The MLB Top 50 Prospect List is out now and what jumps off the page this year is first the Royals have a lot of highly regarded prospects and that the Mets system is not getting any respect. There are 26 teams this year featured on the list and two of the four not on list come from our own division. Before we get down to the analysis, here is a list of every team with the amount of prospects they have on the list:
Royals 6
Rays 4
Mariners 3
Reds 3
Yankees 3
Braves 3
Blue Jays 3
Rockies 3
Phillies 2
Orioles 2
Rangers 2
Twins 2
Angels 1
Nationals 1
Tigers 1
Pirates 1
Cardinals 1
Padres 1
White Sox 1
Giants 1
Diamondbacks 1
Astros 1
Indians 1
Red Sox 1
Dodgers 1
Cubs 1
Mets 0
Marlins 0
Athletics 0
Brewers 0
The Royals seem to be pretty set, in at least player projections. Part of the reason they are in the position they are in is because they received good players in the Grienke trade, thus also why the Brewers have 0 players on the list. This is the story that the MLB.com article harps on.
I would like to bring up a different point. The Rays will have 13 of the first 87 picks in this year 2011 MLB draft (essentially unheard of) and they already have, according to this list, 4 of the best 50 prospects. They lost a lot of players this offseason (obviously due to all the draft picks) but they seemed to pick up some prospects in the Garza trade and they will completely restock this year in the draft. I would assume at this point they are expanding their draft budget to sign these players. If they have a smart draft, they could rewrite the AL East (especially when you consider the aging Red Sox and Yankees by the time these Rays players mature).
The Angels only have one player, but its the number one player in the country (Mike Trout). The Nationals one player is Bryce Harper. Both the Nationals and Phillies each have one player in the top four players on the list.
