Baseball’s Strongest Farm Systems
By Brian on Feb 27, 2008
Baseball America just released their list of the Top 100 Prospects in baseball. For the first time in memory, a Red sits atop the list: outfielder Jay Bruce. The Reds also have four other players on the list, including another Top 10 member in pitcher Homer Bailey. The list of Major League teams with the most prospects on the list:
Rays (7)
Red Sox (7)
A’s (5)
Braves (5)
Cubs (5)
Orioles (5)
Rangers (5)
Reds (5)
Rockies (5)
Angels (4)
Dodgers (4)
Yankees (4)
Cardinals (3)
Indians (3)
Mariners (3)
Marlins (3)
Nationals (3)
Phillies (3)
Pirates (3)
Royals (3)
Twins (3)
Brewers (2)
Diamondbacks (2)
Giants (2)
Padres (2)
Astros (1)
Blue Jays (1)
Mets (1)
Tigers (1)
White Sox (0)
And that list is pretty helpful to see the relative strength of the different organizations’ farm systems, but it doesn’t account for the differences in where the players are on the list. The Reds have player #1 (Jay Bruce) and player #100 (Drew Stubbs), and they both count the same on this list. So I assigned each player on the list a number based on his position on the list: player #1 got 100 points, player #2 got 99 points, etc. Here are the total points per organization:
1. Rays (464)
2. Red Sox (325)
3. Reds (317)
4. A’s (313)
5. Yankees (278)
6. Braves (241)
7. Cubs (228)
8. Dodgers (223)
9. Angels (204)
10. Rockies (192)
11. Orioles (188)
12. Marlins (171)
13. Rangers (171)
14. Royals (165)
15. Twins (160)
16. Nationals (139)
17. Pirates (139)
18. Padres (120)
19. Cardinals (116)
20. Indians (116)
21. Mariners (116)
22. Brewers (107)
23. Blue Jays (90)
24. Diamondbacks (90)
25. Giants (85)
26. Phillies (83)
27. Mets (81)
28. Tigers (80)
29. Astros (48)
30. White Sox (0)
A quick observation: the American League is in good shape to continue its dominance. 4 of the top 5 teams in this ranking are from the American League (only the Reds stand tall in the NL), and 4 of the bottom 6 teams are from the National League.




The Rays are coming, baby. And that new stadium. My God. Be planning a summertime trip to Tampa in a few years.
David Boyd | Feb 27, 2008 | Reply