So it seems like the Detroit Tigers have somewhat recovered from the Grim Reaper of farm systems that is one David Dombrowksi after the MLB Pipeline released their midseason farm system rankings.
The Tigers ranked in at No. 2 to spoil the surprise below…
2. Detroit Tigers
2020 preseason rank: 5
2019 midseason rank: 6
2019 preseason rank: 10
Top 100 Prospects: Spencer Torkelson, 3B/1B (No. 7), Casey Mize, RHP (No. 8), Matt Manning, RHP (No. 25), Riley Greene, OF (No. 31), Tarik Skubal, LHP (No. 49)
Four of Detroit’s five Top 100 prospects are former first-round picks after the team selected Torkelson with the No. 1 overall pick in June. What’s more, all six hitters drafted by the Tigers this past June now rank among the club’s Top 30 prospects, giving the formerly pitching-heavy system balance it had previously lacked.
I’m not sure how much credit we want to give Al Avila with all of this considering four of their five top 100’s were drafted in the within the top ten of the first round. More so, Torkelson and Mize were two first overall selections and no-brainers for Detroit all things considered. You gotta give props though to Avila though on Skubal… I mean the guy was a ninth round selection back in 2018.