Baseball's best farm system (top-end talent) as 2014 begins
mlb.com (Jonathan Bernhardt) / 1-29-14
Ranking season continues, as now that we know where just about every team's major league squad stands going into spring training, we can have more informed conversations about their minor league systems -- specifically, who has the system most ready to contribute top-end talent to their major league team over the next year or two.
We're looking specifically at talent in the upper levels of the minors ready to help now (or very close to now), which means that most players that haven't played at least a little bit of Double-A ball won't be showing up in our analysis. This is also a very subjective exercise by its very nature, so I've profiled not only the top three teams, but the six runners-up behind them.
Boston Red Sox
The Red Sox are in an odd, and enviable, position -- they have the consensus top farm in baseball, but they also have one of the consensus top teams in baseball, meaning there's really not that many immediately available open spaces for all those top, near-ready prospects to slot into. It's good news, then, that the two most immediate counter-examples to that are also two of Boston's most highly touted young players: shortstop Xander Bogaerts and centerfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. Bogaerts is the better prospect out of the two; he's been a top-five position player prospect in baseball the last two years, and will either slot in directly at shortstop or, if the Red Sox eventually do something like re-sign Stephen Drew following what can only be called a total collapse of his free agent market, at third base. Bradley shouldn't find playing time too much harder to find, however -- with the departure of Jacoby Ellsbury, and Daniel Nava and Jonny Gomes making up a fairly formidable left field platoon, he should move into centerfield while Victorino mans right.
More: http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/67220822/
The top three: Red Sox, Astros, Cubs
Runners-up: Rangers, Cardinals, Twins, Padres, Royals, Mariners.
= new reply since forum marked as read
I am just starting to follow who is who and where. BUT, having "re-discovered" my love of the game about 6 years ago (after a 40 something year hiatus) , I find myself within 20 minutes to 1 1/2 hours of--
- a summer college league for players who haven't been drafted yet.
- the Short-A team for--well--- the Marlins- but used to be THE CARDS- The Batavia Muckdogs ("MY" TEAM)
- -Short A team for the Nats -Auburn Doubledays
- Rochester Redwings - AAA Twins
- Buffalo Bisons AAA Toronto
- Syracuse Chiefs AAA -who? I forget
-
And Drive a little farther and I can see-
- Erie Seawolves AA
- Binghamton Mets AA
- Williamsport Crosscutters- Short A
- Jamestown Jammers
I've gotten to see Bryce Harper, Strasburg, Seth Manness, Shelby Miller, a few more--and a bunch of guys who went up to the Twins, for what good that did. :>
))
The Cards have, I think, some good up and comers, not stars necessarily, spread through-out Low A to AA... who went through Batavia..Patrick Wisdom, Juan Castillo, Vance Albitz, Mike O'Neil...
What do I know?
Anyway...
I'm in heaven..
Are the Nats AAA team. I've had some good times at the local minor league games- especially the Potomac Nationals where I basically "met" a favorite of mine Jayson Werth while he was rehabbing with them.
The Syracuse stadium is out in the middle of nowhere across a huge ugly old parking lot, and to enter one must climb about 3,000 stairs (it seems), feels like climbing to your death at the top of a Mayan temple !
But the ball park is quite nice, the concourse between the lower and upper deck is open so you can watch the game while stocking up on hot dogs, kraut and beer :>
I'm HOPING to make it to Jupiter, Fl in March to watch the Cards Spring Training..
And to do an MiLB road trip to the NC area this summer... hope, hope, hope...
PLAY !
