years and have not ranked outside the top 10 since 2012 when Jeff Luhnow and company started their rebuild. Before that, Houston had ranked 26th-30th-30th-29th from 2008-2011.
Top 100 Prospects: 4
The Skinny: After winning the World Series, the Astros still have a Top 10 prospect (Forrest Whitley) and another Top 15 prospect (Kyle Tucker). The trades of the past year have thinned the prospect depth, but most of those prospects were unlikely to crack the Astros lineup anytime soon, and Houston held onto its players with the highest ceilings.
11. Milwaukee Brewers
Recent Trends: The Brewers ranked 20th or worse every season from 2011-2015. The new front office regime quickly boosted the system, which ranked in the top 10 each of the past two seasons. They would have been in the top 10 for a third consecutive year if not for the Christian Yelich trade.
Top 100 Prospects: 4
The Skinny: The Brewers’ rebuild has rounded third quicker than expected. Even after the Yelich trade, the system has a number of upper-level pitching prospects and potential impact bats, and the system’s depth remains strong.
12. Minnesota Twins
Recent Trends: The Twins had four straight Top 10 rankings from 2013-2016. After taking a step back in 2017 because of graduations of Byron Buxton, Max Kepler and Jorge Polanco, the team has climbed 10 spots this year thanks to a large draft haul that included Top 100 Prospects Royce Lewis and Brent Rooker.
Top 100 Prospects: 5
The Skinny: The Twins Top 100 ranks were buoyed by a group of prospects who ended up at the back end of the list. The depth of the system is better than you might think, which makes for a long potential pipeline of talent to supplement the promising young core at the big league level.
13. St. Louis Cardinals
Recent Trends: The Cardinals have ranked in the top half of the talent rankings in each of the past seven seasons. Even a trade that sent four prospects, including Top 100 selection Sandy Alcantara, to the Marlins for Marcell Ozuna couldn’t stop the streak.
Top 100 Prospects: 4
The Skinny: The Cardinals have two Top 100 pitching prospects (Alex Reyes and Jack Flaherty) who could contribute to the big league club in 2018 and beyond them, there are a large number of outfield prospects. Most of the talent is in the upper levels, ready to help the Cardinals now.
14. Los Angeles Angels
Recent Trends: This is a massive jump for the Angels, which ranked dead last in three of the past four seasons and haven’t ranked this high since Mike Trout was a prospect.
Top 100 Prospects: 3
The Skinny: After climbing 16 spots, the Angels will likely take a step back next year once Shohei Ohtani graduates, but there’s a lot more high-ceiling talents in this system like Jo Adell, Jahmai Jones, Kevin Maitan and Brandon Marsh.
15. Washington Nationals
Recent Trends: The Nationals climbed four spots from last year’s ranking thanks not only to the stars of the system but also due to steady development by Carter Kieboom, Daniel Johnson, Raudy Read and others who showed they have possible big league futures.
Top 100 Prospects: 2
The Skinny: The Nationals farm system has produced a steady stream of stars over the decade–Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper, Anthony Rendon and Trea Turner. With Victor Robles and Jesus Soto, the Nationals have another pair of potential stars, even if their prospect depth can’t match many of the teams above them in the rankings.
16. Pittsburgh Pirates
Recent Trends: The Pirates ranked No. 1 on our 2014 rankings. Gregory Polanco, Jameson Taillon and Josh Bell from that Top 10 have become regulars, but Tyler Glasnow and Austin Meadows have been slow to develop and none of the big leaguers has developed into a star. Since then it’s been a steady drop in the rankings. This is Pittsburgh’s worst ranking since ranking 19th in 2011, even after acquiring more prospects in the Gerrit Cole and Andrew McCutchen trades.
Top 100 Prospects: 2
The Skinny: Mitch Keller is one of the best pitching prospects in baseball and there’s still hope for Meadows, but the majority of Pittsburgh’s prospects project as contributors, not stars. There is depth, however, which elevates them towards to middle of the pack rather than closer to the bottom.
17. Baltimore Orioles
Recent Trends: The Orioles move into the middle of the pack after ranking 27th or worse for three consecutive seasons.
Top 100 Prospects: 3
The Skinny: Finding Austin Hays in the third round of the 2016 draft was not only a heist, but it also single-handedly boosted the system as a whole. But it’s not just Hays. Baltimore has done a good job of finding pure hitters in recent years (Ryan Mountcastle, Chance Sisco). If Hunter Harvey is able to stay healthy, the system will get another boost.
18. Oakland Athletics
Recent Trends: This is the fourth consecutive season that Oakland has ranked between 17th and 19th. The system is never awful, but it also hasn’t had a big wave of prospects either.
Top 100 Prospects: 4
The Skinny: It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Oakland rank higher next year. This system has plenty of high ceiling talents but there’s plenty of risk as well between injuries (Dustin Fowler, James Kaprielian, Jesus Luzardo and Daulton Jefferies) and players who have yet to reach full season ball (Austin Beck, Lazaro Armenteros, Nick Allen, Kevin Merrell and Greg Deichmann).
19. Miami Marlins
Recent Trends: When the offseason began, the Marlins would have ranked last in the talent rankings. By trading Dee Gordon to the Mariners, they climbed out of the bottom spot (and put the Mariners there in their place). They progressively moved up the farm system rankings as they tore down their big league club with trades and began a full-on rebuild.
Top 100 Prospects: 4
The Skinny: The trades of Gordon, Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna have destroyed the big league club and led to a reworked Top 10 that includes an infusion of high ceiling arms. That has also helped the system’s depth as the homegrown prospects slid to the back of their Top 10 and beyond. Still, it will be many, many more years before the Marlins are competitive again.
20. Colorado Rockies
Recent Trends: The Rockies fell to 20th after three consecutive top 10 finishes, but they’ve come to this point because they graduated five of last year’s Top 10 to the big leagues, including four starting pitchers that helped push them to the playoffs.
Top 100 Prospects: 3
The Skinny: Colorado still has a premium prospect in Brendan Rodgers and close-to-the-majors talent in Ryan McMahon, Ryan Castellani and Yency Almonte, but the depth drops off fast, and the lower levels are increasingly barren after a series of blown high draft picks.
21. Detroit Tigers
Recent Trends: Former GM Dave Dombrowski used the farm system to trade for big leaguers like Miguel Cabrera, Max Scherzer, Austin Jackson and more, which helped Detroit contend for years. After starting to sell of veterans like Justin Verlander, Justin Upton and Ian Kinsler last year, the Tigers have added prospect depth and achieved their best ranking since slotting at 14th in 2007.
Top 100 Prospects: 3
The Skinny: The Tigers minor league talent is on a steady ascent thanks to trades and some astute drafting in recent years. There is a talented group of arms at the top, but the position player crop leaves much to be desired. With the No. 1 pick in the June draft, the Tigers have a chance to fix that, and a prime opportunity to rank significantly higher next year.
22. Cleveland Indians
Recent Trends: The Indians haven’t cracked the top 15 since 2011, but we’ll be the first to admit that the Francisco Lindor/Danny Salazar/Jose Ramirez/Cody Allen group from 2013 should have ranked much higher in retrospect.
Top 100 Prospects: 2
The Skinny: Francisco Mejia isn’t far away from helping the big league club and Triston McKenzie is an excellent pitching prospect. The Indians have a number of potential big leaguers in the Nos. 5-15 spots in their rankings, but few project as potential first-division regulars.
23. Texas Rangers
Recent Trends: The Rangers 2013 low Class A Hickory team had six position players who have a chance to play significant big league roles in 2018. But only three of them are still playing for the Rangers, as trades to acquire Cole Hamels, Jonathan Lucroy and Yovani Gallardo thinned the system. Texas had seven top 10 finishes in the talent rankings from 2006-2016, but this is a second consecutive bottom-third finish.
Top 100 Prospects: 2
The Skinny: Willie Calhoun and Leody Taveras are a good way to start a Top 10, but the system is thinner than it’s been in quite a while. After the top two, pitching prospects are predominant, but most are far away.
24. Boston Red Sox
Recent Trends: Dave Dombrowski’s approach is quite different than that of Boston’s previous front-office regime. Dombrowski has no qualms about trading prospects for big league help. That’s helped acquire Chris Sale, Craig Kimbrel and Drew Pomeranz, with the side effect of dropping a farm system that ranked in the top six from 2013-2016 to dropping into the bottom third this year, its lowest ranking since 2005.
Top 100 Prospects: 2
The Skinny: Jay Groome is a high-ceiling pitcher but has significant warts, and Michael Chavis brings big power but has questions about his ability to hit higher level pitching. Beyond those two, it’s very difficult to find a potential regular in the system.
25. Arizona Diamondbacks
Recent Trends: The Diamondbacks farm system has been consistently productive in the long-term, but a run of spotty drafts and and prospect trades from 2013-16 has led to a lack of depth.
Top 100 Prospects: 1
The Skinny: Pavin Smith, Daulton Varsho and Drew Ellis brought the Diamondbacks some hitting help in the 2017 draft, but the Diamondbacks traded away 2014 first rounder (Touki Toussaint) and 2015 (Dansby Swanson) and didn’t have a 2016 first-round pick. Jon Duplantier gives them a chance at developing their first homegrown starting pitching success in some time.
26. San Francisco Giants
Recent Trends: The Giants have ranked 24th, 19th, 26th and 19th in the previous four seasons. A veteran-heavy big league team has led San Francisco to trade away prospects for more veterans to make another push in 2018,
Top 100 Prospects: 1
The Skinny: The Giants traded Christian Arroyo and Bryan Reynolds this offseason, helping the big league club but with the side effect of thinning a system that already lacked potential big league regulars. The team did hold on to its top talent in 2017 first-rounder Heliot Ramos, and has the No. 2 pick in the 2018 draft.
27. New York Mets
Recent Trends: The Mets’ abundance of young pitching prospects helped the team to a fourth-place ranking in 2015, but the talent has dropped off since. This 27th-place ranking is the team’s lowest rank since ranking 28th in 2008.
Top 100 Prospects: 1
The Skinny: The Mets still have a number of pitching prospects who could bounce back, but the position prospect depth is the thinnest it has been in quite a while, with few potential impact position players and an pitching group that has struggled with injuries and inconsistency.
28. Chicago Cubs
Recent Trends: The rise of the Cubs big league team has coincided with a slide down the farm system rankings. The Cubs ranked first just three seasons ago, and that group now gives the team a young, homegrown lineup. Chicago actually has a pair of prospects in the top 10, but Gleyber Torres and Eloy Jimenez were dealt to help the big league club.
Top 100 Prospects: 0
The Skinny: The Cubs have struggled to produce starting pitchers for years, but the strength of the farm system now is its pitching prospects as the team has spent heavily in the draft to acquire arms.
29. Kansas City Royals
Recent Trends: The Royals built an outstanding farm system that peaked with them holding the top spot in 2011. That group helped Kansas Ciry make two World Series appearances and win one, but it’s been a steady decline since. The Royals have ranked in the bottom third in each of the past three seasons, but ranking 29th is their worst performance this century.
Top 100 Prospects: 0
The Skinny: The Royals rebuilding is starting from ground zero. Last year’s draft of Nick Pratto and M.J. Melendez is a good place to start, but the Royals lack upper-level position prospects and their starting pitching ranks are thin as well.
30. Seattle Mariners
Recent Trends: Jerry Dipoto uses the farm system as a savings account with regular withdrawals to help the big league club. Trades have left the minor league system extremely thin, but if it does pay off in big league success, it won’t matter. If it doesn’t, this rebuild will take longer than most.
Top 100 Prospects: 1
The Skinny: Kyle Lewis is a respectable No. 1 prospect, but what the Mariners deals have done is take away the depth that pretty much every system has at any time. The top 10 is thin, and the 26th-best prospect in Seattle’s system would rank below the 50th-best prospect in the Yankees or Padres system. The lack of starting pitching depth in particular is startling, and could spell trouble for Seattle long-term.
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