Ask BA: Bad From Top To Bottom
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Q:What’s the worst combination of major league win percentage and minor league affiliates you can remember? Top to bottom, the Giants are hovering just above .400.
Roger Munter
BA: Yes Roger, it’s been a very bad year for the Giants both at the big league level and around the minors.
The AZL Giants are the only team in the organization with a winning record, and all four full-season minor league clubs and the major league club are winning fewer than 45 percent of their games.
But it could be worse. As bad as the Giants’ season is, the White Sox actually have a worse overall winning percentage.
The Giants are considered relatively thin in prospects at the minor league level. The White Sox, after some recent trades, are now considered to have the second-best farm system in the game. But even with that only Kannapolis among the White Sox’s eight teams has a winning record.
Minor League Baseball’s overall organization standings only go back to 2005, so that’s where we’ll cut this list off for now. Over those 13 seasons, the 2011 Astros are the only organization since 2005 to fail to win 40 percent of its games among all levels. Not one Astros team at any level had a winning record that year and Triple-A Oklahoma City was the only team in the organization to win more than 45 percent of its games. Their lack of success at all levels is a record that is hard to beat.
| Year | Rk | Team | W | L | PCT |
| 2015 | 10 | MIL | 400 | 518 | .436 |
| 2016 | 9 | CHW | 400 | 523 | .433 |
| 2006 | 8 | WSN | 427 | 559 | .433 |
| 2009 | 7 | HOU | 426 | 562 | .431 |
| 2006 | 6 | TEX | 395 | 527 | .428 |
| 2017 | 5 | SFG | 281 | 376 | .428 |
| 2017 | 4 | CHW | 274 | 375 | .422 |
| 2015 | 3 | MIA | 392 | 538 | .422 |
| 2008 | 2 | HOU | 421 | 579 | .421 |
| 2011 | 1 | HOU | 393 | 594 | .398 |
On the other side of the equation, the 2009 Giants had the best overall organization winning percentage since 2005. They then went out and won three World Series in the next five seasons. This year’s New York Yankees are pushing to top them. It’s worth noting that the teams that rank first and third on this list won a World Series the next season and were consistent playoff teams. The consistent minor league success of the Yankees is equally notable.
| Year | Rk | Team | W | L | PCT |
| 2009 | 1 | SFG | 551 | 379 | .592 |
| 2017 | 2 | NYY | 422 | 298 | .586 |
| 2007 | 3 | NYY | 578 | 419 | .580 |
| 2017 | 4 | LAD | 409 | 297 | .579 |
| 2016 | 5 | SEA | 537 | 390 | .579 |
| 2008 | 6 | NYY | 574 | 421 | .577 |
| 2006 | 7 | NYY | 565 | 423 | .572 |
| 2017 | 8 | MIN | 375 | 282 | .571 |
| 2011 | 9 | TEX | 527 | 398 | .570 |
| 2009 | 10 | NYY | 562 | 428 | .568 |
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