1. Los Angeles Angels - Well they have the top prospect in the league along with two other high end prospects, so this ranking shouldn't be a shock. Verdugo, Pye, and Dodds are excellent prospects. Right behind them are Schaub, Harperson, Stansfield, and Eques are not far behind that level of prospect and represent outstanding depth. On the pitching side, Broderick, Winter, Yaw, and Kirk do the same. Los Angeles has an amazing farm and one that should form a very strong nucleus for years to come.
2. San Francisco Giants - San Fran didn't have as many high end prospects on the Top 25 list, but if we had done Top 40 they may have had 6 of the next 15 guys on the list. Riddle, Ingram, and Wetzel are nice pieces for a team that already has some elite pitching talent on the team. Turner, Moody, Travis, Brear, McGuicken, Daugherty, and Thomas are all valuable players in a deep system. For a team that already has many young talents on the roster, the farm promises to keep delivering high end talent.
3. Houston Astros - Tyerman and Frost are high level prospects that should prove very valuable, and very powerful, bats for the team for a long time. Lankford and Veina may also be solid pieces for the team. Howland, Callow, MacCowan, and Priddy are also nice arms to have. They have good balance with some serious upside in guys like Callow and Howland to go with their high end bats.
4. Pittsburgh Pirates - The Pirates have some outstanding hitting prospects. Aguilar may be the best player at his position as soon as next year and could be a dominant talent. Aspuria and Carr are also very nice talents that will fit the mold of what is happening in Pittsburgh well. Worrell, Gross, and Sandilands are all interesting pitching talents but lack high end upside. Still, it's fairly deep and boasts one of the most interesting prospects in the league.
5. Milwaukee Brewers The Brewers lack depth in their system, but what they do have is a very nice group of young talents. Poulson and Truman are likely both headed to the big league club and are likely going to be very nice contributors. Abbot and Dukhovny were fringe Top 25 talents that provide the kind of abilities that a lot of teams crave at their positions. Meachem looks like he may be able to hit his way to the big leagues. Overall a very impressive group of players.
6. Chicago Cubs The Cubs have a nice balance of talent on the way. Glathorn is a potentially elite power hitting middle infielder and he's supported by other hitters in the system like Laduc, Green, Galloway, and others. Legg, Reynolds, and Jones are good players with some high upside in the case of legg and Jones.
7. Chicago White Sox The Sox rank this high because they have two top 10 prospects in the league with Horton and Tart. After that the system falls off pretty severly but it's hard to argue with the kind of high end talent that looks to be on the way to the South Side.
8. Philadelphia - Philly sports Neuenhoff, Ortozco, Harlow, Hodges, and Witt in a deep pitching farm. Perhaps no one has two guys as likely to be high end pitchers as this group. The problem is that they lack the same kind of high-end complements on offense. Tavin is a good player and Leblanc is a great player at his position, but the well runs dry shortly after that. Philly is a draft or two away from ascending these rankings quickly.
9. Kansas City KC sports a lot of players around the bottom of the Top 25 rankings. Tawesson looks to be a special hitter, but where he fields is still a very large question for the team to solve. Starkey, McDaniels, Stark, and Hecker are also interesting prospects with McDaniels and Starkey having some very interesting ceilings. The pitching side still needs some work but there are options with Furusato, Takagi, and others holding down a solid group.
10. Cleveland - Cleveland sports one very high end hitting prospect in Pierre Lyon, a guy who was on the fringe of making the Top 25. Eric Clouse, Dwight Jonasen, and Jonathan Woods are also very nice talents on the hitting side. Roberts, Young, Handford and Mallet are likely not high end pitching prospects but might be valuable players in rounding out a team.
11. Arizona - Pinnick, Hartnell, Fleming, Cook, and Williams might be the deepest bunch of pitching prospects in the league. They have a range of abilities and ceilings but are all potentially valuable assets long term. On the hitting side, Becriva is the only oasis in an otherwise desolte hitting side of their farm.
12. Los Angeles Dodgers - This ranking is largely thanks to Tanabe and Fullerton, two outfielders that could form a very difficult 1-2 punch in their lineup. Harren is a very good reliever but there is little else in the system after these three high end players.
13. Washington - Rivera, Millet, Perelsa are all potentially impact pitchers in their system and there is other depth around them. Dickie and Kinmont highlight a less impressive, but still ok group of hitting prospects.
14. Seattle Mariners - Donny Redwine might be special. Really special. Matt Strype also appears to be a good player with some ability to contribute. After that the farm starts to drop off significantly but it is boosted by these two high end players.
15. Minnesota Twins Murta and Langpap may not be elite talents, but they are ok players that could prove valuable. Hitting is where the Twins are more well prepared for the future - Stubber, Stinson, Zamoro, Belasquez, Sullivan, and Salls all look like potential contributors in the future. Some look like high end players with a lot of potential.
16. Florida - Florida typically runs a bare farm, but they do have a few high end talents. Shepardson, Wandesford, and Rennison are all very nice pitchers. Rennison in particular could be a breakout star in the next year and may be the best prospect in their system.
17. Colorado What the Rockies lack in elite talent they make up for in depth. Sweeney, Feher, James, and Kruse all represent solid arms on the pitching side. Stockman, Taylor, Cook, and Caisse on the hitting side give them options as well.
18. Tampa - Chikafuji is some kind of special player. As a hitter he could be devastating to AL pitching for many years to come. Julio Rodriguez and Etienne Gremendes are also potential big guns for the team to boast as part of their farm. Depth behind that elite talent is thin.
19. Atlanta - Atlanta has a thin farm, but recent trades have boosted them with the additions of Tarancon, Woods, and McDonald. Several hard pushes by the team to contend have exhausted their resources but with those three players and Dustin Thurmon there exists some near-ready pieces to build around.
20. Oakland - William Rudd and Brooks Woodwoe are potentially very good middle of the rotation pitchers. Carlos Arciliares is a special player at third. Tony Walton is a wild card that could provide a powerful bat in a few years.
21. St. Louis - The last draft boosted a depleting Cardinal farm system. The additions of Vinny Evans, Tony Waits, Eric Lavedre, and Adam Gaines give them a very solid group of players to build around for years to come. The pitching side of things remains quite depleted.
22. Toronto The Blue Jays have slugger Ryan Blake and an assortment of solid pitching prospects in their minors. Gordon Zimm, Carlo Guarda, Tom Kolb, and Nick Hurlburdt are all solid arms that will be assets for the team moving forward.
23. Texas The Rangers sport a few interesting prospects. Santillan has an interesting future ahead of him and their hitting prospects have a variety of players that could develop nicely for them. They lack elite talent but have more depth than some of the teams below them.
24. New York Mets Jose Barrichello is a very special prospect, he has a chance to be a big time, impact hitter for a long time. Harford, Belliard, and Estape are all potential contributors as well that fit with what the Mets like to do.
25. Boston Alan Herschler almost single-handedly pulls this team out of the bottom five. He has potential to be an elite catcher in the league at some point. Jaemon Smith and Jose Gellegos could potentially be attractive trade pieces or long term assets as well.
26. Baltimore The Orioles have Temeres, Watkins, Fellows and Douglas in their system. I'm not sure any of them have a particularly high ceiling, but they are all interesting prospects for various reasons. The system lacks depth and high end talent, however.
27. New York Yankees Wolverton, Labady, and Edwards represent some ok hitting prospects in their system. But they are basically out of pitching prospects and their system is bare of any kind of elite future talent.
28. Detroit Detroit has graduated a number of very talented young players and have to reload now that they have made it to the majors. Joe Smith and Curt Lockhard bring some talent to the table, particularly Smith who could be a very solid starter. After that most of their prospects are too hold to be thought of as having much upside.
29. Cincinnati Reds The Reds have graduated a lot of talent and had to move draft picks to support their budget, which has depleted them to the point of having virtually nothing. Ames and Andrews may be major league contributors but have low ceilings.
30. San Diego Padres What can I say other than that it's hard to be rated anything but last if you have virtually no prospects in your system. It's sort of by default.
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