The week when Keith Law releases his prospect lists is like my second Christmas. I've come to respect the work Keith has done over the years, and think his rankings and assessments stack up against all comers. They're indispensable if you're in a fantasy league with minor league keepers, or even if you're just a fan of your local team and want to know who's down on the farm.
Today, we get a little preview of what's to come later this week, as Law released his organizational rankings looking at the talent each team has on hand that hasn't yet blown through their rookie eligibility. It's behind the ESPN Insider paywall, which is worth it just for Keith's work breaking down farm systems and transactions alone.
We're reviewing every team's offseason
The rebuilding Atlanta Braves top his list, bouncing back from a dreadful showing a couple years ago thanks to good drafting and the Arizona Diamondbacks' determination to send every serviceable prospect they have back east. Atlanta tied with the Dodgers and Twins for the most players (seven) in KLaw's top 100, which will be out tomorrow.
It bodes exceptionally well for a club who is still 2-3 years from being a contender, and who only has expensive long-term commitments to Freddie Freeman, Hector Olivera, Nick Markakis, and Julio Teheran on the books (and even those are pretty reasonable by today's standards).
On the other end of the spectrum are the Los Angeles Angels, who still seem poised to waste what should be the best years of Mike Trout's life. The Angels finished last by a large margin, and according to Law, is "by far the worst system I've ever seen" in eight years doing prospect rankings.
The Angels are poised to lose Jered Weaver and C.J. Wilson at the end of the year, and don't really have anybody to replace them, or any of the replacement-level talent they plan to start at 1B/DH (wherever Albert Pujols isn't starting), left field, and second base. The long, slow slide into mediocrity is going to continue in Anaheim for a while, it would seem.