2011 was not a kind year to the Oakland Athletics. Texas and Los Angeles were the clear front-runners of the division, and while the team showed a knack for run prevention, they never showed a knack for run creation. Losing that often tends to get a few rookies in the lineup, and Tyson Ross, Fautino […]

The New York Mets lost Johan Santana and never got him back, and that was about how the season went. The poor season sent Jose Reyes to the San Francisco Giants to begin the rebuilding effort for Zach Wheeler. As for minor leaguers already in the system, the Mets introduced a few, but the ones […]

Another year leads to another terrible season for the Astros. This time, however, they finished worse than last in the NL Central. They finished worst in the entire major leagues. As you might expect with such a record, the Astros played a handful of rookies. The diminuitive Jose Altuve won some hearts, but he wasn’t […]

Every year for the past several years, I keep saying that the Arizona Diamondbacks will win the NL West, and every year for the past several years, the Diamondbacks have let me down. So this year, I pick the Giants to win the division, and the Diamondbacks come through with their breakout performance. They even […]

I would like to thank Jonathan Mitchell of DRays Bay and RJ Anderson of Baseball Prospectus for helping out with the following Tampa Bay Rays list. Storming back from an 8 ½-game deficit with a month left, the Tampa Bay Rays threw themselves into the playoffs. While they did this with the usual production from […]

Armed with a re-signed Paul Konerko and a newly-signed Adam Dunn, the outlook seemed bright for the White Sox, but Dunn cratered and few others decided to hit, leaving the White Sox in third place in a bad division. Along the way, they did introduce a few top prospects to the big leagues, and they, […]

With special thanks to Zach Sanders of FanGraphs for his input, I present to you the Seattle Mariners’ Top 10. This season didn’t exactly go very well for the Mariners. Having finished last in the AL West for the second straight season, the Mariners continue to look toward the future for hope because the present […]

Predicted to be the best team in baseball, the Philadelphia Phillies fulfilled much of that promise by being the only team to win 100+ games, but the dream ultimately ended with a NLDS loss to the eventual World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals. As you might expect with such a talented, experienced roster, there weren’t […]

No one really needs to tell you how the St. Louis Cardinals ended 2011. With a sizzling end to the season, the Cardinals overcame their Spring Training loss of Adam Wainwright to take the World Series. As one might expect of a Tony La Russa-led team, the World Series champs didn’t have a lot of […]

While the Los Angeles Dodgers had a rather disappointing team season, they had quite a few things to be happy about individually. Matt Kemp finished second in the MVP voting, but he was likely the best player in the National League and possibly the majors last season. And Clayton Kershaw won the Cy Young, and […]

I would like to take the time to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving, and I would like to thank everyone who comes to peruse my prospect lists. For this list in particular, I would like to thank Dave Gershman of Beyond the Boxscore and Penn League Report for his assistance and expertise of the Jays […]

To say 2011 didn’t go as planned for the Minnesota Twins would be an understatement. Considered a contender for the AL Central crown, the Twins suffered a disappointing season from Francisco Liriano and injuries and disappointment from Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. Despite the awful season, the Twins added few prospects to the major-league team […]

The now two-time defending AL Champion Texas Rangers have somewhat quietly built themselves into a real powerhouse. With a major-league roster that is already good enough to, well, get to two consecutive World Series, the Rangers also have the payroll and the farm system to keep this going, and the farm system has been very […]

As my favorite team, the Braves’ list was fun and hard to do. On one hand, I know more about it than any other system, but on the other hand, that might make me more critical (or forgiving) of the system. With special thanks to Peter Hjort of Capitol Avenue Club, here’s the Braves list. […]

After surprisingly making the playoffs in 2010, the Reds slipped in 2011, primarily due to a starting staff that declined rapidly, and it didn’t help that top prospect Aroldis Chapman had a really rough start to the season. Other than Chapman, few other Reds prospects spent major time in the majors, though several of them […]