Where does our farm system rank?

[UCLAngel]

After the additions of Heaney, Trop, Baldo, Perez and improvement in Sanchez, others where does our farm system rank? I have to think it'd move us up.

[Stradling]

We also have Newcombe

[Docwaukee]

still bottom 3rd because we actually lost a little depth but we probably move up a bit because we've added some higher end talent.  

 

gone are:

 

borenstein

krehbiel 

(for thatcher and campana who are both gone)

 

rondon

alvarez

lindsey

morris

(for street)

 

Clevinger

(for pestano)

 

Sappington

(for Cesar Ramos)

 

Jairo Diaz

(Rutledge)

 

Added:

Edgar Ibarra (LH minor league FA)

Trevor Gott (in the street deal)

Andrew Heaney (for kendrick)

Nick Tropeano

Carlos Perez (for conger)

Taylor Featherston (rule 5)

Scott Snodgress

Roberto Baldoquin

 

Plus, 3 of our top pitching prospects were picked up in the 2014 draft.  Newcomb, Ellis, and Gatto and slew of others from the 2013/14 draft.  

 

The system actually has some pretty decent pitching depth and a few guys with upside, but the system lacks position players with upside in the upper minors.  Which isn't a huge deal considering that they don't have a ton of need but it will hold the system back

 

They'll have 2 guys in the top 100 to start the season in Newcomb and Heaney.  And maybe Baldoquin as well.   

 

Even though the system lacks position players, I still think they are going to go pitching heavy in the draft and trade for position players going forward.  

 

The current regime seems to be more adept at scouting pitchers anyway as their last 3 drafts haven't resulted in much on the position player side.  Although I still scratch my head at the keynan middleton pick from 2013.  

[Tyler]

 

The current regime seems to be more adept at scouting pitchers anyway as their last 3 drafts haven't resulted in much on the position player side. \

 

I don't even know if we can say that... only Alvarez and Morin.

[Docwaukee]

I also think Delgado is going to make a strong move this year.  

 

I'm also excited about Alcantara, Bandy, and Gatto.  

[Docwaukee]

I don't even know if we can say that... only Alvarez and Morin.

the pitchers they have drafted have at least performed well at the appropriate levels and are on their way.  most of the position players haven't done anything. 

[Angel Oracle]

Just clone the scout who found Trout in NJ, 10 times.

[Second Base]

The Angels for the past few years have had a deceivingly good system. I mean it's no coincidence that their bottom of the barrel farm system just happened to produce Trout, Calhoun, Richards, Shoemaker, Cron, Segura and bullpen talent all in a short amount of time.

Oddly enough at the same time the Royals had the consensus top minor league system and the talent they've produced is less than the Angels have. Ranking systems love raw 18 year old first round prospects, not 23 year old collegiate players in AA.

The Angels just need to keep doing what they're doing and fans need not worry about an arbitrary rank.

Edited December 21, 2014 by ScottyA_MWAH

[Angelsjunky]

I also think Delgado is going to make a strong move this year.  

 

I'm also excited about Alcantara, Bandy, and Gatto.  

 

Do you guys think Delgado is the position player with the most upside? He seems like he could either be another Chevy Clarke or another Adam Jones.

 

Anyhow, nice write-up Doc.

Just clone the scout who found Trout in NJ, 10 times.

 

Didn't he get fired?

 

The Angels for the past few years have had a deceivingly good system. I mean it's no coincidence that their bottom of the barrel farm system just happened to produce Trout, Calhoun, Richards, Shoemaker, Cron, Segura and bullpen talent all in a short amount of time.

Oddly enough at the same time the Royals had the consensus top minor league system and the talent they've produced is less than the Angels have. Ranking systems love raw 18 year old first round prospects, not 23 year old collegiate players in AA.

The Angels just need to keep doing what they're doing and fans need not worry about an arbitrary rank.

 

You keep saying this, Scotty, and I appreciate the loyalty, but all the guys you mentioned were drafted years ago and most have been in the majors for a couple years and thus aren't really recent prospects. The Angels farm system was excellent in the mid-Aughties, solid in the late Aughties and through about 2012 when Trout et al graduated, but was pretty terrible in 2013-14, especially last year. But this year seems to be an up-tick. 

[Second Base]

I dunno, I mean Shoemaker, Cron and Morin all graduating the same year doesn't strike me as terrible.

[Angelsjunky]

"Terrible" doesn't mean no prospects, but one or two decent players becoming major leaguers does not make a farm system good. Shoemaker was a bit of a surprise to most and Cron, quite frankly, hasn't proven a whole lot (yet). Morin is good but he's a reliever, and they're not exactly rare commodities.

 

You have to look at the system as a whole, at both high-ceiling prospects (quality) and depth (quantity). The Angels farm system has arguably been the worst in baseball over the last two years with 2014 being a low (especially considering Calhoun had graduated and Shoemaker was on the cusp).

[Second Base]

See now I would argue the Angels probably have more "depth" than most teams, especially on the mound.  They have a ton of high quality pitchers, lower quality inning eaters and a ton of bullpen options.

[UCLAngel]

The Angels for the past few years have had a deceivingly good system. I mean it's no coincidence that their bottom of the barrel farm system just happened to produce Trout, Calhoun, Richards, Shoemaker, Cron, Segura and bullpen talent all in a short amount of time.

Oddly enough at the same time the Royals had the consensus top minor league system and the talent they've produced is less than the Angels have. Ranking systems love raw 18 year old first round prospects, not 23 year old collegiate players in AA.

The Angels just need to keep doing what they're doing and fans need not worry about an arbitrary rank.

 

While you can certainly select anecdotal evidence to make your point, I suspect that prospect impact likely mirrors prospect rankings to some degree.  We have examples of high-ranked systems busting and producing very little, but I'd guess (admittedly without doing any type of analysis) that higher-ranked systems tend to produce more at the big league level than lower ranked systems.  

 

I anticipate that the Angels will keep doing what they're doing regardless of what the rankings or fans say.  And all prospect work, including every write up you put together, is completely arbitrary--it will have absolutely no impact on the actual outcomes.  So, for the sake of your job as a Angels/prospect blogger, I hope the fans continue to care about those arbitrary rankings and analysis.

[Second Base]

I think I'd need to see some actually leg work done before justifying that higher ranked prospects result in more team success. The fact of the matter is, the people that rank these systems have their own bias and focus on one specific type of prospect to praise.

Meanwhile for every Brandon Wood there are several Kole Calhoun types that never got the hype from falsely or I adequately informed types like Baseball America and Prospectus. Just about the only one that I've seen that does the necessary depth research is Sickels with Minor League Ball.

I think the greatest correlation to be made is that highly regarded prospects tend to bring in highly paid trade deadline players and offseason veterans, which helps support winning. I could be on board with that argument.

Don't focus so much on system rankings as much as you focus on scouting reports. How many times did AW toot Shoemaker's horn while others including myself wrote him off as a swingman? The same goes for myself with Jose Rondon and Alex Yarbrough. We've a deeper understanding of who these kids are as players and people, because we study them and their organization.

National sites don't have the resources to see these kids and focus on then as we do, so how could they accurately rank systems? Again, there's a lot more than one type of prospect that has value. Without being able to take this into account, any ranking could never be remotely accurate.

Edited December 22, 2014 by ScottyA_MWAH

[Angel Oracle]

Yarbrough is one that intrigues me.    Wasn't he the Texas League MVP in 2014?

[Second Base]

Yarbrough profiles as an above average offensive and defensive 2B.  He doesn't have the glove, power or speed to be a star but he has enough in his arsenal to carve out a Kendrick-type of career for himself. He compares favorably to guys like Callaspo, Infante and Scutaro in their good seasons. Never elite defensive 2B but solid, never elite hitters but certainly could hit for average and smack quite a few XBH. 

[shizziejoe]

We've done a good job improving the pitching depth in the system but I hope we step it up with position players in the draft and international scene.  I'd like to see how Delgado progresses this year...he seems promising at least