Best farm systems in baseball

**Biggin** · May 11th, 2011, 04:13 PM

I got on a kick last night and started examining farm systems in baseball, because more often than not teams with great farm systems become great teams.

Baseball prospect rankings is a tricky monster, some kids are 18 being compared to 23 year olds, but its pretty amazing how consistent the top 10-20 players in each years' rankings perform.

Baseball America's top organizations for 2011 had names people expect to see near the top now, with KC Royals being 1, with three top 10 prospects (Hosmer, Moustakas, Myers) and 5 in the top 20 (Lamb, Montgomery) and 9 overall in the top 100. But the crazy part is, that on the average, anywhere from 5-7 of the top 10 prospects in any year turn out to be good to great major league players. Its amazing how its consistent every year. We will look at some years now;

2009: (bold indicates major contributor)
1. Matt Wieters, c, Orioles
2. David Price, lhp, Rays
3. Colby Rasmus, of, Cardinals
4. Tommy Hanson, rhp, Braves
5. Jason Heyward, of, Braves
6. Travis Snider, of, Blue Jays
7. Brett Anderson, lhp, Athletics
8. Cameron Maybin, of, Marlins
9. Madison Bumgarner, lhp, Giants
10. Neftali Feliz, rhp, Rangers
11. Trevor Cahill, rhp, Athletics
12. Pedro Alvarez, 3b, Pirates
13. Mike Moustakas, 3b, Royals
14. Buster Posey, c, Giants
15. Dexter Fowler, of, Rockies
16. Mike Stanton, of, Marlins
17. Lars Anderson, 1b, Red Sox
18. Logan Morrison, 1b, Marlins
19. Alcides Escobar, ss, Brewers
20. Gordon Beckham, ss, White Sox

13 of the top 20 prospects are in the pros and are contributors for their major league squads, and 6-7 of these prospects are already some of the best players at their positions in the league. Price, Hanson, Posey, Heyward, Stanton, Cahill, Feliz are all some of the best of the best in two short years.

Team Rankings:
1. Kansas City Royals
2. Tampa Bay Rays
3. Atlanta Braves
4. Toronto Blue Jays
5. New York Yankees
6. Cincinnati Reds
7. Cleveland Indians
8. San Diego Padres
9. Colorado Rockies
10. Philadelphia Phillies
11. Los Angeles Dodgers
12. Minnesota Twins
13. Washington Nationals
14. Texas Rangers
15. Los Angeles Angels
16. Chicago Cubs
17. Boston Red Sox
18. Seattle Mariners
19. Pittsburgh Pirates
20. New York Mets
21. Baltimore Orioles
22. Arizona Diamondbacks
23. San Francisco Giants
24. St. Louis Cardinals
25. Detroit Tigers
26. Houston Astros
27. Chicago White Sox
28. Oakland Athletics
29. Florida Marlins
30. Milwaukee Brewers

Im glad to see ATL back towards the top, we banked on a few big time players putting us over the top with trades (Teixeira, etc...) and that made a huge dent in the farm system but ATL is elite in terms of talent and depth now. Heyward is a starter, Freeman is starting now, Hanson is the ace, etc.. while guys like Minor, Teheran, Delgado, and Vizcaino being top 100 talent guys who can contribute in the next few years.

Atlanta fans, I know we drafted Wainwright and he was one of the best prospects in the Braves system for a while, which trade cost us him?

**pvfan** · May 11th, 2011, 05:08 PM

One day, I will understand why Jason Heyward is the next big thing. He's a good player and I think he may be great but comments like this post are laughable. One of the best in the league at his position?

**pvfan** · May 11th, 2011, 05:13 PM

Before some Braves fan gets on here and starts praising Heyward. According to Biggin, Heyward is better than:

Andre Either
Lance Berkman
Justin Upton
Hunter Pence
Jason Werth
Corey Heart

Looks more like league average to me, and I didn't even metion guys like Stanton and Bruce who you could argue are better.

**Biggin** · May 11th, 2011, 10:38 PM

I would take Heyward over:
Berkman
Pence
Werth
Hart

In a heartbeat.

Are you arguing that a guy who scored 83 runs, had 18 HR, 72 RBI, walked 91 times, an OBP of .393 and had 127 total bases in his ROOKIE year isnt one of the best RFs in baseball?

Please show me all these RFs who outperform JH.

If a guy is top 5 at his position, is he not one of the best at his position in the game?

**pvfan** · May 11th, 2011, 10:49 PM

Originally Posted by Biggin

I would take Heyward over:
Berkman
Pence
Werth
Hart

In a heartbeat.

This is why it is pointless to discuss. Call me when Heyward does this for five straight seasons like the outfielders I mentioned have and then we'll talk.

**Biggin** · May 11th, 2011, 11:22 PM

Originally Posted by pvfan

This is why it is pointless to discuss. Call me when Heyward does this for five straight seasons like the outfielders I mentioned have and then we'll talk.

You really wanna take 70 year old Berkman, who cant hardly run, over Heyward?

Or Werth, in his mid 30s? Or Hart, who has reached his ceiling?

Pence I have no problem with. I can see someone taking Pence right now over JH.
Heyward has a higher ceiling but Pence is a very good player.

**1inStripes** · May 11th, 2011, 10:56 PM

Originally Posted by Biggin

Atlanta fans, I know we drafted Wainwright and he was one of the best prospects in the Braves system for a while, which trade cost us him?

Braves gave up Wainwright, Ray King, and Jason Marquis for Eli Marrero and JD Drew.

**1inStripes** · May 11th, 2011, 10:58 PM

What I would like to see is how many players can be attributed to certain minor league systems. The Braves minors system has put a ton of players in the majors for a long time. In recent years, I would say them, Tampa, Oakland, and Kansas City probably fight it out for that just guessing.