MLB Pipelines polled MLB executives about strengths of each club’s farm systems. Where the Astros were ranked…
Best in the international market – T1st (w/Dodgers)
Most underrated farm system – T2nd
Best at developing pitchers – T3rd (Guardians and Dodgers were higher while Marlins and Rays tied)
Best at developing hitters – 2nd (Dodgers higher)
Best at developing sleeper prospects – 2nd (Dodgers higher)
This is all very interesting to me. I wonder what the total cost is that each club (Astros, Dodgers) pay for their entire farm system. And, when you look at the primary purpose of the farm system (creating a reliable pipeline of high-value talent for the MLB club), I would tend to think the Astros system is performing at a higher level than the Dodgers system.
In addition, the pundits pontification about the demise of the Astros farm system is/was laughably wrong. It produced top-calibre talent (for use by the MLB club and for trades) when it was stocked from the tank job. It produced top-calibre talent (for use by the MLB club and for trades) when it was “depleted” and ranked at the bottom. And now, despite the Astros being at the very bottom of the draft ladder for 6 years now AND loosing picks due to the cheating scandal, is now magically ranked at the top again. What a reporting hatchet job.
The reporting hatchet job continues. Law and The Athletic rank the Astros farm system here in 2023 26th out of 30 teams. With gems like “They also almost completely punted on international free agency after 2016, only signing three players for seven figures or more between then and 2022”. So, because the Astros signed their plethora of all-star, celebrated international players before they hit free agency, they’re doing a bad job? To quote the great @pravata, “that’s some paramecium-level thinking right there”