Keith Law ranks Cardinals No. 1 farm system in MLB

[Blitz Dorsey]

Reds are 12th.

This is ESPN Insider (premium link):

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/story...rm-systems-mlb

[MikeThierry]

Mikey likes it!

[dfs]

Reds are 12th.

This is ESPN Insider (premium link):

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/story...rm-systems-mlb

Other than the fact that I root for the reds over the cardinals....

Yeah. I think the Cardinals farms system probably is in better shape than the reds farm system. The reds farm system has put a huge amount of talent into the major league club and trades over the last couple years and the cupboard is a little bare.

Now if he thinks the cardinals have the best major league roster in baseball and the reds are 12th, he's just plain nuts.

[dougdirt]

I am not sure why the thumbs down. That seems pretty accurate. Think about all of the talent the Reds have traded away and graduated in the last 15 months. The system isn't what is used to be, but that is to be expected given what they have done with it.

[MikeThierry]

Other than the fact that I root for the reds over the cardinals....

Yeah. I think the Cardinals farms system probably is in better shape than the reds farm system. The reds farm system has put a huge amount of talent into the major league club and trades over the last couple years and the cupboard is a little bare.

Now if he thinks the cardinals have the best major league roster in baseball and the reds are 12th, he's just plain nuts.

I think what Law is saying is that rumors of the Cardinals demise due to age are not true, to the chagrin of some of the posters here on this board who spread that rumor.

[edabbs44]

I am not sure why the thumbs down. That seems pretty accurate. Think about all of the talent the Reds have traded away and graduated in the last 15 months. The system isn't what is used to be, but that is to be expected given what they have done with it.

I was under the impression that any Non-negative Keith Law post gets auto stamped with a thumbs down.

[dougdirt]

I was under the impression that any Non-negative Keith Law post gets auto stamped with a thumbs down.

Haha. I can't say I completely disagree with that impression.

[MikeThierry]

I was under the impression that any Non-negative Keith Law post gets auto stamped with a thumbs down.

haha he is by far one of the most arrogant people I've ever heard giving an interview.

[marcshoe]

Heck, at this point I'm pretty happy with a number 12 ranking, given the trades the Reds made last year. The restocking seems to be going well (and Billy H doesn't hurt matters.) And from all I've heard, the Cardinals have a nice system right now.

As for Keith Law, I've got to the point that I hate it when I agree with him because he comes across as such a jerk. His dismissive replies to people on Twitter are infuriating. And yet I haven't unfollowed him.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Mikey likes it!

You homer.

[Revering4Blue]

This doesn't surprise me at all. In fact, I'll go as far as to suggest that, if anything, the Cards farm system rankings have been been too low for so long, when you factor in the fact that - especially during WJ's tenure - the Cards have always been able to:

1) Turn products of a supposed "weak" system into key trade components.

2) Fill holes internally without missing a beat.

Granted, some have flamed out quickly - Bo Hart, for example - But the fact that several Card prospects over the last decade or so have progressed through the system so quickly leads me to believe that the "experts" were unable to accurately gauge the individual talent within the system.

[MikeThierry]

This doesn't surprise me at all. In fact, I'll go as far as to suggest that, if anything, the Cards farm system rankings have been been too low for so long, when you factor in the fact that - especially during WJ's tenure - the Cards have always been able to:

1) Turn products of a supposed "weak" system into key trade components.

2) Fill holes internally without missing a beat.

Granted, some have flamed out quickly - Bo Hart, for example - But the fact that several Card prospects over the last decade or so have progressed through the system so quickly leads me to believe that the "experts" were unable to accurately gauge the individual talent within the system.

haha you had to bring up Bo Hart. There are still people in Cardinals nation that love that guy for the month or so of production he put up.

[Superdude]

haha you had to bring up Bo Hart. There are still people in Cardinals nation that love that guy for the month or so of production he put up.

I still remember that. His Ballyhoo/WAR ratio has to rank among the greatest in MLB history.

[Degenerate39]

I always think about how he was talking that jive about Harang when he was a legit Cy Young candidate

[OGB]

I don't care for Law either, but I'm frankly impressed to see the twelfth ranking. It seemed in past uears like he undervalued our system in his rankings.
From his write up, I get the impression that he must really like Cingrani, which certainly isn't true of all analysts, and he really liked last year's draft.