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Kiley McDaniel
Now that we have ranked the top 100 MLB prospects entering the 2026 season (along with a breakdown of the players landing in the Nos. 101-200 range), it’s time to see how all 30 farm systems stack up. And for the second straight year, there is a new No. 1 team.
These rankings were done, for the most part, the same way as my previous versions. While at FanGraphs, research by Craig Edwards (who now works for the MLB Players Association) revealed empirical surplus dollar values for each future value tier of prospect, so we can make an objective ranking of farm systems derived from my individual team lists, which will be published next week.
A benefit of this approach is that you can use your own judgment to disagree with a ranking if, say, a team has $500,000 more talent but the lower-ranked team has prospects of the sort you prefer. This gives you the tools to see exactly how close each team is and a more granular view of what its players are like as compared with the other 29 teams.
Now, let’s see how bright the future looks for your favorite MLB team.
Jump to team:
American League
ATH | BAL | BOS | CHW | CLE
DET | HOU | KC | LAA | MIN
NYY | SEA | TB | TEX | TOR
National League
ARI | ATL | CHC | CIN | COL
LAD | MIA | MIL | NYM | PHI
PIT | SD | SF | STL | WSH
Last year: 8th, $225 million
Top 100 prospects: 8
Top-ranked prospect: Jesus Made (No. 3)
When talking about the model organizations in baseball, it’s common to hear people in or out of the industry mention the Dodgers then quickly also reference the Rays, because finding regular success on a budget is obviously harder than with the biggest payroll. The Guardians also get mentioned.
This conversation is now shifting a bit to where the majority of people in the industry point to the Brewers, sometimes first depending on what part of the industry they represent. Milwaukee has been strong internationally for some time, but its recent run might be one we talk about for decades to come: Made, Jackson Chourio and Luis Pena headline the recent crop.
Jacob Misiorowski, Logan Henderson, Cooper Pratt, Bishop Letson, Luke Adams and Josh Adamczewski among those finds. Their pro scouting (opposing minor leaguers) and player development (improving their own players) also have plenty of recent wins, including Andrew Vaughn, Caleb Durbin, Quinn Priester and Chad Patrick, just from their 2025 big league breakouts.
In addition to all of these avenues of talent, the Brewers tend to be adding prospects in deals — Jett Williams and Brandon Sproat were added from the Mets for Freddy Peralta, and both made the top 100 — rather than trading them. Put all of these players together and you can see why it was inevitable Milwaukee would take this title — for the first time since I’ve been doing this.
Last year: 11th, $213 million
Top 100 prospects: 7
Top-ranked prospect: Travis Bazzana (No. 23)
The Guardians aren’t that far behind Milwaukee in almost all respects, and they also have a unique blend of high-end talent and quality depth while regularly finding success in all aspects with limited payroll resources.
There also seems to be a widening of Cleveland’s scouting aperture to consider the kinds of hitters the franchise has avoided in the past. Historically, the Guardians have invested heavily in hit-over-power infielders — often not the biggest or most physically impressive players but very effective ballplayers.
To that point, 2025 first-rounder Jace Laviolette, 2023 first-rounder Ralphy Velazquez and recent trade addition Alfonsin Rosario are all in their top 11 prospects, and each is a power-over-hit type. The Guardians also were rumored to be kicking the tires on Jac Caglianone with the top pick in the 2024 draft before ultimately taking Bazzana. This could be a shifting taste for risk, responding to market forces or just an aberration, but I’m keeping an eye on it.
Last year: 20th, $179 million
Top 100 prospects: 4
Top-ranked prospect: Konnor Griffin (No. 1)
The way these dollar figures and thus the farm rankings are calculated is based on work by Craig Edwards at FanGraphs (now of the MLBPA), using historical outcomes married to the FV (future value) system that my colleagues and I used at FanGraphs and that I continue to use here. An interesting but not surprising result of this system is that the top prospect in baseball is worth a lot more than the next few, like over 40% more. Sometimes, the gap between those two prospects isn’t that big; sometimes, it’s huge. Obviously, future Hall of Famers tend to be at the top spot, so you can see how this occurred in the empirical data.
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Because of that, the Pirates’ figure is boosted by Griffin residing in the top spot in the whole sport. And my point here is that he is the top prospect by a lot — he basically broke the algorithm I made to help with this process — so the gap between him and the next few prospects feels correct this time. If you were to simply take Griffin out of the Pirates’ system, they’d drop to the middle of these rankings; and since Griffin might break camp with the big league team, that could happen as soon as a few months into the major league season. And second-ranked prospect Bubba Chandler (12th in the top 100) likely graduates early in the season too.
But don’t fret, Pirates fans! The point of baseball is to win games, not fly a «Farm Rankings Champions» flag.
Last year: 1st, $420 million
Top 100 prospects: 5
Top-ranked prospect: Josue De Paula (No. 21)
For Dodgers haters, this is cold comfort. They aren’t the No. 1 farm system in the sport anymore, but they are tied for first with the Rays in «quality depth,» which is just the total number of prospects they have graded above 40 FV. The idea is that literally every farm system in the history of baseball has a bunch of 40 FV prospects (roughly a third- to fifth-round talent), so they can be considered «commons» in baseball card parlance. Thus, any prospect above that level is the kind of prospect not every team has more than a few of in the system; some have as few as five or six this year.
The Dodgers have 18 such prospects, one more than the Brewers. I would guess four or five of those 18 will play in the big leagues this season, and I don’t think any of those players are future stars. So, this might be a light year for the Dodgers introducing impact rookies, but that should start up again in 2027. I think the big league team should do fine in 2026 without the extra help.
Last year: 11th, $222 million
Top 100 prospects: 4
Top-ranked prospect: Nolan McLean (No. 13)
The Mets recently traded two top 100 prospects for Freddy Peralta, and before that trade, they were the top system in baseball by about 10%. For reference, the six top 100 prospects the Mets had before the Peralta trade alone would have represented the eighth-ranked farm system. Just six players!
The point here is that this empirical system heavily values prospects who are high in the top 100 over dozens of lower-ranked prospects, and the Mets’ system is heavily skewed toward a handful of prospects who rank very high. There also is some depth in this system, with five players landing in the 101-200 tier (and nearly a sixth, with RHP Jack Wenninger just missing).
Beyond that, the depth is solid but pretty ordinary, though that also is impacted by graduating a number of potential or already good big leaguers in the past few years: Christian Scott, Brett Baty, Francisco Alvarez, Mark Vientos, Luisangel Acuna (since traded for Luis Robert Jr.) and Ronny Mauricio.
Last year: 3rd, $298 million
Top 100 prospects: 4
Top-ranked prospect: Kevin McGonigle (No. 2)
Like the Mets, the Tigers’ system value is concentrated in four elite prospects and good but not great system depth that has been affected by graduating so many young big leaguers over the past few years.
There’s a chance that five of the top six prospects in this system all debut in the major leagues by the end of this year or the beginning of next year, so Detroit will need to focus on the prospects from the past few drafts and international signing classes to form a new wave of talent. The good news is the past wave and the one that’s about to debut is so good, it might not need much more from the system for a few years.
Last year: 7th, $241 million
Top 100 prospects: 5
Top-ranked prospect: Colt Emerson (No. 5)
The scouting and development machine marches on, graduating Cole Young and trading Harry Ford from last year’s list. Emerson looks poised to impact the big league team at some point in 2026, while Kade Anderson, Michael Arroyo and Lazaro Montes are just behind him (and Ryan Sloan and Jurrangelo Cijntje might be in that wave too). That is a lot of potential impact types who are close for the third-best team on paper right now in the American League.
Luke Keaschall and Zebby Matthews to graduation and replacing them with the headliner from the Jhoan Duran trade in Eduardo Tait. Kendry Rojas also was acquired at the deadline, ranking 163rd, and Mick Abel just barely graduated after being included in the Duran return.
I like their draft haul, with a low-floor shortstop in Marek Houston and maybe the prospect with the highest ceiling in the draft in Quentin Young, along with possibly the highest-ceiling college pitcher in Riley Quick.
Keep an eye on Dasan Hill (161st) for a possible breakout and also No. 54 prospect Connor Prielipp as a stealth Rookie of the Year contender if he can get into the rotation in time.
Last year: 19th, $184 million
Top 100 prospects: 5
Top-ranked prospect: JJ Wetherholt (No. 7)
I’m fascinated by the top four of the Cardinals’ system. Wetherholt might be the highest floor prospect in the top 100, and he still has All-Star upside. Rainiel Rodriguez is the rare prospect with the upside to be an average-or-better defensive catcher and hit 25 to 30 home runs annually. Liam Doyle could impact the big league team as a starter or a reliever as soon as 2026, and it already seems as if he’ll be a fan favorite. Joshua Baez had one of the biggest turnarounds in the minors — he always has had All-Star-level raw tools — and now his production matches it. If he can hit .250, Baez might also hit 25 to 30 homers in the big leagues, and he stole 54 bases in the minors last season.
Last year: 15th, $197 million
Top 100 prospects: 4
Top-ranked prospect: Thomas White (No. 18)
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The Marlins have started turning the corner, with Jakob Marsee, Kyle Stowers and Agustin Ramirez graduating to join Eury Perez as core players. Now, the next wave is about to arrive, led by White and Robby Snelling on the mound and Joe Mack and Owen Caissie joining the lineup.
The wave behind that has been beefed up by additions in trades and the past two draft and international classes. They’re now reaching a saturation point of young talent in the minors, with the most players getting a prospect grade (35+ FV or higher) at nearly 60.
Last year: 4th, $278 million
Top 100 prospects: 5
Top-ranked prospect: Payton Tolle (No. 22)
The Red Sox have only one position player (Franklin Arias) in the top 200 prospects in baseball, maybe even the top 250. But there’s a good reason for that: Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer and Kristian Campbell graduated last year, with Carlos Narvaez, Wilyer Abreu and Ceddanne Rafaela graduating just before them and Jarren Duran just before that.
In addition, Boston’s top two picks in the 2025 draft were pitchers, it traded two former first-round position players to land Garrett Crochet and it traded another top 200 position player to land Johan Oviedo. It’s not a problem given the makeup of the organization, but it’s worth mentioning.
Last year: 5th, $270 million
Top 100 prospects: 4
Top-ranked prospect: Carson Williams (No. 39)
The Rays have incredible depth to their system, tied for first with the Dodgers by my quality-depth measure (most prospects above a 40 FV) with 18. That is why the Rays are ranked this high, as they have only one prospect in the top 80 in the sport. There are only six pitchers in that group, though Tampa Bay has a number of intriguing arms beyond that tier who could break through. No worry, though, as the Rays have just one homegrown pitcher on their projected Opening Day roster.
Last year: 14th, $207 million
Top 100 prospects: 3
Top-ranked prospect: Samuel Basallo (No. 4)
The Orioles sent four players from their extensive farm depth to the Rays in the Shane Baz deal, though Baltimore still ranks seventh in quality depth. Basallo, Trey Gibson and Dylan Beavers are the top three prospects in the system and should all play in the major leagues this year.
There’s a nice layer beyond them of nearly 20 prospects who could be in the top 200 prospects in the sport next winter, so I’d expect that part of the system to make a jump forward while Basallo and Beavers likely graduate in the first half of the year.
Last year: 12th, $212 million
Top 100 prospects: 4
Top-ranked prospect: Eli Willits (No. 41)
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The Nats have been active under new president of baseball operations Paul Toboni, acquiring the 82nd, 117th, 133rd and 190th prospects in baseball this winter. I like Willits, Travis Sykora, Luke Dickerson and Seaver King as draftees from the previous regime, joining this collection of talent in another wave that might arrive in 2027 to support James Wood as the franchise cornerstone. Luis Perales could be a big mover on next winter’s list if he can improve his control to approaching average, and Landon Harmon is a young arm to watch.
Last year: 13th, $210 million
Top 100 prospects: 3
Top-ranked prospect: Sal Stewart (No. 17)
Stewart has had quite a rise. I was too low on him at draft time. I jumped on board aggressively early in pro ball and was rewarded. If he can improve his third-base defense in 2026, he could be an All-Star-level talent.
Alfredo Duno has enormous potential with the tools to stick behind the plate and the contact skills to get to his 30-homer upside if he can stay healthy. Tyson Lewis and Steele Hall are the two arrow-up candidates for 2026 if their bat speed can help create an uptick in their contact rates.
Trey Yesavage (No. 14)
Yesavage has one of the highest floors in recent top 100 history, as he already has proved that his unusual combination of stuff and release point work against the best hitters in baseball in the highest-stake situations.
I’m high on 2025 first-rounder JoJo Parker, who might hit .275 with 20 homers at shortstop if it all clicks, and 2024 draftee Johnny King, who has front-line potential if his command and third pitch can improve. Ricky Tiedemann returns from elbow surgery this spring and has three plus pitches at his best. Also keep an eye on Sam Shaw and Juan Sanchez as sleeper infielders with top 100 potential.
Last year: 17th, $188 million
Top 100 prospects: 3
Top-ranked prospect: Aidan Miller (No. 10)
Miller, Justin Crawford and Dante Nori were all arrow up in 2025 in the system as prep position players and first-round picks from 2022 to 2024. I also was a big fan of Gage Wood, the Phillies’ 2025 first-round pick, who has the traits to be a front-line starter if his health and command can hold up under a bigger workload. And 2026 might finally be the year that heavily hyped right-handed pitcher Andrew Painter shows up in the big leagues and performs as many have foretold for years before an extended absence due to elbow surgery. Outfielder Gabriel Rincones Jr. could be a sneaky big league contributor in 2026 too.
18. Athletics ($163 million)
Last year: 23rd, $160 million
Top 100 prospects: 3
Top-ranked prospect: Leo De Vries (No. 11)
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The A’s have had an incredible run of graduating solid to very good prospects across the past few years. Nick Kurtz, Tyler Soderstrom, Jacob Wilson, Lawrence Butler, Max Muncy, Denzel Clarke, Darell Hernaiz, Colby Thomas, Zack Gelof and Brett Harris are the position players. Luis Morales, Jacob Lopez, Luis Medina, Hogan Harris, Justin Sterner, J.T. Ginn and Joey Estes are the pitchers.
There are still more solid young players coming though! De Vries was obviously a rare deadline acquisition of an elite prospect, while lefties Gage Jump (made a huge jump in 2025), Jamie Arnold (a great value in the first round of 2025) and Wei-En Lin might now be bulk-innings types.
Last year: 29th, $109 million
Top 100 prospects: 3
Top-ranked prospect: Josuar Gonzalez (No. 30)
The Giants might have wrestled the title of best team at the top of the international market from the Padres. Gonzalez, last year’s top signee, is now the 30th-ranked prospect in baseball (tops in that class); and this year’s top signee, Luis Hernandez, is ranked 142nd before he plays a pro game. In addition, Jhonny Level was a top signee from the 2024 signing class, and he is in the top 100. I’m also intrigued by two lower level international signee pitchers in Keyner Martinez and Argenis Cayama.
Keep an eye on deadline acquisition third baseman Parks Harber, who has had an incredible rise since signing with the Yankees as an undrafted free agent in the summer of 2024.
Last year: 2nd, $313 million
Top 100 prospects: 3
Top-ranked prospect: Caleb Bonemer (No. 34)
The White Sox have done a solid job in their past two drafts, landing Billy Carlson, Jaden Fauske and Kyle Lodise in 2025 after taking Bonemer, Hagen Smith and Sam Antonacci in 2024. I have them all in the top dozen prospects in the system.
Via trade, Chicago added Braden Montgomery from the 2024 class in the Garrett Crochet deal. Montgomery has every-day potential, but I’m beginning to worry about his contact ability as well as his ability to tap into his power in games.
Christian Oppor and Tanner McDougal are both arrow-up arms with a chance to break through comfortably into the top 100.
Last year: 25th, $139 million
Top 100 prospects: 1
Top-ranked prospect: Ryan Waldschmidt (No. 63)
Arizona graduated Jordan Lawlar, Adrian Del Castillo, Tyler Locklear and Andrew Saalfrank from eligibility last season. This year, Tommy Troy, Kohl Drake, Cristian Mena, Brandyn Garcia, Andrew Hoffmann and possibly Ryan Waldschmidt will join them; four of those six were acquired in trade over the past year. I like a number of other arms acquired in recent deals as possible risers in 2026: David Hagaman, Mitch Bratt, Ashton Izzi and Hunter Cranton.
Last year: 16th, $192 million
Top 100 prospects: 2
Top-ranked prospect: Sebastian Walcott (No. 5)
The Rangers’ quality depth was thinned out by this month’s MacKenzie Gore trade, with Gavin Fien, Devin Fitz-Gerald and Alejandro Rosario all ranking in the 101-200 range and Yeremy Cabrera a low-minors sleeper who could be in that tier next year.
Walcott is tracking like a potential star. And Caden Scarborough could catapult up the list this season; he’s a popular pick from evaluators to click this year. Jose Corniell, Winston Santos and David Davalillo might be candidates to be big league starters as soon as this year. A.J. Russell and Josh Owens are two intriguing 2025 draft picks with breakout potential.
Ben Rice, Austin Wells, Jasson Dominguez, Cam Schlittler and Will Warren have graduated over the past few years, while a number of prospects have been traded to Miami to land Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Ryan Weathers, to Pittsburgh to land David Bednar, to Milwaukee to land Devin Williams and to San Francisco to land Camilo Doval.
The depth has been largely hollowed out, with some of the recent draftees and international signees making up all of the prospects of consequence. Spencer Jones might be the biggest boom-or-bust prospect in the top 200. Dax Kilby is one of the biggest arrow-up 2025 draftees. Carlos Lagrange might be a reliever, but he’d be a good one. Elmer Rodriguez was a savvy acquisition (though giving up Carlos Narvaez was a high price). And Lombard should be a good every-day player, maybe better.
Last year: 22nd, $163 million
Top 100 prospects: 1
Top-ranked prospect: Carter Jensen (No. 25)
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The Royals took two of my favorite players in the 2025 draft in shortstop Josh Hammond and RHP Michael Lombardi, and they have one of my favorite lower-level pitchers in baseball in RHP Kendry Chourio. Catcher Carter Jensen will be a factor on the big league team this year, but the rest of the system is made up of mostly role players and higher-variance types. Jac Caglianone and Noah Cameron were solid headliners of last year’s graduating class.
Last year: 10th, $215 million
Top 100 prospects: 2
Top-ranked prospect: Moises Ballesteros (No. 51)
The Cubs recently traded top 100 prospect Owen Caissie to the Marlins in the package for Edward Cabrera and Cade Horton. Matt Shaw graduated last season, with Pete Crow-Armstrong, Ben Brown and Jordan Wicks losing eligibility the year before that. And acquiring Michael Busch two years ago cost Chicago the now-40th-ranked prospect in baseball in Zyhir Hope along with 128th-ranked Jackson Ferris.
So, there doesn’t need to be a weakness in scouting to explain why the Cubs have a lower farm ranking this year. I liked their haul from the 2025 draft: Ethan Conrad, Kane Kepley, Josiah Hartshorn and Kaleb Wing. And I think Moises Ballesteros and Jaxon Wiggins should make a real impact on the 2026 big league team, as well.
Last year: 27th, $133 million
Top 100 prospects: 1
Top-ranked prospect: Cam Caminiti (No. 53)
The Braves continue to graduate good players who were only in the top 100 for a limited time, with Drake Baldwin the most recent and Hurston Waldrep graduated as he was turning the corner to move up in these rankings.
Caminiti could debut as soon as 2027 while the two other top 100 prospects, J.R. Ritchie and Didier Fuentes, will likely pitch in the big league rotation at some point in 2026. The position-player depth isn’t great, but recent first-rounder SS Tate Southisene and international signee CF Diego Tornes are the best of the group.
Last year: 28th, $129 million
Top 100 prospects: 1
Top-ranked prospect: Tyler Bremner (No. 56)
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The Angels have bounced between the 23rd-ranked and 30th-ranked farm system over the past five years. Zach Neto, Jose Soriano, Reid Detmers, Jo Adell, Logan O’Hoppe and Nolan Schanuel have shown some returns in that period and I’m optimistic about some of the pitchers from the past few drafts and George Klassen, acquired in a trade.
Denzer Guzman and Nelson Rada look as if they could be regulars soon, while Joswa Lugo and Raudi Rodriguez have some potential in the lower minors. The cupboard isn’t bare, but it’s not quite as stocked as you would like.
Last year: 18th, $185 million
Top 100 prospects: 1
Top-ranked prospect: Ethan Holliday (No. 66)
The Rockies turned over their leadership this offseason, and it will be interesting to monitor how the preferences for scouting and development shift; we don’t have much evidence yet.
The final first-round pick from the past regime is a polarizing player with big potential and big questions in Holliday, their only top 100 prospect. I liked deadline addition 2B Roc Riggio, acquired from the Yankees. But there isn’t anyone else in the top 200, maybe even the top 250, with a lot of the depth in the system ranking after that.
Last year: 30th, $104 million
Top 100 prospects: 0
Top-ranked prospect: Brice Matthews (No. 109)
The Astros traded two of their prospects I’ve been higher on than most (Jacob Melton, Anderson Brito) to land Mike Burrows to fortify their rotation. I liked their 2025 draft class, with a boom-or-bust first pick in 3B Xavier Neyens followed by a sleeper favorite of mine in RF Ethan Frey in the third round; early pro reports on Frey are excellent. I would also keep an eye on CF Anthony Huezo, a power over hit type with huge raw power potential and strong in-game power ability.
Last year: 26th, $135 million
Top 100 prospects: 0
Top-ranked prospect: Ethan Salas (No. 110)
The Padres hold on to the last spot that they first claimed after the trade deadline, though they moved into the bottom five farm systems a year before. Before that 2024 season, they had the fourth-ranked system in baseball, helping to pinpoint exactly when GM A.J. Preller decided to move his chips to the middle of the table.
Top prospect C Salas has stagnated a bit and also been injured, while the prep lefties taken with their past two first-round picks (Kruz Schoolcraft and Kash Mayfield) are getting solid reviews, and RHP Tucker Musgrove is a popular sleeper with stats types.
