White Sox... 3rd worst farm system in baseball

[doublem23]

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2013/...ystem-rankings

#28? HELL. YES.

[mzh]

[blandman]

[Tragg]

Improvement.

[delben91]

Interesting he put the Tigers at #30.

[DumpJerry]

Well,the fact that so many crappy MLB teams have top-flight farm systems (according to this link) tells me how valid it is rating minor leaguers.

[Moses_Scurry]

Hit on a couple draft picks this year, and they might crack the top 25!

[shingo10]

Oh great, this again.

Didn't we have like 12 rookies pitch for us last year or something?

It's like when the experts pick the division winners at the start of the year...it's almost a blessing to be counted out.

[doublem23]

Originally Posted by DumpJerry

Well,the fact that so many crappy MLB teams have top-flight farm systems (according to this link) tells me how valid it is rating minor leaguers.

Ignoring the fact that 2 of the top 3 teams on the list might arguably be the best teams in their respective leagues, what does having talent in the minors have to do with success at the Major League level in the short term?

[SCCWS]

Good to see the Tigers down but it is somewhat concerning that the Twins seem to be rebuilding pretty quickly.

[Daver]

Originally Posted by SCCWS

Good to see the Tigers down but it is somewhat concerning that the Twins seem to be rebuilding pretty quickly.

The Twins don't rebuild, they are in a constant building state, they expect their draft picks to play MLB ball for them, and they develop from this standpoint.

[DumpJerry]

Originally Posted by doublem23

Ignoring the fact that 2 of the top 3 teams on the list might arguably be the best teams in their respective leagues, what does having talent in the minors have to do with success at the Major League level in the short term?

Pirates, Padres, Cubs, Twins, Red Sox, and Marlins are in the top ten (60% of the top ten for those of you keeping score at home). All had losing seasons last year (if the Red Sox have such a great farm system, why did they not have the horses to replace the injured players?). I only ignored the cherry picking.

[doublem23]

Originally Posted by DumpJerry

Pirates, Padres, Cubs, Twins, Red Sox, and Marlins are in the top ten (60% of the top ten for those of you keeping score at home). All had losing seasons last year (if the Red Sox have such a great farm system, why did they not have the horses to replace the injured players?). I only ignored the cherry picking.

Many of those teams you rattled off are new to the Top 10, though, but it still doesn't answer the question of what does having a good farm system have to do with Major League success? I don't get what correlation you're trying to make.

And, of course, just because the Red Sox have a nice stable of prospects doesn't mean they have a bevy of MLB ready guys. There are plenty of reasons why teams choose to be conservative with their minor league players developmentally and contractually. Ask Gordon Beckham how well it works when you get rushed to the Show.

[DumpJerry]

Originally Posted by doublem23

Many of those teams you rattled off are new to the Top 10, though, but it still doesn't answer the question of what does having a good farm system have to do with Major League success? I don't get what correlation you're trying to make.

My point is that there is a very low correlation. That is why I think it is silly to get worked up over these highly subjective ratings, they are less indicative of future performance than an investment prospectus.

[doublem23]

Originally Posted by DumpJerry

My point is that there is a very low correlation. That is why I think it is silly to get worked up over these highly subjective ratings, they are less indicative of future performance than an investment prospectus.

If you read the article posted you'd notice the author essentially agrees with you, saying that small differences are highly subjective (are the Cubs really #10 and Astros #11?) but that doesn't mean there aren't some CLEAR divisions in terms of talent pool and the Sox are still, sadly, lagging well behind the league. Nobody in their right mind would look at the talent the Rays have acquired and developed, for instance, and compare them to the White Sox's farm system and think it's still a coin flip between which system will pump out better players over the next 5-10 years.

But obviously the celebration in this thread is a bit in jest. The Sox farm system is still horrendously barren, and it is no comfort that the teams immediately surrounding us have recently had their systems depleted by graduations or big splash "win-now" trades that have worked and produced results at the MLB level. We're, unfortunately, devoid of talent all over the place.