Prospect Pipeline

The Astros' system took a hit last season with the graduations of George Springer and Jonathan Singleton to everyday players in the major leagues, and the organization’s failure to sign draft picks Brady Aiken and Jacob Nix cost them two of the class’ premier high school arms. Yet, it’s still a system that’s loaded with potential impact talent, from top to bottom.

Addison Russell was viewed as the only potential star in Oakland's farm system headed into 2014, but that obviously changed when he was dealt in early July to the Cubs in the Jeff Samardzija-Jason Hammel trade. Outfielder Billy McKinney, the A’s first-round pick in 2013, also was shipped out in the trade.

The Pittsburgh Pirates system took a hit last year with Jameson Taillon’s Tommy John surgery, but fellow right-handers Tyler Glasnow and Nick Kingham picked up the slack in his absence, with the former posting video-game numbers in the Florida State League.

The once-stocked Cardinals system isn’t as strong as previous years, though that was to be expected after the team graduated Kolten Wong and Carlos Martinez to the major leagues last season and tragically lost a future star in Oscar Taveras.

The Cincinnati Reds' top prospects can be broken down into two groups: outfielders and pitchers.

As you might have guessed, the Reds don’t have a particularly balanced system due to a lack of infield prospects. However, that shouldn’t detract from the fact that they have several players with bright futures in the major leagues.

The final week of 2014 saw Prospect Pipeline begin to roll out our annual team-specific top-10 prospect lists for the upcoming season, starting with the American League East.

Each list provides an in-depth look at one team's farm system, complete with player rankings, comprehensive scouting reports and projections, and a list of other notable prospects to follow closely next season.

The Detroit Tigers have spent the last few years putting all their resources into the MLB club and ignoring the farm system. Therefore, while they’re winning at the highest level, the organization’s lack of impact talent and depth on the farm puts a lot of pressure on its big league roster to stay healthy. 

Heading into the 2014 season, it was almost a forgone conclusion that several of the Minnesota Twins’ top prospects would reach the major leagues. But that never happened.

Center fielder Byron Buxton, widely considered the sport’s top prospect, lost most of his highly anticipated campaign with a wrist injury and a concussion, while slugging third baseman Miguel Sano ultimately missed the entire season following Tommy John surgery.

The Chicago White Sox may not have many big names on the farm beyond Carlos Rodon and Tim Anderson, the team’s first-round draft picks from the last two years, respectively, but they’ve quietly developed a deep system featuring a combination of high-probability and high-ceiling prospects.

The best way to describe Cleveland's farm system after the 2014 season is sneaky good. Though it's thin on pitching prospects (less so after this year's draft), the Tribe have assembled a promising collection of young hitters, including several who are either switch-hitters or swing from the left side of the plate exclusively and project to remain at an up-the-middle position long term.