[SPEAKER_03]: Everybody, full crew today, JJ Cooper, Jeff Ponds, Josh Norris, Ian Kundel, the Prospect team assembles because we've got a very cool and a very fun topic to discover.
[SPEAKER_03]: Discuss, which is we just rolled out last week, top 100 update, top 30 update for all 30 teams.
[SPEAKER_03]: With that, that means that we are up to date as best we can on everyone.
[SPEAKER_03]: So there's no better time to take a look at updating our organization talent rankings.
[SPEAKER_03]: then right now.
[SPEAKER_03]: Now, there are some, it's a, we love to say with our org talent rankings.
[SPEAKER_03]: It's a snap shot in time.
[SPEAKER_03]: If you look at these right now, the pirates are going to have drop significantly.
[SPEAKER_03]: Why Connor Griffin, Bubba Chandler, no longer count.
[SPEAKER_03]: They're no longer prospect eligible.
[SPEAKER_03]: The Detroit Tigers have dropped.
[SPEAKER_03]: Why Kevin McGonagall is a stud, but he does not count for these rankings anymore.
[SPEAKER_03]: You could say that with the Cardinals and JJ Weatherhold.
[SPEAKER_03]: We could go down the list.
[SPEAKER_03]: There are teams who have produced big leagueers this year that were put them very high on our preseason rankings, but those players are no longer eligible now.
[SPEAKER_03]: We're going to talk about players who are prospect eligible as of July 1st when we did this.
[SPEAKER_03]: Now, we will note with this that I don't think anyone really has graduated since then of any significance.
[SPEAKER_03]: So it's not going to have changed anything as you hear this now.
[SPEAKER_03]: But that's where the kind of the de-markation line is on that.
[SPEAKER_03]: Great to see everybody.
[SPEAKER_03]: And we're just as we always do going to dive right into it.
[SPEAKER_03]: This is a, okay, I should explain one more thing, which is how we do this is,
[SPEAKER_03]: There's been a lot of work of prospect valuation systems.
[SPEAKER_03]: We generally use the driveline system for years as kind of a baseline.
[SPEAKER_03]: The exact number is not as important as kind of the ratio from the top end to mid-range talent and beyond what I would say with that is that also just acknowledging the limits of doing this.
[SPEAKER_03]: We strongly emphasize top-end talent in our rankings.
[SPEAKER_03]: having top of the top hundred prospects is much more valuable than having a little more depth or a good bit more depth.
[SPEAKER_03]: Having both is great, but the other part that we will acknowledge is if you said that the 75th or 80th prospect in one organization is significantly better than the 75th or 80th prospect in another organization,
[SPEAKER_03]: That may be true, we're not really that's not going to be reflected that much in this because at that point you are talking about the values are very small and also there is not a level of precision that we can provide to that in the in the season if you tell me the snapshot of time of right now that's not where we're like we're looking at top 30s here and that's gives you a sense of the depth of a system because let me tell you there are systems we're getting to 30 is tough and there are other systems like our number one system we're getting to 30 is like oh I have to stop.
[SPEAKER_03]: So, with that in mind, our number one farm system in baseball, as of mid-season, as of July 1st, as of July.
[SPEAKER_03]: Milwaukee Brewers, which, man, what do you get the system that has kind of a little bit of everything, Jeff?
[SPEAKER_03]: Like, it's something where the Milwaukee Brewers are sitting here basically arguably, you know, like right in there,
[SPEAKER_03]: a team that has a lot of young talent to go with a lot of experience veterans, but then you kind of look at this farm system and what I'll ask you, what makes it number one?
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I think it's obviously the depth of quality prospects and there's a variety of sort of subtypes or buckets of different prospect profiles.
[SPEAKER_02]: You've got power hitters throughout the system.
[SPEAKER_02]: You have a young twitchy, middle-in fielders.
[SPEAKER_02]: You have guys that were taken in the early rounds of the draft.
[SPEAKER_02]: You have guys that were overslot.
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, high school guys, college pitchers that they identified that maybe weren't starters in college or didn't necessarily have the hype that, you know, higher, more highly touted arms within their, uh, same schools necessarily had, um, they just kind of, they kind of hit on on all the different acquisition windows as well as anybody.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I think we use the term farm system in a general sense.
[SPEAKER_02]: But I think it's app for the brewers, just in terms of how they approach stuff.
[SPEAKER_02]: And as far as breaking down prospects, following prospects, this is the organization every year, where they don't just have pop up guys, they have real prospects who pop up.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's not one of these sort of like, I really doubt, you know, Alexander Furious, or Jackson Churio, or Izu's Maude, or Louis Pena.
[SPEAKER_02]: All of those guys from year to year, almost like seeds that are planted.
[SPEAKER_02]: And it's like, you know the next year, I'm gonna come back here a year from now, and there's gonna be another international signee that maybe wasn't the biggest bonus guy, but now is one of the top five players in that class, or at least trending that way.
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, Ben wrote about this in the offseason, the way that they use their their bonus pool and the draft and their ability to sign really interesting high school players there may be a little bit under scouted, you know, maybe a little bit underrated by the general consensus of the industry get them to sign for reasonable bonus amounts and bring in more talent do all of those guys hit no but a couple of them have and I think when you look at how they approach.
[SPEAKER_02]: the draft, how they approach the international market, the trades that they do make, and some of the prospects that they bring in, they just made a trade like that this year, really trade away pretty parolta, they brought in Brandon Sprote, they brought in Jet Williams, et cetera.
[SPEAKER_02]: And then the trades they've made with the Red Sox last couple of years.
[SPEAKER_02]: Kyle Harris and wasn't a prospect, really, but it wasn't minor league or kind of one of that that like gray area, middle ground of pastas is prospect eligibility point, but still a
[SPEAKER_02]: They turn that guy into, you know, they're ace potentially.
[SPEAKER_02]: One of the best pictures in the American League this year.
[SPEAKER_02]: And then they've done it a couple other times when you look at a Quinn prester.
[SPEAKER_02]: Obviously, hurt this year, but had a great season last year.
[SPEAKER_02]: They're getting a really good year right now from Shane Drawhand.
[SPEAKER_02]: So they can kind of attack the trade in the window.
[SPEAKER_02]: They can attract attack the international market.
[SPEAKER_02]: They attack, you know, rounds 11 to 20 in a different
[SPEAKER_02]: But every year they come back with more and more talent and it feels like there's players that aren't on this top 30 that will be on this top 30 next year and will be highly rated.
[SPEAKER_02]: And there's a lot of guys off this list that probably rank in the 15 to 25 range and almost every system in the game.
[SPEAKER_02]: So they have talent, they have depth and they really attack all these different acquisition when it doesn't do a really good job of bringing in good players from the organization.
[SPEAKER_03]: Josh, you were just back from your swing around the complexes, the domestic complex leagues.
[SPEAKER_03]: You've still got on the on your schedule, the DS, or to come.
[SPEAKER_03]: But I do feel like that the brewers are a team that kind of what Jeff said here.
[SPEAKER_03]: It's like every year there is another
[SPEAKER_03]: premium prospect kind of emerging from special on the international side, but also on the draft side, but like year after year, this year obviously Alexander Frius has just joined our top hundred, but if you told me that Ricky Money, this is the guy who does that a year from now, it wouldn't shock me either.
[SPEAKER_03]: You've seen this, you know, going back to Tureo, we've seen this with Mede, we've seen this with Pena.
[SPEAKER_03]: What is this organization?
[SPEAKER_03]: How does it just count on
[SPEAKER_00]: They've got a lot of really talented evaluators, man.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's really the long and short of it.
[SPEAKER_00]: They scout the heck out of the country and the other countries.
[SPEAKER_00]: And they are really good at what they do.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know how to say it other than that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just they've got some really smart guys.
[SPEAKER_00]: And they've been, some of those guys have been picked off by other teams recently.
[SPEAKER_00]: And they just know what they're doing.
[SPEAKER_00]: We mentioned the complexes.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you check our top 100, you saw Alexander Frees
[SPEAKER_00]: he jumped out really quick in the ACL, Arizona's where I saw, and I mean, I didn't even see his good games.
[SPEAKER_00]: I got, I didn't even see his six for six game.
[SPEAKER_00]: He just is a big boy who can swing the hell out of the bat and run better than you'd expect for a guy his size, and now he's in the low way, and we just had another guy join him from that club as well, and I'm just efforting on his name right here.
[SPEAKER_00]: One Martinez, that's what I was getting at.
[SPEAKER_00]: He can really hit to, in fact, when I was there, he hit for the cycle in a game for me.
[SPEAKER_00]: And Friest came a home run away, so it was two guys who were almost there for the cycle in the same game.
[SPEAKER_00]: But they just keep doing it.
[SPEAKER_00]: And you mentioned Ricky Monkeys was a guy named Leon Leander's motto who hit three homeruns in a game in the DSL the other day who I will be excited to possibly lay lives on starting next week at some point.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hopefully he's in the All-Star game, but yeah, they just scout the heck out of the country.
[SPEAKER_03]: And the world.
[SPEAKER_03]: And the other thing that stands out here is it's kind of they have this,
[SPEAKER_03]: array of types of prospects too.
[SPEAKER_03]: Like a lot of systems you may see they're really strong at this and they're not as strong as that.
[SPEAKER_03]: That's okay, right?
[SPEAKER_03]: The great thing about this is you're not trying to field a roster of the best 26 prospects you have.
[SPEAKER_03]: You can have too many catchers or too many short stops or not enough pitchers and all and you can make trades, you can make moves and do that.
[SPEAKER_03]: But we got the up the middle guys like the day,
[SPEAKER_03]: Louis Lara, who's a center of fielders in AAA, we've got kind of the cornerback outfielders.
[SPEAKER_03]: We've seen Braille and Payne have a very good year, we could, you know, we were joking before this, to start with that Josiah Ragsdale.
[SPEAKER_03]: There were multiple organizations I did for these updates, where if I had Josiah Ragsdale, I'd have been all excited about running that guy into the top 10, because like, hey, here's a guy who just reached AA, who's producing, there's a lot to be like here.
[SPEAKER_03]: He's 21 on this list.
[SPEAKER_03]: But then you say, OK, well, what about power?
[SPEAKER_03]: And it's like, well, we don't know if Andrew Fisher's going to make it work.
[SPEAKER_03]: We don't know if like Burke's going to make it work.
[SPEAKER_03]: We don't know if Luke had.
[SPEAKER_03]: But there's there's a lot of those guys.
[SPEAKER_03]: There's a number of those guys.
[SPEAKER_03]: They've got some pitching.
[SPEAKER_03]: There's just really like they've got catching, and Jefferson Quero.
[SPEAKER_03]: They, there's just not a lot here where you're like, oh, they're utterly lacking in X.
[SPEAKER_03]: Is there?
[SPEAKER_01]: No, I mean, and that's what's so impressive of what they've done is, as Jeff alluded to, they acquire these guys from very different ways.
[SPEAKER_01]: They're good in the trade market.
[SPEAKER_01]: They're good in the draft.
[SPEAKER_01]: They're good in their national scouting, but they're not targeting the same archetype every time.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like we've seen the some other teams.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, there's other teams that have really strong preferences for the type of talent they target in each of those markets.
[SPEAKER_01]: When you look at the brewers, they're all over the board, as you said, you've got Luis Lara, who's a huge big contact defense under size guy, but then you also have, hey, who's mod day, big power, Ricky money, he's big power, Alexander Furious, big power.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's from the international market.
[SPEAKER_01]: You look at the draft, you know, Cooper Pratt's more contact defense oriented middle in fielder, then you have Andrew Fisher, who, as you said,
[SPEAKER_01]: If I had confidence he could hit he'd be on the 100, I just don't know because the strike I write even during his great stretch as a blade is well above 30%.
[SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, you know, and Blake Burke is I think the same way when it comes to a huge power, questionable hit tool, Braille and Pay, and same thing.
[SPEAKER_01]: They just do a really good job of identifying talent and when they get those guys their dev staff can elevate them and I think that's you know it's kind of the perfect storm is when when you're able to identify the right players but also then put them in a developmental group that can elevate them that's how you end up with a team that doesn't run one of the biggest payrolls but has been one of the most successful you know regular season teams over the last few years.
[SPEAKER_03]: It really is a system that has a little bit of everything like this.
[SPEAKER_03]: If you just listed the 30 here, they're all interesting and we could go beyond that.
[SPEAKER_03]: Like this is a system.
[SPEAKER_03]: Brady Ebel is a shortstop, you know, is a prominent shortstop in the draft last year.
[SPEAKER_03]: He's 18 on this list again.
[SPEAKER_03]: There are a lot of works where he would be a whole lot higher.
[SPEAKER_03]: That's not that he's 18 because he's not any good.
[SPEAKER_03]: That's 18 because it's hard to figure out who you would put him above on this list.
[SPEAKER_03]: They got guys performing at multiple levels.
[SPEAKER_03]: We do have we're gonna talk about the rest of the top five after this break and we're gonna start with another team I wouldn't say that had the same up and down the level success in the minor leagues, but they've been really good We'll do that right if it's quick break And we're back.
[SPEAKER_03]: So looking at the rest of our top five and I would say if there was any team that at least could I don't think it was that close to be honest, but could make an argument.
[SPEAKER_03]: Hey, we're number one
[SPEAKER_03]: Could it be the Tampa Bay race who are a number two system now?
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I think that, you know, it's tough, because they don't have that same group of high-end talent, you know, they don't have the Hasey's mod A Louise Pain, yeah, start to their system.
[SPEAKER_01]: They have Thiel Gillin, who moved in the top 10 in our recent update, who's had a great season.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, he's a really exciting player.
[SPEAKER_01]: But after that, I think there's a little bit of a gap, but then this is where the race excel and I think it's something,
[SPEAKER_01]: that they're similar in that they cover the map, you know, this is a team that they have some of the most scouts of anyone in baseball.
[SPEAKER_01]: You see, you go to a game you're seeing a race scout there, and they attack every single opportunity to add talent.
[SPEAKER_01]: They're good at trades, they're good in the draft, they're good internationally.
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's how you end up with a system like theirs where I remember, you know, in my first drafts of this 30, there's like 16 aims.
[SPEAKER_01]: And as you said earlier, you know, some systems, you can't conclude, you can't get 30 names.
[SPEAKER_01]: And others, you know, like the race, you have, you feel bad leaving people off because you're like, hey, this guy, he would be in the top 30 in any other system, but unfortunately he's in the race system.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so, you know, you have to make really tough decisions.
[SPEAKER_01]: And what they've, they've had some guys take really big steps forward this year.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think that's the most encouraging thing.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, their draft last year looks like it could be something that sets them up for a long time.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm going to include Caden Bodine in there because he was technically part of
[SPEAKER_01]: between Bowdoin Cooper, Fleming, Tate, and Gray, and all those guys have moved in the top 100, and after starting the season outside of it, Daniel Pears, who they also took, they took in the first round, looked ahead of,
[SPEAKER_01]: got off a really good start.
[SPEAKER_01]: Tads and injuries kind of performance backed up and then he's out for the year, but still he's someone who, you know, a lot of scouts are really excited about after sprint training.
[SPEAKER_01]: And, you know, you just moved down the list and, you know, they have a lot of position players from the top 15 and then the back end of the 15 is kind of a mix of exciting international signings, some in the DSL, some in the FCL, and then a bunch of pictures who a lot of them are close to Big League ready, someone like Ty Johnson who I think, you know, he could be up in the
[SPEAKER_01]: I mentioned him, he's in the top half of Michael Ferret looks like someone, you know, he's a close to big league ready back end starter.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think the one thing that kind of is holding them down a little bit right now is the pitching side.
[SPEAKER_01]: They have Brody Hawkins as their top pitcher.
[SPEAKER_01]: He has some of the highest ceiling of any pitcher in the top 100, but I just don't think any of us have any confidence he'll be able to reach it.
[SPEAKER_01]: And we'll see, you know, he'll show flashes like his last start, which got him on the hot sheet this week.
[SPEAKER_01]: He had five, five innings, one hit, three walks, 10 strike
[SPEAKER_01]: one or two innings and then he had I think a seven run outing in four innings.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so there's just a lot of inconsistency there, but the talent is up is there and and I think that's what the race do such a good job is they identify talent and.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, there might be some risk.
[SPEAKER_01]: I think they they target some riskier demographics, but they've done a really good job of actualizing those tools.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, look at some of the junior came in error.
[SPEAKER_01]: What he's been doing lately.
[SPEAKER_01]: That was a guy they got as a as kind of the return for Tobias Myers, who is a 40 men casualty for them.
[SPEAKER_01]: And they've turned junior came in error and he's not what top five player in all the baseball.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so yeah, it's just the little things in the way they operate around the margins that's so impressive.
[SPEAKER_01]: And then they've really good dev people.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, they, they just, like the brewers, as we said, they're the entire package when it comes to a baseball organization and it's how they're about they can be one of the best teams in the American League even though they have one of the smallest payrolls and oh yeah they're about to add the second pick in the draft to this system.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I would not be surprised at all if they end up in the offseason at number one because of that because what the amount of money they have in the draft and the high end and the picks they have access to is something that the brewers can't match.
[SPEAKER_03]: Number three on our list is a team that feels like that they're off in here, but they did move down a little bit the preseason, and then the Dodgers went out and did what the Dodgers do.
[SPEAKER_03]: We talk about the Brewers and how they just seem to have development wins year after year.
[SPEAKER_03]: you could say a whole lot about that about the Dodgers to Josh, you do the Dodgers for us.
[SPEAKER_03]: And I think that's pretty clear to say that there's no group of outfielders.
[SPEAKER_03]: Like if you said, if you asked 30 organizations, which group of outfield prospects would they like to have, I think it would be the Dodgers.
[SPEAKER_03]: But then they've had, it's not just outfielders.
[SPEAKER_03]: There's also more than that that have kind of taken steps for this year so far, haven't they?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I mean, it's still 90% just outfielders, but Christians as way that has taken steps forward.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm emailed more Dallas has taken a little bit of step forward this year.
[SPEAKER_00]: Chase Harlan has done the same.
[SPEAKER_00]: The Acruit has taken some step forward.
[SPEAKER_00]: But if you are trading with the Dodgers, you are targeting any number of outfielders.
[SPEAKER_00]: uh as the centerpiece or centerpiece is to your package uh as I laid it out this week the Texas League uh Tulsa outfield includes uh the reigning futures game MVP postway de Paula a player currently riding a believe it's a 68 game on base streak that's Mike Sorota and the highest on uh OPS in the Texas League last week was zire hope.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's your outfield,
[SPEAKER_00]: It's three pretty darn good ones, and they're not even touching it or to Quintaro at Great Lakes or Charles Davalon at Great Lakes, and there's a few more that are killing it around the system.
[SPEAKER_00]: The pitching is still a little low outside of his way to En route, but it's getting better and it's certainly better than it was.
[SPEAKER_00]: Some of the other guys have gotten healthy too, and have made some rebounds.
[SPEAKER_00]: The lower levels are still a little light, after the Sasaki pool took
[SPEAKER_00]: all of it and they didn't sign a whole lot internationally for less couple years.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a couple pop-up names out there, but some of them are injured too.
[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, it's still, it's a really good system.
[SPEAKER_00]: I am not confident it's going to be a really good system.
[SPEAKER_00]: In a few weeks, the trade deadlines coming, although if you believe the reports out there, they're going to try to use some of that outfield depth to, uh,
[SPEAKER_00]: make the rest of their system deeper and they did that last year too when they added sir when I was ski to their group and you know that's how they got a little bit looks and well, certainly not.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, yeah, but those were off yet.
[SPEAKER_00]: But anyway, yeah, those we'll see what it looks like.
[SPEAKER_00]: They don't have a whole lot of capital in the draft either, but you know, go ahead.
[SPEAKER_02]: I was going to say I think that's one of the things that's kind of remarkable
[SPEAKER_02]: to open up 40 man space.
[SPEAKER_02]: And almost like trade out like to get Michael Bush is coming up where he's on the 40 man roster.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's like we can clear that space, make another move for the Major League team.
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, and we can get Ziya, hope, and Jackson Ferris.
[SPEAKER_02]: We can get my quota.
[SPEAKER_02]: They do that sort of stuff to open up windows.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I think that's one of the best parts of kind of following this Dodgers build and how they manage their team.
[SPEAKER_02]: They manage their 40 man roster and those rule five dates as well as any team.
[SPEAKER_02]: And they kind of self scout well.
[SPEAKER_02]: They say, all right, this guy's probably not going to be a full-time player for us.
[SPEAKER_02]: We have the XYZ here.
[SPEAKER_02]: We can make this deal, bring in a high upside player.
[SPEAKER_02]: He's either a great trade piece in a year when we fix XYZ in a swing or add this particular pitch.
[SPEAKER_02]: They're so dialed in in terms of knowing players and other systems.
[SPEAKER_02]: What their strengths and weaknesses are.
[SPEAKER_02]: and what their potential plan is that they've just had so much success over the last couple years of trading out those 40 man spots, bringing guys in, and now like Sorota and Hope and and Zazuado, all of those guys are very nice assets that could probably yield a pretty big piece back and a trade if need be.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a way to even you fits right in that theme that you mentioned like he was for a tail him Ferguson Exactly, yeah, yeah, that was a deal that I I I mean And so right like yeah, well, it's not a big leader.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, they're both there.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm sorry, but yeah But yeah, we're just like under the radar
[SPEAKER_01]: I think also what makes it so impressive is what Josh alluded to is they're doing this while having one of the lowest bonus pools draft after draft like they constantly get moved down 10 spots with their first pick.
[SPEAKER_01]: They have not done I would say that well because at least with the rookie sake thing they've missed out on his higher IFA class more or less.
[SPEAKER_01]: like they've had you know all these all the restrictions the financial restrictions have hit their amateur side and they're still able to just get all this high in talent whether you be a trades whether you know the draft they're still doing really well and identifying later round guys I mean you look at last year's draft chars the avalanx and our top 100 zaccords right on the edge of it both of them were guys they drafted last year while having their pick move down 10 spots and not having a huge bonus pool.
[SPEAKER_00]: And all they had to do was just go look at the roster for our guitar.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, all they did was just go there and take two guys off that.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yes, and I mean, and they went and they got eight and west in that draft.
[SPEAKER_02]: They got cam lighter in that draft.
[SPEAKER_02]: Those are like really high outside players.
[SPEAKER_02]: Two a year ago, those guys could look different from even they are now.
[SPEAKER_02]: And could push into the top 10.
[SPEAKER_02]: Like they're constantly going after.
[SPEAKER_02]: like high and profiles, whether they work or not, there's certainly risk with all these guys, but they target tools and they target some actual playable skills and they get the most out of it.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think I got to get what you said it, but like self-scouting.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that's the most important scouting you do.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, so that's how you don't lose a guy like I'm like Seroda or a Christians as way to to another club.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, you know, with those are, I think that's different.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think I don't think those guys would have been what they are with their current clubs.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think the brewers just get guys better.
[SPEAKER_00]: Potentially.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think those guys would have had a chance in like, yeah, I don't think there's some stuff.
[SPEAKER_01]: I think there's some self-scouting there, too.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think I would have thought that would go.
[SPEAKER_01]: I think though too, look at the, look at the, there's a good example with the Dodgers, James, Tibes and Zach are hard for Dustin May, Dustin May was moving out of their rotation last year.
[SPEAKER_01]: What did they do?
[SPEAKER_01]: Instead of, you know, hey, we're going to keep him around as a depth starter.
[SPEAKER_01]: They flipped him for two guys who, you know, they're probably more like reserve out field types, but those guys are going to get to the big leagues and they got him for, you know, three months of Dustin May that they weren't going to even use.
[SPEAKER_03]: River Ryan, same idea.
[SPEAKER_03]: This is what I would say to kind of sum up with the Dodgers is you all hit on the key part here, which is they are able to have both a short-term and a long-term outlook at all times.
[SPEAKER_03]: Like that, there are a lot of organizations who would see there were in or were out.
[SPEAKER_03]: And the Dodgers are we're in and we're always looking to acquire minor league talent too.
[SPEAKER_03]: They also being able to do that means that they've kind of kept their farm system rolling along, even when logically, as you all noted, where they're picking and all that, it should not be where it is.
[SPEAKER_03]: But if I go the step beyond that, a team that has been out and is starting to edge towards being in, Jeff, the nationals are forth on our farm system rankings, a spot they have not been in a while.
[SPEAKER_03]: Obviously, there are a lot of moves, both with the previous regime and now the new regime running things in D.C.
[SPEAKER_03]: But how are they yet for now?
[SPEAKER_03]: What has happened for them to kind of make this move up?
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I think you were smart to say, you know, kind of that intern regime, you know, when things changed over just kind of in charge of the draft and some of these moves at the deadline, they didn't bring in a lot of good talent.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think you can kind of look at this system a little bit and see some of those players and say,
[SPEAKER_02]: The talent was there having a more player development focused front office one that was really kind of dialed in on that side when they were with the red socks.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think as yielded some better results, particularly from a guy like Sever King, where I think we're seeing more consistent, contact a more consistent approach and plan at the plate from it back to a bad, it backed up a little bit in AAA, but still nowhere near the sort of chase and poor swing decisions that you were seeing within it.
[SPEAKER_02]: Wake Forest.
[SPEAKER_02]: And then last year is, you know, as pro debut, they also did a great job of acquiring talent.
[SPEAKER_02]: They got Devin Fitzgerald, who's turned into a pretty good prospect.
[SPEAKER_02]: The Parallis for Jake Bennett deal looks like it favors the red socks a little bit right now, but did go out and get, you know, Gavin Feene, acquire some of these other guys as well.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I think you, you kind of go down the system and you look at
[SPEAKER_02]: a lot of players that were kind of in middle ground last year with a more dialed in, focused, modern approach to player development, have yielded better results.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I think it will be interesting to see how some of that stuff tracks when we see Harlan Susana back and fully healthy.
[SPEAKER_02]: Travis secores Throne Bull pens now.
[SPEAKER_02]: He's going to be back and fully healthy.
[SPEAKER_02]: They have this positional group that's been really good this year, all the short stops that we're kind of in the lower levels that have matriculated up.
[SPEAKER_02]: They have this crop of pitching that's going to be back and active either late this season for Josh and the Arizona Fall League and then early next spring.
[SPEAKER_02]: And we could be sitting here a year from now and kind of talking about the depth that they're pitching.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think they have a guy like Jackson Kent who's probably one of the
[SPEAKER_02]: I have 11 in the system, I think there's some people that would have them inside the top 10 in terms of outside of evaluators.
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, it's a left-hander with pretty good stuff who's performing, throws a fair amount of strikes.
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, there's at least a above average to plus change up, an average slider there.
[SPEAKER_02]: And then you kind of looked down the system.
[SPEAKER_02]: Landon Harmon hasn't thrown much this year.
[SPEAKER_02]: That's a guy that could take a big step up.
[SPEAKER_02]: Another guy kind of in the same vein as Sever King.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yo-Yo Morales was kind of left for debt by most prospect people coming into the season.
[SPEAKER_02]: He's had a great year in AAA.
[SPEAKER_02]: He's really been one of the better hitters in AAA.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think it's still a limited profile, but I think you look at a player like that.
[SPEAKER_02]: He's gotten a lot better.
[SPEAKER_02]: Kaden Wallace has gotten a lot better.
[SPEAKER_02]: So some of the guys that were kind of rotting on the vine
[SPEAKER_02]: I think with some new directions and new focused, more modern kind of player development practices.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I think if you were even on the back fields this year in spring training,
[SPEAKER_02]: It was a very different vibe.
[SPEAKER_02]: You're not seeing, you know, the sign that says, we don't care how hard you throw ball four.
[SPEAKER_02]: We instead had giant 100 inch plasma screens with the trackman data on it.
[SPEAKER_02]: More accessible than any trackman data I've ever seen in a backfield.
[SPEAKER_02]: They wanted everyone to be able to see that.
[SPEAKER_02]: They wanted everyone to be able to track it and follow it.
[SPEAKER_02]: And it was mostly opposing scouts, not just national people that were at those games.
[SPEAKER_02]: So the feel just to the organization is very different.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I think they've done a good job of acquiring talent.
[SPEAKER_02]: We'll see how they do in their first full draft.
[SPEAKER_02]: But they've also done a really good job of taking the players that were in the system kind of self-scouting a little bit, seeing what they needed to do in terms of what's focus on this with this guy, what's focus on this with this guy, this is a player we feel we can trade and they made some good decisions within that mix so it's still trending up.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think we could see it take another step forward, but how some of these guys matriculate to the big leagues will tell the true story of how much success they had, but it's a different approach right now and it looks like a much different system then, you know, the system we were talking about a year ago.
[SPEAKER_03]: I do want to quickly hit on also the number five on our four count ranks is on the mariners.
[SPEAKER_03]: They did graduate cold Emerson, so maybe even a little bit better if it had been for that, losing one of the top players in the top 10, you know, before he graduated but they do have Ryan Sloan Kate Anderson.
[SPEAKER_03]: I would say Jeff that this is a system that
[SPEAKER_03]: That doesn't have the depth of some of these other systems we are talking about here, but when it comes to top-end talent, we said that's where we emphasize this and you would trade one Kdanerson for a whole lot of prospects we don't rank in the top of.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yeah, I think that's absolutely true.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think Lizarro Montez, it's a weird profile, but still one that could be potentially impactful.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think Manitankamura Kami has bought a lot of these guys a little leeway in terms of this approach can potentially work if you have that 70, 80 grade raw power, which Montez does, it's just a matter of, you know, can his swing decisions be refined enough?
[SPEAKER_02]: can he make enough contact that the whole, you know, platform doesn't just bought him out.
[SPEAKER_02]: Feldman Celestin has had a really good year.
[SPEAKER_02]: Johnny Farmello was another guy that had another huge week.
[SPEAKER_02]: He's been healthy for the first time this year.
[SPEAKER_02]: He's played 70 plus games.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think he's approaching if he's not at his career games, played total of his first two seasons, two and a half seasons.
[SPEAKER_02]: He's, I think he's, if he hasn't surpassed it, he's in the next week could.
[SPEAKER_02]: And we're seeing, I mean, it's average, so you could take some of the power numbers with a grain of salt, but under the hood, really good swing decisions, really athletic player, good power, you know, underlying EVs and all that sort of thing.
[SPEAKER_02]: And there's some questions about some of these other guys, but I think you look at, you know, Juan Rio and Gregory Pio, there's a couple of really interesting.
[SPEAKER_02]: And international that came into the system this year that signed for big bonuses that potentially could turn into top 10 type players, be really interesting.
[SPEAKER_02]: They got a guy Mason Peters in the draft last year, a little bit later on that's turned into a really interesting pitching prospect, and I'll say this for the back end of their system.
[SPEAKER_02]: They don't have a lot of interesting position players in that mix.
[SPEAKER_02]: There's nobody where you're kind of looking at it saying, all right, this guy could jump up in the next year.
[SPEAKER_02]: But they do have a lot of interesting potential relievers with weird release traits, interesting pitch mixes, a lot of guys with like wicked sliders or really good changeups.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I think like you can look at this system and maybe look back in a few years and say,
[SPEAKER_02]: five or six big league relievers that were kind of lurking in that 15 to 30 range for the mariners because they do identify some of those interesting traits and release traits really well.
[SPEAKER_02]: Halton Shaw's one that I'll call out.
[SPEAKER_02]: I just added him to that 30.
[SPEAKER_02]: It was a guy that they drafted out of Yale.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's like low arm slot side armor kind of slingy with a negative vert change up.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's just interesting stuff like that.
[SPEAKER_02]: Charlie Belinson was a guy that had a
[SPEAKER_02]: he could turn into a decent reliever.
[SPEAKER_02]: And there's a few other guys like that at the back into the system, Brock Moore when he throws strikes is a really interesting prospect.
[SPEAKER_02]: So I think, you know, it's maybe not the deepest system in the back end, but it's really good talent, some high end town at the top end.
[SPEAKER_02]: And then a whole bunch of depth that could turn into something, like useful depth.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I think sometimes we can see systems that have, you know, a bunch of bat-first-second basement and corner-infield guys with no position that maybe hit the miners.
[SPEAKER_02]: But it's not really useful prospect depth in terms of building a major league team or or having that 40-man roster depth that you need to be successful.
[SPEAKER_03]: So, that looks at our top five systems.
[SPEAKER_03]: When we get back for this other break, we're gonna talk about a couple of systems that win the most improved awards.
[SPEAKER_03]: We write that.
[SPEAKER_03]: So, we're back, and now we are gonna talk about a couple of systems that started the year, ranked quite low in our account rankings, and have made climbs.
[SPEAKER_03]: Ian, I think even if you've been paying attention to the prospect podcast and videos on YouTube at all of this year,
[SPEAKER_03]: You're probably going to know what the first team we're going to talk about here.
[SPEAKER_03]: What have the brave's done?
[SPEAKER_03]: Why are they a big riser?
[SPEAKER_03]: They basically have left up to 14th in our farm system talent rankings, which is a lot higher than they were in the start of the season.
[SPEAKER_03]: What has happened for them?
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I think the biggest development is not going to surprise anyone who's a baseball America reader or who listens to his podcast.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's sort of element of aircarb and
[SPEAKER_01]: and obviously entered the year near the back of their top 30 and now he is a top 30 prospect in all the baseball.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, it's a type of eyes, there's probably what a handful of guys per year that make that jump.
[SPEAKER_01]: And the braves have one of those guys and this, that was the thing this system was lacking.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, they've had decent arms as of late, but since they graduated that position player group that makes up the core their major league team.
[SPEAKER_01]: They've kind of, they could not really had anyone that's come through that they've kept, they've traded a few guys who have turned it into pretty good players, especially at the catching position, but they've kind of lacked that high-end position player talent and Hartman looks to have filled that void, you know, this is a guy that,
[SPEAKER_01]: If he hits, he's going to be a pion regular.
[SPEAKER_01]: That the rest of the tools are really exciting.
[SPEAKER_01]: Hit tools a question, we'll see.
[SPEAKER_01]: But he's, you know, we've made strides in that area.
[SPEAKER_01]: He's, I think, we're JJ and I were looking at it last week.
[SPEAKER_01]: He's the first player.
[SPEAKER_01]: I think in a long time to go 2030 and in the first half, it has an outside chance of going 30, 50, which no player has done in the last, I want to say 20 years in minor league baseball, which is as far back as I could find full minor league.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, they're 30 30 there was only I want to say like eight or nine players who've done it.
[SPEAKER_01]: The closest comparable is George springer who had a 37 home run 45 steel season.
[SPEAKER_01]: So Hartman has a chance to do something that no other player has done in a long time.
[SPEAKER_01]: And his development has just been the most important part of their system.
[SPEAKER_01]: And as you said, because of the way these rankings are largely built off the high end talent, they have one of those high end guys now.
[SPEAKER_01]: But it's not just him, it's more or less I think their entire top 10 has taken a pretty big step forward.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, you look, J.R. Richie has just out as, you know, kind of on the up and down shuttle between triple and the big league.
[SPEAKER_01]: But he looks like a solid depth farm, Cam Cam and Eddie, has had some injury issues, but his stuff is since he came back from his wrist issue.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's been a lot better as Velo has picked up a little bit.
[SPEAKER_01]: He's still a top 100 guy.
[SPEAKER_01]: Tate South is seen.
[SPEAKER_01]: He was their first round pick and had, I mean, I don't think there's any other way to describe it than a really, really poor debut.
[SPEAKER_01]: He's bounced back in a big way, shows hitting abilities, could be a decent second basement, can run.
[SPEAKER_01]: He's now a top 100 guy.
[SPEAKER_01]: So they've got multiple position players in the top 100 in the app to that.
[SPEAKER_01]: They've got some guys that I really like.
[SPEAKER_01]: Owen Murphy, who it looks like is gonna make his majorly debut this week.
[SPEAKER_01]: has taken a really big step forward back in AAA, you know, he sometimes takes a little longer with guys who have taught me John search and I think he could be a good example of that, that you've got to kind of wait for that second year before things get back to normal.
[SPEAKER_01]: Briggs McKenzie has shot through their system after not even making a full season affiliate, starting in the FCL.
[SPEAKER_01]: He's all the way up in high A and has looked really good there.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, Connor Essinberg, there's huge power.
[SPEAKER_01]: We'll see about the hit tool.
[SPEAKER_01]: But I mean, their draft last year looks really promising.
[SPEAKER_01]: You can buy that with some interesting arms and then, you know, you got harping that that's kind of the recipe.
[SPEAKER_01]: If how you jump from one of the bottom five systems into the middle of the pack.
[SPEAKER_03]: Another one that gets the most improved toward Josh is the Los Angeles Angels, a system that has kind of been pretty low on our list, a number of years.
[SPEAKER_03]: But what is it that the angels, why is it that the angels are climbing up?
[SPEAKER_03]: There are 23rd in our updated rankings that doesn't sound but that's for the angels that's rarefire air and we see years and a lot of years.
[SPEAKER_00]: They've got some arms that are really doing it.
[SPEAKER_00]: And they've got some serious players that are really doing it.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, Tyler Remner has been a pretty good year for the second overall pit class year.
[SPEAKER_00]: Peyton Oliver has been killing it all year in the California League.
[SPEAKER_00]: Juan Flores is kind of flying under a lot of radars, but he's had a sneaky good season.
[SPEAKER_00]: Last check, it was 13 doubles, 13 bombs, 20 years old, just reached double a lay and it struck out less than 50 times this year, which pleased that makes him one of one.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's still hitting the ball pretty hard.
[SPEAKER_00]: little chase issues, but he doesn't miss pitches in zone.
[SPEAKER_00]: Their draft class has been pretty good last year.
[SPEAKER_00]: Slowinsky, for example, he's killing it in the ACL.
[SPEAKER_00]: I love Nate Sneed, I love Bill and Jordan, I love Trade Gregory Alford.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think there's just a lot of good talent there.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think if you look back in the podcast archives, I said the same thing after spring training, there's this is better than a bottom five system.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think it's a middle of the pack system for me.
[SPEAKER_03]: I think by the end of the year it's not be shocking at all to see this going to be a middle of the pack, especially again, they draft up, reased with high again this year.
[SPEAKER_03]: And I would anticipate, it's the angel, so we never know.
[SPEAKER_03]: But I would anticipate that they would be sellers at the deadline, which would also add.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: That the big key here is that the regime change of the top, if the reports are to be to be believed and John Masalak has reigned to do what he wants and actually trade your read debt nurses and guys like that and actually pick guys he wants then the guys the limit there might be a little more interesting that has been in the past couple years.
[SPEAKER_02]: They're gonna draft so many lefties that have good K to BPs in college
[SPEAKER_03]: Um, you'll see you prepare me, uh, but the other thing I would say with that is this again, we say this, but like I do still think that the sliding door moments for the angels as far as the the the path of that organization was by all accounts.
[SPEAKER_03]: They were out there scouting heavily trying to find what they could get for showy Otani at the trade deadline.
[SPEAKER_03]: and then they were told, nope, you're not trading showy of Tony and you are trading for talent because we're going to make another run at it.
[SPEAKER_03]: And that was a run that was, that was that were that run basically was derailed before it ever got started.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I was sitting next to one of the you want my account.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was sitting next to a person doing that exact scouting during that year and telling me, is this for that deal?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like I know it was there and
[SPEAKER_00]: There were, I mean, I think it was reported that there was at least one deal that was air quotes here done that got the kibosh put on it, like there's a lot of butterfly effect that came from that one
[SPEAKER_03]: I mean, it is kind of something where it kind of a sliding door is not what would have been like if they actually had accepted for once that they're that, you know, it is okay to take a step back to take a step forward, but it is an organization is a farm system that is clearly taking a step forward wanting to highlight that as well.
[SPEAKER_03]: That is the Baseball America Prospect podcast for this week, a very busy week at BA.
[SPEAKER_03]: Schedule on the podcast maybe a little bit adjusted this week, kind of all through the week as we're trying to get stuff out, so that you'll have time to consume it, enjoy it before.
[SPEAKER_03]: the biggest weekend of the year for us, because we've got, we've got too much good stuff on the same weekend.
[SPEAKER_03]: We've got the MLB draft Saturday Sunday.
[SPEAKER_03]: We've got the Futures Game Sunday.
[SPEAKER_03]: We've got the All-Star Game week.
[SPEAKER_03]: Everything, we've got the midway point where everyone kind of actually does shut down like we do have that Wednesday where we won't really have games and all that.
[SPEAKER_03]: And so, but we will have Josh that.
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, that went to the DR to get the DSL All-Star Game, which is the only All-Star Game left.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's how you want to call it.
[SPEAKER_03]: and partner league.
[SPEAKER_03]: American association all star game on MLB network.
[SPEAKER_03]: So and kick cod close to plainly got us all the other affiliated baseball rising star's game AFL.
[SPEAKER_03]: I came to my grocery tire because we didn't get any excitement of him from AFL reference, you know?
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm very, very tires.
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, but that is the podcast for this week.
[SPEAKER_03]: We thank you for the download.
[SPEAKER_03]: Please check out all the stuff that we have on the podcast feed and on the YouTube channel.
[SPEAKER_03]: And by the way, of course, if you're enjoying this and you aren't going over there, please go over to baseballamerica.com.
[SPEAKER_03]: I promise you if you're enjoying this, there's so much more that you will be overwhelmed with how
[SPEAKER_03]: For Josh, for Jeff, for Ian, I'm JJ.
[SPEAKER_03]: So long, everybody.