You’ve asked and we’ve delivered. The 2023 preseason Top 30 rankings are now live for each of the 30 organizations and with that comes a very simple debate: Who’s the best?
While we’ll save a comprehensive ranking for later this month, the least we could do is satiate the desire to know who the best in each division is. In some cases, it was a slam dunk; in others, the margin of victory was hairpin thin.
On this week’s edition of the MLB Pipeline Podcast, hosts Jason Ratliff, Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo took on the above exercise. You can give the show — which includes a 1-on-1 interview with the Angels’ No. 2 prospect Zach Neto — a full listen here.
Orioles
“The Orioles’ combination of still elite-level talent and depth in their system has them head and shoulders above anybody else in baseball right now,” Mayo said.
That’s about as succinct of an answer as there can be. Baltimore doesn’t just top the AL East, it clears the bar as the game’s preeminent system rather easily. After years of picking near the top of the Draft, the O’s have collected a plethora of young talent that is primed to impact the team’s lineup and rotation in both the short and long term.
Callis lays out the system’s unprecedented run of success:
“It’s amazing, too, that they had Adley Rutschman graduate and they’re still No. 1. They have the best prospect in baseball in Gunnar Henderson, they have arguably the best pitching prospect, you could make a case for Grayson Rodriguez.
“I feel like Jackson Holliday is probably going to be the No. 1 overall prospect a year from now.”
In short, the young Orioles are coming.
Guardians
While Cleveland may not boast the top-tier star power that Baltimore does, the Guardians’ prospect crop is arguably the deepest in the game. Mayo had them as the clear and obvious choice in a division that has seen its clubs recently either graduate a significant swath of talent (Tigers, Royals) or ones that have been unable to climb the rankings leaderboards (Twins, White Sox).
“I think it’s one of the more balanced farm systems in terms of having hitting and pitching prospects.”
While there is some concern that the Guardians have largely compiled hit-over-power style bats, the club has been able to simultaneously win at the big league level while churning out significant contributors.
As Ratliff pointed out on the Podcast, “The Rangers have one fewer Top 100 prospect than the other teams in the division…
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