2011 Minors League System Reviews: American League

[Alex (Nationals GM)]

AL West


Angels Total Score 48 ( A 1 A- 1 B+ 1 B 7 B- 5 )

Outlook: Our leagues best farm system. Mike Trout is the best prospect in the system and arguably the best prospect in all of baseball. Has insane speed contact ability and the power seems to be developing as well, he should be a very exciting player to watch at the major league level. Zach Britten is the second best prospect in the system and the systems best pitching prospect by far. Already major league ready and going to contribute this season. Has great command and a nasty arsenal, should be the #1 guy in Baltimore as soon as this season and is a legitimate candidate for the ROY this year. After these two prospects there is a bit of a drop-off but still some very exciting prospects. The Angels have two future closers in Jordan Walden and Jake Mcgee and some exciting bats in catcher Hank Conger and second baseman Jean Segura. Angels are also in control of more future draft picks than any other team in the league with 3 first round picks in 2011 along with 4 compensation 1st rounders. In 2012 the Angels have 8 first round picks! this farm should be a top the leagues best for many years even with the possibility of some of their top prospects graduating as soon as this season. Look out for the Angels as they should be a very good team in the future and will be that way for a long time.

Best Hitting Prospect: Mike Trout - What can I say about this guy that hasn't already been said. He is everything everyone is building him up to be.

Best Pitching Prospect: Zach Britten - Gonna be an extremely successful major league pitcher and if all goes well an ace for the Orioles.

Prospect to Watch in 2011: Hank Conger - Great hitting ability for a catcher but we'll see if he gets his fair share of at bats under Mike Scioscia with his sub-par defense. If he does however he can be a very productive fantasy catcher.

RangersTotal Score: 47 ( A 1 B+ 5 B 2 B- 7 )

Outlook: Our leagues second best farm system and just short of being the top in the leagues. The Rangers trades a huge package of top MLB players for a huge package of top prospects with the Royals. In that trade he was able to acquire Mike Moutsakas, John Lamb and Mike Montgomery. The Rangers also traded SS Elvis Andrus for SS prospect Nick Franklin. Mike Moutsakas is a top third base prospect though a position change may be in his future. If he can stick at 3rd at the major league level he will be a great fantasy contributor at a shallow position. Montgomery, Lamb and Martin Perez are all pitchers to watch in 2011 all with great stuff. Martin Perez needs to build of of his 09' season and put his 10' season behind him but I think he has the stuff to be a great major league pitcher if he can become consistent.

Best Hitting Prospect: Mike Moutsakas - Nothing left to prove in minors in my opinion. Just needs playing time and he should contribute quickly after.

Best Pitching Prospect: Mike Montgomery - This is close between Montgomery and Lamb but I think Montgomery stuff is better.

Prospect to Watch in 2011: Martin Perez - Can he bounce back? 2011 will either make Perez a top prospect again or he could potentially drop even more if he has another bad year.

Athletics Total Score: 22 ( B 4 B- 5 )

Outlook: The A's system has a good amount of potentially solid players but lacks an elite prospect and doesn't have a ton of depth. Grant Green is the closest to being elite in my opinion and has the potential to be a power hitter from the SS position which seems to be a rarity now days. If he can get a better understanding of the strike zone and if his defense is good enough to stick at short than he can be a very capable fantasy player in the future. Michael Choice is another solid prospect with a great tool set.

TopHitting Prospect: Grant Green - Power is legitimate just needs to see if he can cut down the K's.

TopPitching Prospect: Rex Brother - Possible future closer, great stuff.

Prospect to Watch in 2011: Cris Carter - We'll see if he can successfully adjust to major league pitching. Strikeouts will always be an issue but power potential is for real.

Mariners Total Score: 18 ( A 1 B 1 B- 4)

Outlook: Michael Pineda is far and away the top prospect in system and has the ability to be a All-Star pitcher at the major league level. After Pineda however there isn't a whole lot of talent or depth in the Mariners system. Alex Colome is an interesting prospect he needs more time to develop but he has the potential to be a solid player with his arsenal.

Top Hitting Prospect: Travis D' Arnaud - Most of his value comes from his strong defense but I believe he has the ability to be at least a average major league hitting catcher with the ceiling being slightly above average hitter.

Top Pitching Prospect: Michael Pineda - Major league ready and ace potential.

Prospect to Watch in 2011: Alex Colome - This season should provide a good idea of just how good Colome can be if he is able to put together a good season he should quickly climb up prospect list going into 2012.

[Alex (Nationals GM)]

AL Central


Royals Total Score:41 (A 2 B+ 3 B 3 B- 3)

Outlook: The Royals farm took a huge hit when he traded Mike Moustakas, Mike Montgomery and John Lamb to the Rangers for a group of major leaguers that included Josh Hamilton, Michael Young and a young pitcher in Derek Holland. He was able to counter that with a nice haul in exchange for Zach Greinke however. Eric Hosmer and Wil Meyers are two very talented hitters and lead a very talented core for the Royals that also includes Jake Odorizzi,, Chris Dwyer, Brett Eibner and Christian Colon. The future is still very bright for the Royals despite his moves to make a run in 2011.

Best Hitting Prospect: Eric Hosmer- He's everything he's been built up to be. The best 1B prospect in baseball and a future star in the MLB should everything go right.

Best Pitching Prospect: Jake Odorizzi Great stuff! should be a very productive major leaguer.

Prospect to Watch in 2011: Christian Colon The Royals top pick from the 2010 draft. Needs to develop but we should learn a lot more about him this year and just how high his ceiling is.


Indians Total Score: 31 ( 3 B+ 3 B 5 B- )

Outlook: The Indians sacrificed a few of their top prospects in Pomeranz and Weglarz but still have a fairly strong system. Lonnie Chisenhall is the prize prospect of the system he has the potential to be a great everyday player at the next level and should be up very soon. Jason Kipnis is another guy to watch, the only real knock on him is his defense at 2B but it shouldn't be enough to warrant a position change so from a fantasy standpoint there's nothing to really dislike about Kipnis he should have a very productive major league career. Another move the Indians made was a prospect swap involving Jason Knapp and Anthony Rizzo. Both prospects have great potential but only time will tell who won this trade. Rizzo however is a fine prospect who could provide power at the first base position in the not to far future.

Top Pitching Prospect: Alex White- has #1 starter potential still needs a bit more time to develop but the ceiling is pretty high on what he can do if everything works out.

Top Hitting Prospect: Lonnie Chisenhall- Good power and should have at very least a decent average. Still could get even better but for now he is already ready to come up and contribute and should put up respectable numbers at a relatively shallow position.

Prospect to Watch in 2011: LeVon Washington- Awesome skill set and potential to be great. If he can put everything together and play to his potential he could be a top prospect very soon.

Tigers Total Score: 18 ( B+ 1 B 2 B- 4 )

Outlook: Trey McNutt was acquired from the Cubs in a deal for Miguel Cabrera and immediately became the Tigers best prospect. He has great stuff and command and should be a very productive player and possible #1 to #2 starter. Nick Castellanos has really good power potential just have to see if he can keep his average up.

Top Hitting Prospect: Nick Castellanos: This year will tell a lot about Castellanos ceiling look for him to rise a grade if he has another productive year.

Top Pitching Prospect: Trey McNutt: See above.

Prospect to Watch in 2011: Dan Schlereth: Has good stuff though command remains an issue. Could be a future closer if he has a productive season in the Big Leagues this season.

Twins Total Score: 16 ( B+ 1 B 2 B- 1 )

Outlook: The Twins traded away a lot of their top talent but they still have a few solid players. Led by Alex Wimmers and Alex Torres the Twins have some interesting pitchers coming up that have the ability to be solid major leaguers.

Best Hitting Prospect: Joe Beson Good power and potential to rise in 2011 if he can get a better understanding of the strike zone.

Best Pitching Prospect: Alex Wimmers Very talented pitcher and easily best prospect in system.

Prospect to Watch in 2011: Alex Torres Great strike out stuff and if he can get his command under control he will be a very good prospect going into 2011.

White Sox: Total Score 12 ( B+ 1 B 2 B- 1 )

Outlook: Lack of depth leads to a low grade but the White Sox actually have some very good prospects coming up. Brett Morel is ready to contribute at third now while Dayan Viciedo isn't far off. Kyle Gibson is a very talented pitching prospect and the best in the system by a lot.

Best Hitting Prospect: Brett Morel Good plate discipline and contact ability and power should be decent.

Best Pitching Prospect: Kyle Gibson Great command and stuff should be very solid pitcher.

Prospect to Watch in 2011: Ben Revere Needs to be productive this year but has the tools to be a very good prospect.

[Alex (Nationals GM)]

AL East


Rays Total Score: 44 ( A 2 A- 2 B+ 1 B 2 B- 4)

Outlook: Arguably the best minor league system in the league but by my ranking system it's falls just short. Brown, Hellickson and Minor are all major league ready and Brandon Belt isn't far off and should they should all be up this year. Lower down in the system is Aaron Hicks who has the tools but has not yet put it together yet. Obviously this farm will take a big hit going into 2012 with the likely promotions of the 4 prospects mentioned before but the Rays major league squad should get a huge boost and should be good for quite a few years.

Top Pitching Prospect: Jeremy Hellickson- In my opinion the best pitching prospect in baseball just ahead of Chapman. A top contender for what should be a very exciting ROY race.

Top Hitting Prospect: Dominic Brown- While Hellickson is arguably the front runner for AL rookie of the year Brown has to be the early favorite for the NL. It would be pretty amazing for the Rays to have both ROY's coming from it's minor league system and it's very possible.

Prospect to Watch in 2011: Brandon Belt: A place to play is all Belt needs at this point he came out of no where last season with a new swing and is one of the best 1B prospects in baseball, with all the veterans on the Giants roster look for Belt to get a call up if one gets injured. He can play both 1B and LF.

YankeesTotal Score: 39 ( 1 A 2 B+ 3 B 2 B- 7 )

Outlook: The Yankees farm is deep but lacks elite prospects behind Montero. Gary Sanchez and Dellin Betances are very good prospects as well but the meat of the Yankees points comes from having 7 B- prospects. If a few of those B- prospects take the next step however this could be a very good farm going into 2012.

Best Pitching Prospect: Dellin Betances- could be as high as an A next season if all goes well in 2011. Great stuff.

BestHitting Prospect: Jesus Montero- Glove is the only concern with Montero which obviously mean nothing in a fantasy league. Even if he moves to 1B he'll be very valuable.

Prospect to Watch in 2011: Gary Sanchez- If his bat continues to develop he could supplant Montero as the Yankees top prospect given his superior defense.

Blue Jays Total Score: 37 ( A 1 B+ 1 B 3 B- 8)

Outlook: The Blue Jays made some trades that weakened there farm a bit but were also able to add a few nice pieces during the offseason. Top prospect Matt Moore is the far a head of anyone else in the system in my opinion. The system is very deep with plenty of B- prospects and a few of them could be ready for big breakouts in 2011.

Top Pitching Prospect : Matt Moore: Has ace potential might be #2 behind Hellickson for a long time.

Top Hitting Prospect: Nick Weglarz- Needs to continue developing hitting but has great tools and a great eye.

Prospect to Watch in 2011: J.P Arencibia- Great minor league numbers power should transfer over to the major league level and should be able to hit around .250-.260 which is useful at catcher. If he's able to hit more however he could be a top 5 catcher with his power.

Red Sox Total Score: 27 ( B+ 1 B 3 B- 7)

Outlook:

Red Sox Total Score: 27 ( B+ 1 B 3 B- 7)

Outlook: The Red Sox made some trades to help their team to contend this season and did so without completely depleting their farm. They were able to keep top pitching prospect Casey Kelly as well as some other strong prospects lower down in the farm.

Top Pitching Prospect: Casey Kelly- Have to wait and see how he does in AA this year but he has the stuff to be a very good major league pitcher and could be up as soon as 2012.

Top Hitting Prospect: Josh Reddick- Technically Iglesis is rated higher but since most of his value stems from his excellent defense I thought Reddick would be more appropriate as the best hitting prospect Reddick has great power potential but needs to work on his plate discipline if he can learn more discipline he still has to find playing time.

Prospect to Watch in 2011: Drake Britten- Great stuff but needs some more time to develop, this season could take him from a good to a great prospect going into 2012.

Orioles Total Score: 15 ( A 1 B- 4 )

Outlook: The Orioles have an absolute stud prospect in Chris Sale but after that there isn't a whole lot to be excited about. Sale however should be ready to contribute this year whether it be in the rotation or as a reliever/closer and as he showed last year in a small sample size he has the ability to be very successful at the major league level.

Top Pitching Prospect: Chris Sale: See above

Top Hitting Prospect: Kellen Sweeny: Still needs to develop his power but if he can do so he could be very good at the major league level with his eye for the strike zone.

Prospect to Watch in 2011: Wade Miley- Control is still an issue but if he can keep making strides in 2011 then his grade should go up significantly.

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