MLB's top 100 prospects for 2014

[jim]

Thanks for clearing that up izzy.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

Jim not to pick nits, but marp adams and rosenthal were all picjed in 09 and as such were part of the 2nd to worst system in the minors.

[33anda3rd]

When Taveras reaches the major leagues, the Cardinals will have no prospects in the top 50 and only two in the top 100. That helps to back up the argument about the Cardinals' weak farm system. Imagine how the system would rank without Taveras.

The next Taveras might be Carlos Talavera or some other guy you've never heard of who got a decent but not too big bonus on J2 some time in the last couple years and has not yet played full-season ball stateside. Think about when the first time you heard about Taveras was. Mid-2011? Start of 2012? He was in the org since summer 2008. That's the time it takes for a 16 yr old international signing to land on lists and be widely-known and begin to shape the public consciousness of the quality of a system.

They signed something like 17 Latin teenagers in 2012, and about the same # last year. Of those ~35 kids they signed, Reyes is the only one to play even short-season ball. We have zero clue on the others what they're about, and we won't for a couple years. Carlos Talavera might be the Taveras who's buoying a big-time farm in 3 years, and he's not even going to play full-season ball until 2015, when he's 18.

Those are the players that put you in Best Farm In Baseball territory, esp when you're not a team drafting top-5 for 4 straight years or something. Reyes is going to full-season ball this year, his age 19 season. Only 9 guys pitched any meaningful time at low-A last year. Only 7 in 2012. It's rare to play a full season of full-season ball when you're 19, and Reyes is gonna do it because he's talented. He might just go out and [expletive] shove it for Peoria this year and force himself to high-A and the discussion this time next year of "who are the top 20 pitching prospects in baseball?" He also might bust. But there's a lot of talent there. Parks put him #98 on BP's Top 101 list, out today.

There's talent in this farm. There's talent in every farm--yeah, even the White Sox and Angels. The depth right now will look more evident in a couple years, but that won't change what it is now. That's why it's risky to say this farm is shallow--there are a lot of young men in there that none of us has a clue about.

[jim]

Jim not to pick nits, but marp adams and rosenthal were all picjed in 09 and as such were part of the 2nd to worst system in the minors.

I was going off of BA's top 30 organizational prospects. So those guys weren't even considered prospecty enough to crack the top 30 of a very weak system.

[Socnorb11]

Jim not to pick nits, but marp adams and rosenthal were all picjed in 09 and as such were part of the 2nd to worst system in the minors.

I was going off of BA's top 30 organizational prospects. So those guys weren't even considered prospecty enough to crack the top 30 of a very weak system.

Isn't BA's list a pre-season list? Those guys wouldn't have even been in the system yet, would they?

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

Jim not to pick nits, but marp adams and rosenthal were all picjed in 09 and as such were part of the 2nd to worst system in the minors.

I was going off of BA's top 30 organizational prospects. So those guys weren't even considered prospecty enough to crack the top 30 of a very weak system.

Isn't BA's list a pre-season list? Those guys wouldn't have even been in the system yet, would they?

Pre-season for 2010 is when the Cardinals were ranked 29. All the 09 picks were in the system.

Edited to say: Back to the original point. The cardinals farm system does a pretty decent job developing players. Whatever they are ranked next year (after accounting for over half of a championship caliber roster in mlb), there's no need to say they are weak/need to change things/rebuild/whatever other cockamamie things people wills ay. Just let it work.