This past week, Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com and the MLB Pipeline team released their rankings of the Top 100 Prospects in the MLB. Here are some stray thoughts from the rankings.
Gleyber Torres is the crown-jewel of the Yankees’ system.
1. Brian Cashman, Evil Genius: For years, the Yankees have been known as the “Evil Empire” for their ability to outspend others, and not worrying about developing homegrown talent. Boy how times have changed in New York. On the surface, the Yankees farm system looks incredible as is, with Gleyber Torres ranked as the number five prospect in baseball, followed by Estevan Florial at 44, Justus Sheffield at 48, Miguel Andujar at 65, Albert Abreu at 74, and Chance Adams at 75. Having six of the top seventy-five prospects in baseball is one thing, but Cashman’s brilliance is only furthered when factoring in Jorge Mateo at 72, and Blake Rutherford at 99 were both in the Yankees farm system a year ago before being traded. Throw in Dustin Fowler and James Kaprielian, who likely would have been on the list if not for injury, and Cashman has added upwards of ten Top 100-quality prospects into the Yankees farm system over the past few seasons.
2. The Marlins Rebuild Is…. Going to be a slow and painful process. Despite trading off four All-Star talents in Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna, Dee Gordon, and Christian Yelich, the Marlins still only have two Top 100 prospects, both of which weren’t acquired until the Yelich trade with the Brewers. That means for one of the game’s premier leadoff hitters and base stealers, a reigning Silver Slugger and Gold Glove Award winner, and the 2017 NL MVP, the Marlins managed not to snag a single top prospect. While number 27 prospect Lewis Brinson may be in the Marlins outfield as soon as next year after hitting .331/.400/.562 at AAA last season, number 71 prospect Monte Harrison is less of a sure thing after hitting .278/.341/.487 with a rough 14:69 walk to strikeout ratio at A+ ball in 2017. Marlins fans have had it rough in the past, sitting through two painful Jeffery Loria teardowns; however, the worst may truly have yet to come.
3. The Future is Bright in Atlanta and San Diego: The Atlanta Braves haven’t finished above .500 since 2013, when they won 96 games. In an even longer drought, the Padres have not had a winning record since their 92-win season in 2010. That said, based on each team’s farm systems, the future is very bright in Atlanta and San Diego. The Braves currently have eight Top 100 prospects, including outfielder and number-two prospect Ronald Acuna, an entire pitching staff worth of arms in Kyle Wright at 30, Mike Soroka at 31, Ian Anderson at 51, Kolby Allard at 58, and Max Fried at 83, and third baseman Austin Riley at 97. While the Padres only have seven prospects in the Top 100, their list is just as prolific, headed by Fernando Tatis Jr. at eight and followed by Mackenzie Gore at 19, Luis Urias at 36, Cal Quantrill at 40, Michel Baez at 42, Adrian Morejon at 50, and Anderson Espinoza at 89. After a rough couple seasons, Braves and Padres fans should start to get excited for what could be an incredible future over the next few years.
4. The Second Generation is Here: In the top fifteen prospects of the list alone, there are three players who are second-generation baseball players, following in the footsteps of their talented fathers. At number three, the Blue Jays Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is the son of 2018 Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Vladimir Guerrero, the 2004 AL MVP, and a 9x All-Star, and 8x Silver Slugger. At number eight, Fernando Tatis Jr. shares a name with his father, Fernando Tatis, who played eleven years in the MLB, hitting .265/.344/.552 with 113 HR and 448 RBI. Joining Guerrero Jr. in Toronto is the number 14 prospect, Bo Bichette, the son of 4x All-Star third baseman Dante Bichette, who finished his career hitting .299/.336/.449, with 274 HR, and five consecutive 100 RBI seasons from 1995-1999.
5. The Chicago White Sox are the Model Rebuild: Heading into 2017, White Sox General Manager Rick Hahn had a decision to make; try and compete for the AL Wild Card coming off a 78 win season, or strip down the roster and go all-in on the future. In the end, Hahn chose the latter, trading Chris Sale to the Red Sox and Adam Eaton to the Nationals during the offseason, and later flipping Jose Quintana to the Cubs, and David Robertson, Todd Frazier, and Tommy Kahnle to the Yankees at the trade deadline. At the major league level, players the White Sox received in these trades include their starting second baseman, Yoan Moncada, as well as their number two and three starters going into the season, Lucas Giolito, and Reynaldo Lopez. On the prospect end of things, Hahn loaded his farm system through these trades, acquiring number-four prospect Eloy Jimenez and number 61 prospect Dylan Cease from the Cubs, number 10 prospect Michael Kopech from the Red Sox, number 92 prospect Dane Dunning from the Nationals, and number 99 prospect Blake Rutherford from the Yankees. Add in that group to number 28 prospect Luis Robert and number 54 prospect Alec Hansen, as well as Moncada, Lopez, and Giolito, and Hahn has added eleven current or former Top 100 prospects since the start of the 2016 season.
6. The Astros are in Dynasty Mode: More often than none when a team wins 101 games and a World Series Championship, their farm system is dry because all of their young players helped win the World Series, or were traded for someone else who helped them win. At this point, the Houston Astros farm system isn’t particularly deep, having traded off numerous prospects to acquired Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole. But when you factor in that the Astros unbelievable young core of Jose Altuve, George Spring, Alex Bregman, and Carlos Correa could soon be joined by the number nine and 17 prospects in baseball, well that is when we can start to talk about the potential of a dynasty. In Forrest Whitley, the number nine overall, and number two RHP prospect, the Astros may have their 6’7” ace of the future, complete with a fastball that tops out at 97, a nasty 12-to-6 curveball, a power slider, and a changeup. In the outfield, the Astros have the number 17 overall prospect Kyle Tucker, who could be their left fielder of the future after hitting 25 home runs while reaching AA at the age of 20. As great as the Astros are in the present, the scary thing is, there are reinforcements on the way that could make them even better in the future.
