We have reached the point of the offseason where prospect lists abound. We continue our top 10 prospects for every team with the Arizona Diamondbacks!
Our team top 10 prospect lists at Call to the Pen are spearheaded by Benjamin Chase. Today, he gives us the top ten prospects for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
This season, we will be going through teams by division, in order of 2017 record. The AL East will be first, followed by the AL Central and AL West. Then the focus will shift to the National League in the same order.
The format will be as it was last season for the same lists, with a system review, which will include last season’s list. The top 10 will follow in reverse order, two players per page in order to give adequate space to each player. Major trades or international signings will lead to an updated top 10!
Finally, don’t go away after #1 is revealed as each list will also contain a player either signed in the 2017 international free agent class or drafted in 2017 that isn’t part of the top 10 and should be tracked. Last season’s mentions in that area made over half of the top 10s this season, so this is a great way to get to know a player who could be making a big splash in the organization.
System overview
For a number of years now, the Arizona Diamondbacks have been seen as one of the worst farm systems in all of baseball. Making some short-sighted moves to compete really hurt their organizational depth, and that has just recently begun to rebound with some quality drafting and international work. In their pursuit of the 2017 National League Wild Card, for instance, the Diamondbacks did not give up a single player that I would have rated in my top 10 for the team to acquire J.D. Martinez.
While it takes time to develop a few standouts that show themselves from their peers in a system and jump up top 100 lists as a nationally-recognized top prospect, the Diamondbacks are getting to that point as well as they’ve seen a few players begin to get recognition this offseason as “sleeper” prospects to watch in 2018.
Arizona Diamondbacks fans can rest more soundly on their farm system this offseason as they may still end up ranked in the bottom 10 in baseball, but the arrow is strongly pointing up.
Let’s take a look at that system….
Next: #9 and #10