Look, I can’t claim I’ll be good at this. I’ve never tried to rank organizations. I think it’s partly because I come from the perspective of learning, as in, I’m just trying to learn quickly enough to keep up. These organizations are staffed by numerous professionals whose job it is to identify, acquire and develop talent full-time 365 days a year. The idea that a single mind can track, categorize and rank the collective “value” of all the people (many of them teenagers) populating those 30 baseball-player-making planets strikes me as a little silly. Nonetheless, I have a deadline to meet, and I’m old enough now to accept that some grace is built into the premise. Anyone who really follows baseball knows every individual player’s skill level fluctuates across time, so here we go: let’s rank 2,475 players by their organizational sets of 165.
*Click the team name to see that organization’s top ten prospects.
The Dodgers have more outfielders than they can use even after moving Zyhir Hope in the Tarik Skubal trade. I stop at ten players for the purposes of list-making, but I always have a long list of young Dodgers to consider, and this year was no exception. Emil Morales gives them a chance at another new top ten type by summer.
The top two systems will shock readers, I know. Past is prologue, and each org is somehow stocked with depth all over the diamond and headlined by a top-tier hitting prospect. Plus, they have Ricki Moneys, which means nobody else can have him.
We still need to see Jackson Flora against professional lineups, but he has a case for best pitching prospect in the National League. Between that and their to-the-moon middle infielders, this team intrigues me. Joniel Hernandez could join the core group of elite prospects in 2027.
Rainiel Rodriguez is as exciting as a catching prospect gets, Joshua Baez has as much power as anybody, and Liam Doyle has as much upside as any lefty in the National League. Miguel Hernandez and Yairo Padilla look like 2027 breakout candidates. I got some late-season trade offers for Hernandez in the Razz 30 but held onto him, for whatever that’s Werth.
I like Miguel Sime Jr. quite a bit, and he’s their No. 5 prospect because that’s the highest I could push him up the list in a strong system. I’m a little skeptical of the ultimate upside of their highest-ranked bats.
As usual, pitching is a strength of this system, but they’ve also got their most interesting core group of bats in quite some time with Jacob Lombard, Aiva Arquette, and Cam Cannarella.
Cam Caminiti could join the rotation this season, and Briggs McKenzie looks poised for a minor league breakout in 2027. I can’t shake the feeling that they should be higher on the list. Maybe third, considering their track record. I mean, they’re probably closer to the Brewers and Dodgers than they are to the Marlins and Pirates, right? I dunno. I’m gonna leave them here.
Seth Hernandez is a little more than his fair share of the lifting for this ranking, but that’s okay. They’ve been graduating talent and would be poised to contend in 2027 if ownership allows it.
If you love Ethan Holiday and Charlie Condon, this might look low to you. I just like to err on the side of caution with guys who may not add value on defense, which describes a key caveat for several prospects in this system.
Francisco Renteria is already 6’3” and 216 pounds with big-league power at age 17, which is why he signed for $4 million. The system’s a little top heavy after trading some guys at the deadline, but that’s sort of how they run the shop here: trade guys believing you’ll find more.
11. Cincinnati Reds
Alfredo Duno is a stud, but there aren’t many sure things in this system at the moment. Not many sure things in life, to be fair, but I think you get my jist.
12. New York Mets
Lotta like-not-love types in this system. Solid depth. Some high upside that’s far away, but the near term isn’t ideal.
13. Chicago Cubs
This front office can identify a talented hitter and develop him, but holy cow do they need some help on the pitching side.
14. San Diego Padres
They trade guys planning to find more guys they can trade. At least it’s an ethos.
My apologies to Dbacks fans. They’re probably better than this. They just like slightly different prospects than I do, I think.
Thanks for reading!
