Organizational Rankings of the Astros Farm System

Several baseball writers have come out with their organizational rankings of the baseball farm systems as of late. It is gratifying to see that those looking in from the outside are seeing the vast improvement in depth and talent in the Astros system.

John Sickels of Minor League Ball (SB Nation)
2012 Ranking - 25th
2013 Ranking - 10th (revised from 11th after the Jed Lowrie trade)

Baseball America (from the recently released Prospect Handbook)
2012 Ranking - 17th
2013 Ranking - 9th

Keith Law of ESPN (Insider only)
2012 Ranking - 27th
2013 Ranking - 4th

Baseball Prospectus
2012 Ranking - 26th
2013 Ranking - 9th

It is important to note that many of the Astros top prospects came into the system before GM Jeff Luhnow arrived on the scene. Luhnow has done a fantastic job in bringing in new talent and shoring up the depth of the system, but I'm sure that he would be the first to admit that he is also the beneficiary of the growth and maturation of prospects that he inherited. The combination is working.

Luhnow and his team did an incredible job with working the new draft system in 2012, and I expect nothing less from his team in 2013. I would not be surprised to see the Astros become a Top 5 farm system when these rankings come out next year about this time. It is my hope that, once we get there, we stay there for a long time to come.