ESPN rates Reds farm as 6th best in baseball

ESPN rates Reds farm as 6th best in baseball | redsminorleagues.com

We are in the middle of what we like to call prospect ranking season. The big publications are all seeming to start the overall rankings between now and the next week or two. Baseball America and ESPN both released their Top 100 lists on Monday (and Tuesday for ESPN, who split their Top 100 over two days). The MLB Pipeline list is coming out Saturday. Baseball Prospectus and Fangraphs have to be right around the corner. The same goes for John Sickels list. It’s a fun time to be a prospect fan if your team has a good farm system. Or, if you happen to be a prospect fan and you’re a Giants fan, a time to take up laughing gas. What about Reds fans, though? How should they feel these days about the system?

Earlier today, Keith Law, who blocked a friend of mine on twitter for “fansplaining” to him how to count to 45 after Law apparently couldn’t do it, released his farm system rankings for 2018 over at ESPN. The list is only for ESPN Insiders, but he has the Cincinnati Reds ranked 6th in baseball. That’s up from where they were last season, which was 8th. Not a bad jump for a farm system that graduated a few former Top 100 prospects, Luis Castillo, Jesse Winker (though he’s still a rookie – Law just doesn’t think so because he can’t count like the rest of us), and Sal Romano since the #8 ranking.

Law cites the depth of the system as being a strength for years, but it’s the very top with Nick Senzel and Hunter Greene that makes the difference this year with it’s high ranking. Being able to have true star caliber prospects can really push a farm system up from that “good” range.

Hopefully some of the young talent is soon producing at the major league level.

Are we sure they aren’t implying the Reds rate as the 6th best farm team?

Red have done well in recent drafts with position players. Pitchers always take longer to mature.

Just wish the pitching the reds got in all those trades would have turned out better.

Senzel, Trammel thrown in with Greene is going to turn heads.

At least we have something going for us.

Reds promoted Gabby Guerrero to Louisville.