On ESPN today, Keith Law posted his rankings of all 30 MLB farm systems(subscription required), rating the Pittsburgh Pirates as the seventh best system in baseball. He doesn’t mention any current prospects by name, and instead he notes that they have several players that should help the Major League club this year, while each affiliate should have at least one star on their Opening Day roster.
Indianapolis appears to have the most talent, with Jameson Taillon, Nick Kingham, Alen Hanson, Adrian Sampson and Elias Diaz likely to start the season there, although it’s doubtful that Taillon is on the Opening Day roster as noted here.
The NL Central is all over the rankings, going from the Chicago Cubs with the best farm system in baseball, to the Milwaukee Brewers, who rank 28th overall. The St Louis Cardinals are 13th, while the Cincinnati Reds are listed as 17th best. The only three NL clubs that ranked ahead of the Pirates are the Cubs, then the New York Mets in fourth place, and the Atlanta Braves are ranked sixth. The Braves needed to mail in this season to get that ranking, making six trades that moved them all the way up from the bottom five among farm systems when the season ended, according to Law.
