It doesn't surprise me that there is a disparity, because this business of ranking baseball prospects is such a complete crapshoot. Take a look at past Baseball America lists and note what sort of success they have at predicting Major League success. My favorite is the #8 (#8!!!) prospect on the 1999 list.

 

Just because the rankings weren't as "accurate" as you believe they should be (I don't know how you're forming that standard) doesn't make them a crap shoot. For instance, compare the 1-10 rankings to the 90-100 rankings on each year's list. I'm guessing you'd rather have the guys ranked 1-10 at least 9 out of every 10 years.

we didnt get a single guy in baseball america's top 100....i guess the only guy who had a realistic shot was poreda

 

Right now id say the future of our major league team is in serious jeopardy...i dont mind KW trading youngsters for proven vets...but he is basically out of chips to trade now, and thats not promising....this has to get fixed fast so that in two years we are still able to go out and get guys like swisher or quentin with our prospects, cuz right now, we can't, and add in to that the fact that we aren't outbidding other teams for the premier FAs.....its so important that we not screw this draft up

 

When our 2008 Handbook went to the print, the Astros came in last in our farm-system rankings. We'll update those for our Minor League Preview issue in March, and the White Sox likely will sink below Houston after trading three of their top six prospects for Nick Swisher. For the purposes of this question, though, we'll go with Chicago.

 

The previous five No. 30 farm systems were the Orioles (2003), Expos (2004), Cardinals (2005), Reds (2006) and Nationals (2007). Baltimore's list included Eric Bedard (who was sidelined after Tommy John surgery), Daniel Cabrera, Mike Fontenot and John Maine. Montreal has gotten nothing out of its top three prospects at the time (Clint Everts, Mike Hinckley and Josh Karp), but did have Chad Cordero, Shawn Hill, Ryan Church and Jerry Owens. Cincinnati's system in 2006 had no upper-level prospects of merit, but Homer Bailey, Jay Bruce and Joey Votto have blossomed quite nicely.

 

The White Sox don't have a single representative on our upcoming Top 100 list, and no high-ceiling talent in the upper levels. Their system currently looks worse than any of the other bottom-ranked organizations look in retrospect.

 

Maybe it was inevitable that the 2003 No. 1 system would outshine its counterparts, and that the current No. 30 would appear more dismal than its most recent peers, because of the advantage of time. The Indians' prospects have had more time to become success stories in the major leagues, while Chicago's farmhands haven't had any chance to further develop. In another year or two, Tampa Bay may have several homegrown all-stars on their hands, and the White Sox' future may appear brighter than it does now.