ESPN Insider Keith Law released his annual ranking of farm systems throughout Major League Baseball. Law is a senior baseball analyst for ESPN and previously served as a special assistant to a former Blue Jay's general manager and was also a writer for Baseball Prospectus. Where does your team rank on his list?
According to Law, the Chicago Cubs have the top farm system in all of baseball, and it's no surprise since a number of trades and international signings have brought the team plenty of young talent. The Cubs called up a number of their young players last season, including Arismendy Alcantara, Javier Baez and Jorge Soler. In 2015 it looks like they're going to call up top prospect third baseman Kris Bryant, who coincidentally is also ranked as Law's top prospect in all of baseball.
Baseball America named the Cubs' top prospects earlier this month:
1. Kris Bryant, 3B
2. Addison Russell, SS
3. Jorge Soler, OF
4. Kyle Schwarber, C/OF
5. C.J. Edwards, RHP
6. Billy McKinney, OF
7. Albert Almora, OF
8. Gleyber Torres, SS
9. Pierce Johnson, RHP
10. Duane Underwood, RHP
Anthony Rizzo, Starlin Castro and Kyle Hendricks were also products of the team's farm system, and Law believes it's even stronger heading into 2015.
"The hype around their system is justified by the talent in it, with the strongest collection of top-shelf hitting prospects I can remember since I started working in baseball," he writes.
"There are young starting pitching prospects here to like, led by 20-year-old Duane Underwood, but they're all a few years away."
While the Cubs sit atop the league, one of the best teams in baseball is at the bottom. The Detroit Tigers rank No. 30 on Law's list, mainly because they traded five of their top 10 prospects from last season, and that doesn't include the emerging shortstop Willy Adames, who was sent to Tampa Bay in the David Price trade.
If you're not an ESPN Insider, here are Nos. 2-29 on Law's list with their top prospect (provided by Baseball America):
2. Minnesota Twins - Byron Buxton, OF
3. Houston Astros - Carlos Correa, SS
4. New York Mets - Noah Syndergaard, RHP
5. Boston Red Sox - Blake Swihart, C
6. Atlanta Braves - Jose Peraza, 2B
7. Pittsburgh Pirates - Tyler Glasnow, RHP
8. Colorado Rockies - David Dahl, OF
9. Washington Nationals - Lucas Giolito, RHP
10. Los Angeles Dodgers - Corey Seager, SS
11. Texas Rangers - Joey Gallo, 3B
12. Chicago White Sox - Carlos Rodon, LHP
13. St. Louis Cardinals - Marco Gonzales, LHP
14. Arizona Diamondbacks - Archie Bradley, RHP
15. Kansas City Royals - Raul A. Mondesi, SS
16. Cleveland Indians - Francisco Lindor, SS
17. Cincinnati Reds - Robert Stephenson, RHP
18. San Diego Padres - Matt Wisler, RHP
19. Toronto Blue Jays - Daniel Norris, LHP
20. New York Yankees - Luis Severino, RHP
21. Seattle Mariners - Alex Jackson, OF
22. Baltimore Orioles - Dylan Bundy, RHP
23. Tampa Bay Rays - Willy Adames, SS
24. Miami Marlins - Tyler Kolek, RHP
25. Philadelphia Phillies - J.P. Crawford, SS
26. Oakland Athletics - Franklin Barreto, SS (former top prospect Daniel Roberston was traded)
27. Los Angeles Angels - Sean Newcomb, LRP
28. Milwaukee Brewers - Tyrone Taylor, OF
29. San Francisco Giants - Andrew Susac, C
