Generally..how good is the Sox farm system right now?

[chisoxtony]

I know at one point (I think 1999 to 2001 or 2002) the Sox had what was once ranked one of the best farm systems in baseball.

With Kenny's trades (which did bring us a World Championship)..I am curious to know how well the current farm system is ranked. Is it in pretty decent shape or pretty depleted? Do we still have one of the best?

[Unregistered]

Here's the 2007 List of Best Farm Systems from Hardball Times:


Los Angeles Dodgers
Cleveland Indians
Arizona Diamondbacks
Chicago Cubs
Milwaukee Brewers
Minnesota Twins
Detroit Tigers
New York Mets
Colorado Rockies
Philadelphia Phillies
New York Yankees
Houston Astros
Boston Red Sox
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
San Diego Padres
Toronto Blue Jays
Chicago White Sox
Pittsburgh Pirates
Seattle Mariners
Cincinnati Reds
Los Angeles Angels
Oakland A's
St. Louis Cardinals
San Francisco Giants
Atlanta Braves
Florida Marlins
Texas Rangers
Kansas City Royals
Baltimore Orioles
Washington Nationals


Hardball Times - Ranking Organizations (http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/ranking-organizations/)


Meanwhile, Baseball Prospectus - who has a hate hard-on for the Sox - ranks them 24th (21st in hitting, 20th in pitching) on their chart, with this description:

John Danks, Josh Fields, and Ryan Sweeney are a nice trio at the top, but after that, the well is dry, particularly at the lower levels after years of overly conservative drafting.

BP Organizational Rankings
(http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=5870)
They list the Sox top prospects as follows:

Excellent Prospects
None
Very Good Prospects
1. John Danks, lhp
2. Ryan Sweeney, cf/rf
3. Josh Fields, 3b
Good Prospects
4. Gio Gonzalez, lhp
5. Charlie Haeger, rhp
Average Prospects
6. Aaron Cunningham, lf
7. Lance Broadway, rhp
8. Kyle McCulloch, rhp
9. Chris Carter, 1b
10. Nick Massett, rhp

Sox Top Prospects (http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=5804)

[chisoxtony]

Here's the 2007 List of Best Farm Systems from Hardball Times:


Los Angeles Dodgers
Cleveland Indians
Arizona Diamondbacks
Chicago Cubs
Milwaukee Brewers
Minnesota Twins
Detroit Tigers
New York Mets
Colorado Rockies
Philadelphia Phillies
New York Yankees
Houston Astros
Boston Red Sox
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
San Diego Padres
Toronto Blue Jays
Chicago White Sox
Pittsburgh Pirates
Seattle Mariners
Cincinnati Reds
Los Angeles Angels
Oakland A's
St. Louis Cardinals
San Francisco Giants
Atlanta Braves
Florida Marlins
Texas Rangers
Kansas City Royals
Baltimore Orioles
Washington Nationals


Hardball Times - Ranking Organizations (http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/ranking-organizations/)


Meanwhile, Baseball Prospectus - who has a hate hard-on for the Sox - ranks them 24th (21st in hitting, 20th in pitching) on their chart, with this description:



BP 2007 Organizational Rankings
(http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=5870)
They list the Sox top prospects as follows:

Excellent Prospects
None
Very Good Prospects
1. John Danks, lhp
2. Ryan Sweeney, cf/rf
3. Josh Fields, 3b
Good Prospects
4. Gio Gonzalez, lhp
5. Charlie Haeger, rhp
Average Prospects
6. Aaron Cunningham, lf
7. Lance Broadway, rhp
8. Kyle McCulloch, rhp
9. Chris Carter, 1b
10. Nick Massett, rhp

BP 2007 Sox Top Prospects (http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=5804)


:( ..is this before Kenny made some of these trades and got some prospects this past winter?

and I can't believe the Cubs are number 5...

[Unregistered]

:( ..is this before Kenny made some of these trades and got some prospects this past winter?

and I can't believe the Cubs are number 5...


Well, it's dated the 15th of February, so it should be up-to-date.

Also, it shouldn't be too surprising the Cubs have a good farm system considering how consistently awful they are. That gives you a nice draft position year in and year out.

What's more alarming is seeing the Royals and Nationals (and Orioles, Rangers, etc.) at the bottom - the bleeding won't stop anytime soon for those clubs... :eek:

[SectionBNole]

Baseball America (the source I usually go by) has us at 26th.

[Hangar18]

I think the SOX took a hard look at the farm system last year and realized they needed to stock up the farm again, which is why you saw some of the trades you saw ................

[sager729]

I can't believe Masset is an average prospect, the Sox think he can either be a future starter or closer and he throws around 95 with good 2nd and 3rd pitches.

[Hangar18]

Also, it shouldn't be too surprising the Cubs have a good farm system considering how consistently awful they are. That gives you a nice draft position year in and year out.




The Cubs have had a top 10 pick for the last 15 years or so ................
quite frankly that tells you how horrendous that team is. And seeing how many of those TOP Picks are in the current Cub starting 9 (hint: ZERO)
is further testament at how awful they really have been ..........

The SOX on the other hand, havn't had a TOP 10 pick in .......... shoot
I cant remember the last time we had a Top10 pick. 1988?

[Hangar18]

I think 1990. And they might have drafed Alex Fernandez or one of those integral pieces of the Good Guys team.


for the record, since 1990, the joke-of-major-league-baseball Cubs have had a top 10 Pick 5 times and only have The Messiah and Wood to show for it.

Incredibly, since 1990 in the very same time span, the SOX have indeed had only 1 top 10 pick, that being in 1990 when the SOX selected 4th overall, an Alex Fernandez.

Despite what the Chicago Media is telling us, the White Sox have been a pretty darned good team since 1990 ............ with the FIVE 90-Win Seasons in that time span, and the World Series Title in 2005.

[samram]

I don't know how big a difference draft position makes. The Dodgers, Indians, and Twins have been competitive for most of this century, while the Royals and Nationals haven't and look where those teams rank. Most of the prospects that make a farm system really good aren't first rounders anyway. Hell, didn't KW come out a few weeks ago and say he needed better results from the minor league development personnel?

[Hangar18]

I don't know how big a difference draft position makes. The Dodgers, Indians, and Twins have been competitive for most of this century, while the Royals and Nationals haven't and look where those teams rank. Most of the prospects that make a farm system really good aren't first rounders anyway. Hell, didn't KW come out a few weeks ago and say he needed better results from the minor league development personnel?

The Dodgers & Indians have generally Spent big dollars, while the Twins have simply ...well, they've drafted WELL.
I made that distinction in my post, how with those top draft picks, the baby bears have still stunk. The SOX however, when they last had top 10 picks have fared much better:

1987 #5 overall pick - Jack McDowell
1988 #10 overall pick - Robin Ventura
1989 #7 overall pick - Frank Thomas
1990 #4 overall pick - Alex Fernandez

Whats also interesting to note, was 1990 turned out to be a pretty darned good year draft-wise for the SOX. They were also able to get that year:

#4 Alex Fernandez
#61 Bob Wickman
#67 Eric Maloney
#77 Rob Ellis
#103 James Baldwin
#129 Ray Durham
and way down in the draft, 36th Round
#934 Jason Bere