https://sports.yahoo.com/braves-vs-white-so...-145401186.html

I'll take the Sox' system in a photo finish, but that kid Acuna is having an incredible year.

I'll take the Sox cause it's super close and I'm biased.

I'm not sure I could accurately do it. I'm so much more familiar with our 15-30 than theirs. When I look at ours I see all the positives, for theirs I read the realistic scouting reports and negatives.

 

Both teams have a nice mix of high impact with the types of players that also just seem to stick and be good.

It could really go either way depending on who you ask. Subjectively, the Braves may have a slight edge due to most of their top guys being 20 years or younger and still have a lot of growth left.

 

I think it's hard not to admire what they have done with their players from a developmental stand point. While we have acquired 70% of our top prospects, while the Braves have homegrown most of theirs, taking a bunch of high schoolers in early rounds of Rule 4, making splash on 16/17 year olds in the LatAM market, send them to rookie ball for a year, Low A ball for another year, then skipping High A and going straight to Double A. Yet their prospects haven't looked outmatched but rather gets better at each level. It's hard not to envy how stupid good their minor league development and scouting is.

FWIW, Moncada should be graduating just about any day now.

It could really go either way depending on who you ask. Subjectively, the Braves may have a slight edge due to most of their top guys being 20 years or younger and still have a lot of growth left.

 

I think it's hard not to admire what they have done with their players from a developmental stand point. While we have acquired 70% of our top prospects, while the Braves have homegrown most of theirs, taking a bunch of high schoolers in early rounds of Rule 4, making splash on 16/17 year olds in the LatAM market, send them to rookie ball for a year, Low A ball for another year, then skipping High A and going straight to Double A. Yet their prospects haven't looked outmatched but rather gets better at each level. It's hard not to envy how stupid good their minor league development and scouting is.

 

Yep.

FWIW, Moncada should be graduating just about any day now.

I dont count him anymore. If I did it wouldnt be close.

FWIW, Moncada should be graduating just about any day now.

Not a big deal, but does it irk anyone else that the day a prospect "graduates," they are worth zero in these kinds of rankings? I get that they have become major leaguers, and that lists like this are just a snapshot in time, but I would love some kind of system that uses weights of some kind so players could still factor in in some form. It's not like a guy like Moncada is a prospect with X major league at bats and not a prospect with X+1 major league at bats. It'd be cool if there was room for scale or gradient.

Not a big deal, but does it irk anyone else that the day a prospect "graduates," they are worth zero in these kinds of rankings? I get that they have become major leaguers, and that lists like this are just a snapshot in time, but I would love some kind of system that uses weights of some kind so players could still factor in in some form. It's not like a guy like Moncada is a prospect with X major league at bats and not a prospect with X+1 major league at bats. It'd be cool if there was room for scale or gradient.

Super quality thinking post here Mr Buehrle. Maybe overall talent under 25 yrs old? Overall talent under 1000 ABs?

If a player is in the majors they cease to be a prospect.

We don't want to be the top farm system anymore. What we want is to be 5-10 and have our top guys in Chicago and playing well. While we sucked most of the year beyond belief having the top system got us through stage one. Now we are at the point of seeing some of these guys blossom. If we play our cards right with these next two top picks, we should have a top 5 team in baseball and a top 10 system for years to come.

We don't want to be the top farm system anymore. What we want is to be 5-10 and have our top guys in Chicago and playing well. While we sucked most of the year beyond belief having the top system got us through stage one. Now we are at the point of seeing some of these guys blossom. If we play our cards right with these next two top picks, we should have a top 5 team in baseball and a top 10 system for years to come.

I say we just become the best team in baseball and have the top farm in baseball.

We don't want to be the top farm system anymore. What we want is to be 5-10 and have our top guys in Chicago and playing well. While we sucked most of the year beyond belief having the top system got us through stage one. Now we are at the point of seeing some of these guys blossom. If we play our cards right with these next two top picks, we should have a top 5 team in baseball and a top 10 system for years to come.

 

We've literally had a "top farm system" for about 2-3 months. Some of the expectations you guys have for how fast the turnaround time is going to be are crazy.

Passan's article was interesting in talking about the schism on prospect community vs scout community on players like Pasche (and another who I will not mention!).

 

 

If a player is in the majors they cease to be a prospect.

 

Uh, no?

 

I say we just become the best team in baseball and have the top farm in baseball.

 

Eloy #1 next year, Robert in 2019 and Turang in 2020.

 

Reign supreme.

 

Not a big deal, but does it irk anyone else that the day a prospect "graduates," they are worth zero in these kinds of rankings? I get that they have become major leaguers, and that lists like this are just a snapshot in time, but I would love some kind of system that uses weights of some kind so players could still factor in in some form. It's not like a guy like Moncada is a prospect with X major league at bats and not a prospect with X+1 major league at bats. It'd be cool if there was room for scale or gradient.

 

Prospects are quite literally defined by rookie status. If you don't have rookie status anymore, you aren't a prospect anymore. When comparing for the #1 system, losing the #1 prospect to the majors can effect that status.

Passan actually does his homework, which is refreshing. I tend to agree with him though. I think the Braves have a better group of pitching prospects than us, but I'd argue it's closer than most prospect ranking lists would suggest (easily the top two orgs in baseball from a pitching perspective). But I think we definitely got them on the positional side. Moncada+Jimenez > Acuna+Albies, Robert > Maitan, & Rutherford+Collins+Burger > next three Braves positional prospects.

If a player is in the majors they cease to be a prospect.

Yes, except for September call-ups.

Super quality thinking post here Mr Buehrle. Maybe overall talent under 25 yrs old? Overall talent under 1000 ABs?

Yeah! Something like either of those would work. Or something that gives less weight to a recently graduated prospect, so he still factors into the ranking but not as heavily as players in the minors.

 

Prospects are quite literally defined by rookie status. If you don't have rookie status anymore, you aren't a prospect anymore. When comparing for the #1 system, losing the #1 prospect to the majors can effect that status.

I just don't like the binary nature of today you are a "prospect" but after your next at bat tomorrow you are not. In the end, it's all just meaningless labels I guess.

Edited August 11, 20178 yr by Buehrlesque

Yeah! Something like either of those would work. Or something that gives less weight to a recently graduated prospect, so he still factors into the ranking but not as heavily as players in the minors.

 

 

I just don't like the binary nature of today you are a "prospect" but after your next at bat tomorrow you are not. In the end, it's all just meaningless labels I guess.

 

Then teams like Astros (Bregman, Correa, McCullers) and Yankees (Judge, Sanchez, Severino) would have us beat. Let's not pretend that the Sox farm system actually produce a lot of quality starters in recent years.

I suppose this is as good a place as any, to get a clarification on a question I have:

Using MLB.com's "Pipeline," I don't understand how they derive some of these "overall" grades. For example, here is Alec Hansen's line:

Fastball: 70 | Slider: 60 | Curveball: 55 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 45 | Overall: 50.

How do they compute a 50 overall grade from those numbers?

Edited August 11, 20178 yr by Lillian

Part of it is due to structures. A lot of publications teams have groups that focus on prospects, groups on MLB, groups on LatAm, groups on american prep. You see when players cross over they have difficulty with grades until the new group can judge them.

Then teams like Astros (Bregman, Correa, McCullers) and Yankees (Judge, Sanchez, Severino) would have us beat. Let's not pretend that the Sox farm system actually produce a lot of quality starters in recent years.

 

Bellinger, Seager, Chris Taylor, Puig, Urias....all 26 or younger. Joc Pederson, star diminished at the moment. Grandal and Barnes not much older.

 

Alex Wood is also just 26.

 

If Moncada is still a prospect then the edge goes to the Sox but if Moncada is not in the mix then ATL by a slim margin. Take Moncada and Acuna out of it, and the Sox are still on top. And no, I am not unbiased.