BA ranks Orioles' system 16th out of 30

[Frobby]

This can't be accurate. Baseball America still has 3 more top tens to do. Plus, Nationals are ranked waaayy too high.

BA actually has finished all its top 10's, it just hasn't put them up on its website. And the Nats ranking 9th has been widely reported. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080124&content_id=2354517&vkey=news_was&fext=.jsp&c_id=was

[JayGibbons31]

I'm surprised that the A's are so low after the trades that they made. I would expect them to be higher.

[Frobby]

I'm surprised that the A's are so low after the trades that they made. I would expect them to be higher.

I also find that surprising. It almost makes you wonder whether they did these rankings before the A's made their big trade. However, that seems doubtful since the rankings appear to have taken into account the effect of other major trades (e.g., Astros are 30th after trading for Tejada).

[MORA!MORA!MORA!]

Regarding the Yankees being so high on this list. What do you think is the cause of their rejuvenation?

• Are they able to get high first round guys who fall because of signability issues?
  
• Have they just done a good job drafting recently?
  

I think it's a little of both.

Do you think since they are prone to sign free agents, they also lose more free agents than most teams thus giving them more supplemental picks?

[Frobby]

Regarding the Yankees being so high on this list. What do you think is the cause of their rejuvenation?

• Are they able to get high first round guys who fall because of signability issues?
• Have they just done a good job drafting recently?

I think it's a little of both.

Do you think since they are prone to sign free agents, they also lose more free agents than most teams thus giving them more supplemental picks?

Yes, its both, and their good international scouting. A big reason they are ranked so high right now is Ian Kennedy and Joba Chamberlain, both of whom were drafted in 2006 and have already reached the majors after dominating in the minors. They were the 21st and 41st picks in the 2006 draft. Kennedy had a signing bonus of $2.25 mm (more than Rowell got in the no. 9 slot) and Chamberlain received $1.1 mm.

[alev]

no matter what, we always finish 4th in the AL East

[psk3170]

I just got the BA prospect handbook today and this list is accurate. I checked the A's list and none of the prospects received in the two trades are reflected in the book and likely explains why they ranked so low. The Orioles list does includes the Tejada pieces. Costanzo is #11. Sarfate is #20. Patton was #3.

Possible Seattle trade pieces are as follows:

Jones not eligible for list

1. Clement

3. Tillman

4. truinfel

5. Balientien

10. Tuiasosopo

12. Tony Butler

18. Mickolio

[hoosiers]

The Yankees have the following highly rated prospects that, until this year, the Os never put out such $ for international signings or signings above slot or were signed before Jordan's first draft in 2005:

#2 Austin Jackson - 8th round - $800k signing bonus in 2005

#3 Jose Tabata - International signing - Venezuela

#5 Alan Horne - 11th round - 2005 - $400k

#6 Jesus Montero - International signing - Venezuela

#7 Jeff Marquez - 2004 draft pick

#9 Russ Ohlendorf - 2004 draft pick

On the Os list, Liz existed before Jordan arrived though Patton was traded for.

Those who look at the difference between the Os and NYY farm system and hold Joe Jordan accountable are among the uninformed.

Hopefully, if the 2007 draft (Os willing to go above slot) and the plans for the new academy in Latin America are any indication, we can close the gap with the Yankees in this area in the near future.

[byrdz]

Even if the Yanks system starts to suffer they will just trade one of their highly coveted ML players for a bundle of prospects (ie Sheffield).

[RShack]

It's probably a combination of things including international scouting and player development/coaching.

Man, I don't know how they'd do that. Seems like a ton of work for if-fy info. I'm just guessing, but I'd bet it's based on crunching numbers/rankings of MiL players.

As for where the O's are: if one source say 16 and the other says 14, that's about as middle-of-the-pack as you can get. Which is halfway to good. And it's all due to pre-AM stuff. Flanny started with a hole 10-feet deep, and he turned it into a hole 5-feet deep. I'm not dissing Jordan, but Flanny deserves credit for the O's being in the middle instead of bottom.

[Frobby]

Man, I don't know how they'd do that. Seems like a ton of work for if-fy info. I'm just guessing, but I'd bet it's based on crunching numbers/rankings of MiL players.

As for where the O's are: if one source say 16 and the other says 14, that's about as middle-of-the-pack as you can get. Which is halfway to good. And it's all due to pre-AM stuff. Flanny started with a hole 10-feet deep, and he turned it into a hole 5-feet deep. I'm not dissing Jordan, but Flanny deserves credit for the O's being in the middle instead of bottom.

1. Yes, Flanny deserves some credit here.

2. But middle-of-the-pack isn't good enough after 5 years.

Five years, IMO, is a very long time. Long enough that those high-school kids you drafted your first year as GM are now 23 years old. Long enough that the college kids you drafted that year are now 26. After five years, you would EXPECT that every one of the top 30 prospects in the organization was drafted or signed after Flanagan arrived.

Considering the high draft position the O's have held throughout that period, middle-of-the-pack simply is not that impressive. The O's have had plenty of time to hire new coaches and higher level personnel, reorganize the staff, add resources where needed, etc. Middle-of-the-pack isn't getting this team into contention.

And by the way, if we hadn't added Patton, Costanzo and Sarfate via the Tejada trade, we'd probably be ranked lower than 16th.

[Ruzious]

It's funny how everyone would always say "the Yankees are ruining their farm" by all of their trades/signings. Come to find out they are still 5th and seem to be producing a solid player somewhat regularly. That makes me sick, it's just not fair.

Yeah, seeing the Yankees and Nats in the top 10, it's hard to accept that old addage about Rome not being built in a day. But I am encouraged by our progress.

[Trinidad]

If you look at what prospects are ranked where, you'll see that BA's lists were done before all off-season trades, including Tejada to Astro's, They are ranked low because their prospects aren't very good. Remeber, Patton and Scott were at the major league level and likely not accounted for in the rankings.

Same with Dodgers in regards to Kemp, Billingsley, Broxton and Loney. And look how high they still are!!!

[Ruzious]

If you look at what prospects are ranked where, you'll see that BA's lists were done before all off-season trades, including Tejada to Astro's, They are ranked low because their prospects aren't very good. Remeber, Patton and Scott were at the major league level and likely not accounted for in the rankings.

Albers and Scott. Patton should be included.

[RShack]

1. Yes, Flanny deserves some credit here.

2. But middle-of-the-pack isn't good enough after 5 years.

Five years, IMO, is a very long time.

I do not believe that Flanagan had 5 years as GM.

I never said he did great. But I do think he made the MiL aspect a higher priority than it had been in a quarter-century.