:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/48780387/usa-today-8804044.0.jpg)
The Braves have recently been getting great reviews from within and outside the league for the depth of talent that they have assembled in their farm system. With a huge treasure trove of pitching in addition to promising position player prospects such as Austin Riley, Mallex Smith, Dansby Swanson, and Ozhaino Albies, the system has the potential to be among the best assembly lines of talent to the majors for the next several years at least.
With that said, it still always a nice surprise when such efforts are recognized by those in the industry, which is exactly what has happened.
My ranking of all 30 MLB farm systems is now up for Insiders: https://t.co/lASCLEITw5 pic.twitter.com/B4BhSurQCs
— keithlaw (@keithlaw) February 10, 2016
If you don't have an ESPN Insider account, you should because it's actually really great, but not having one will not prevent you from watching the video where Keith explains why he believes the Braves have the best farm system in baseball. Law explains that a combination of trading veterans to reload the farm system, the success of the draft last year, and, in particular, the two trades the Braves made with the Diamondbacks have pushed the Braves to the top of the ranks. The concentration on pitching and targeting high upside players has paid off in Law's mind as he notes that the Braves are tied for having the most players in his top 100 prospects (which will be released tomorrow) with a few others that are just on the outside of that top 100.
Just in the past 18 months or so, the Braves made moves that resulted in adding Dansby Swanson, Sean Newcomb, Aaron Blair, Mallex Smith, Max Fried, Tyrell Jenkins, Austin Riley, Touki Toussaint, and many others to the farm system with the goal of having a very healthy farm system and competing when the team moves in to SunTrust Park in 2017.
This news doesn't necessarily change what the Braves are doing, but certainly helps to validate the strategy that Coppy and Hart put in to place when they took over for Frank Wren.