Keith Law ranks Angels farm as #7 in baseball

[krAbs]

https://old.reddit.com/r/angelsbaseball/comments/an6xcl/espns_keith_law_has_the_angels_ranked_as_the_7/

In 2016, Eppler inherited a team whose farm system ranked dead last, and whose major league roster consisted of Mike Trout, Calhoun, Pujols, and 17.5 miles of sh*t. Going into 2019, we have a vastly improved farm (#7 is aggressive, for sure, but every ranking group has us as MUCH improved), and a major league roster with Trout, Ohtani, Simmons, and Upton (followed by a still depressingly large pile of sh*t, which now appears to include Calhoun and Pujols).

[GA16]

Back in 2016 Law said the Angels system was "by far the worst I've ever seen".  Here we are 3 years later and Law bumps the system up to 7th, quite a testament to the progress Eppler and company have made. 

[Angelsjunky]

I remember when Craig Nettles played 3B for the Yankees.

[beatlesrule]

8 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

I remember when Craig Nettles played 3B for the Yankees.

 

[Docwaukee]

the most impressive part is that we haven't traded away key components of the major league club.  We haven't been drafting in the top 5.  We don't have nearly the established international presence of several major league clubs.  And we've even traded away some players to supplement the major league club (Newcomb, Ellis, Gott, Austin Adams, Kyle McGowin, Elvin Rodriguez, Grayson Long, Wilkel Hernandez, Troy Montgomery).  

Aside from Newcomb, those aren't top level guys, but they'd certainly be additional depth.  Rodriguez is in our top 20 right now and Hernandez and Long in our top 30 or so.  Probably Montgomery and Ellis as well.  

Without a doubt I want to see the Halos win this year.  It's far and away my number one priority for the 2019 team.  But in a distant second is for a bunch of the one year deals to succeed if we're out of the race so we can move them for a bunch of prospects.  Chances are that the latter begets a winning team which would be great, but the prospect junky in me wants more more more of the precious.  

The only thing better than winning is doing so with players that are from the farm system.  

[Angelsjunky]

The farm system is the best its been since the "golden era" of the mid-00s. That ended up being a somewhat difficult crop, with many top prospects disappointing, but still resulted in a lot of solid major leaguers. In the next two years (2019-20), the Angels should have quite a few players graduate to the majors as average or better regulars: Ward, Thaiss, Rengifo, Canning, Suarez, Jones, Adell Marsh, Sandoval, maybe one or two others. Even if a couple of these guys stall or flame-out, that's a nice crop. Several should be plus regulars and one or two bonafide stars.

Then in 2022-23, we'll have another wave of similar talent: Knowles, Adams, Deveaux, Soto, Maitan, Jackson, C Rodriguez, Soriano, Bradish, Hernandez. 

 

[Erstad Grit]

Would we be 1 if we had Vlad Jr?

Fn Dipoto 

[Angelsjunky]

14 minutes ago, Erstad Grit said:

Would we be 1 if we had Vlad Jr?

Fn Dipoto 

Quite simply, yes. Vlad Jr, as the best prospect in baseball--and a very good best prospect--would improve any farm system by five plus ranks. So if not #1, the Angels would be top 2 or 3.

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

30 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

Quite simply, yes. Vlad Jr, as the best prospect in baseball--and a very good best prospect--would improve any farm system by five plus ranks. So if not #1, the Angels would be top 2 or 3.

but not for long, Vlad Jr. won't be a prospect much longer...

[arch stanton]

3 hours ago, Angelsjunky said:

I remember when Craig Nettles played 3B for the Yankees.

Graig Nettles

[Inside Pitch]

3 hours ago, Erstad Grit said:

Would we be 1 if we had Vlad Jr?

Fn Dipoto 

Probably, yes..   Very few true 80 bats come around and he's one of them.   His bat is so good on its own it pushes his overall grade up.

[DMVol]

7 hours ago, Erstad Grit said:

Would we be 1 if we had Vlad Jr?

Fn Dipoto 

Nobody gets it right every time, the best evaluators miss all the time...but there was simply no excuse for bungling Vlad Jr.....we could have signed him...the consensus was that Baldoquin was a fair prospect, not close to where DiPoto evaluated him...just inexcusable....

[Blarg]

Jerry Dipoto was way over his head as GM of the Angels. 

[red321]

1 minute ago, Blarg said:

Jerry Dipoto was way over his head as GM of the Angels. 

And the best part...he's still way over his head while plying his trades for the Mariners

[Blarg]

I guess that's a wait and see if he learned anything over the last 6 years. Personally, I think the Mariners part ways with him in two. 

[Taylor]

But do the Mariners have a top 5 farm system now that all is said and done?

[floplag]

That seems awful optimistic,  lets hope hes right. 

[krAbs]

Man, can you imagine if we had actually signed Vladdy Jr? We would, in a perfect world, be bringing in him and Adell over 2019, and then also bringing in Jones at 2b in 2020.

Its worth noting....This may be our high water mark for the next few years for the farm. Most of our higher end prospects will be moving to the majors over the next two years, so I would expect a drop-off. It will be interesting to see what Eppler is able to do, and if he is able to keep adding to the farm at a reasonable rate. If he can minimize the slippage while we are bringing guys up, I'll be happy.

[T.G.]

How do you like those one year contracts now?

[floplag]

 

10 minutes ago, krAbs said:

Man, can you imagine if we had actually signed Vladdy Jr? We would, in a perfect world, be bringing in him and Adell over 2019, and then also bringing in Jones at 2b in 2020.

Its worth noting....This may be our high water mark for the next few years for the farm. Most of our higher end prospects will be moving to the majors over the next two years, so I would expect a drop-off. It will be interesting to see what Eppler is able to do, and if he is able to keep adding to the farm at a reasonable rate. If he can minimize the slippage while we are bringing guys up, I'll be happy.

I cant keep thinking what if on this, we didnt, its moot.  Frankly i think his bat is worthy of the hype, but he wont be anything near the defender his pops was and is looking at being a DH long before most and may be slightly over hyped based on that, but it doesnt matter really.   Dont get me wrong, id love to have him, but it is what it is at this point, we dont so moving on. 

[Docwaukee]

41 minutes ago, krAbs said:

Man, can you imagine if we had actually signed Vladdy Jr? We would, in a perfect world, be bringing in him and Adell over 2019, and then also bringing in Jones at 2b in 2020.

Its worth noting....This may be our high water mark for the next few years for the farm. Most of our higher end prospects will be moving to the majors over the next two years, so I would expect a drop-off. It will be interesting to see what Eppler is able to do, and if he is able to keep adding to the farm at a reasonable rate. If he can minimize the slippage while we are bringing guys up, I'll be happy.

He's moved the team up quite a bit without having top 5 picks or selling off the major league club so I think there's a good chance of at least maintaining this for awhile unless others mimic the strategy and are picking before us.  The key is going to be to get those high end international players.  Because their is no draft (as of yet), we still have a shot at guys that would be in the top 20 or 10 on the intl front.  We have to take advantage of that while it lasts.  

[Second Base]

Technically, the Angels had the number one overall prospect last year in Shohei Ohtani and have a top 10 prospect this year in Jo Adell.  I wonder who makes the leap up the boards next year.  Knowles, Jackson, Maitan, Adams, Marsh, Jones?

[UndertheHalo]

1 hour ago, Taylor said:

But do the Mariners have a top 5 farm system now that all is said and done?

Thanks for asking the real questions.  

[Glen]

My future boner is strong.

[Stradling]

5 hours ago, floplag said:

That seems awful optimistic,  lets hope hes right. 

The great part about his optimism about the Angels farm is the fact that less than 3 years ago he called the Angels farm system the worst he has ever seen.  So he isn’t someone that is generally optimistic about the Angels system.