LEADOFF: Who has top farm system now, Braves or White Sox?
Good morning. This is LEADOFF, the early buzz in Atlanta sports.
The prospects the White Sox received in Thursday's big trade with the Cubs for pitcher Jose Quintana stirred an instant debate: Who has baseball's best farm system now, the Braves or … the White Sox?
"The White Sox now have the best farm system in baseball," Yahoo Sports baseball columnist Jeff Passan wrote. "This is inarguable. It's not just (Eloy) Jimenez and Yoan Moncada and Michael Kopech, three of the top 10 or 15 prospects in the game. Their depth is frightening."
Not so fast, countered others who analyze such matters.
"Disagree," Baseball America managing editor J.J. Cooper tweeted. "Getting close but Braves still better to me."
The White Sox got four prospects for Quintana, including outfielder Jimenez (ranked the game’s No. 5 overall prospect by Baseball America), pitcher Dylan Cease (ranked No. 83 by BA) and two lower-tier minor leaguers.
To put the deal into perspective, a roughly comparable package from the Braves – just based on BA's rankings — would include outfielder Ronald Acuna (ranked No. 10 overall), pitcher Luiz Gohara (No. 76) and two lesser prospects.
The White Sox, like the Braves, have rebuilt their farm system while trading established players from the big-league roster.
According to Baseball America’s midseason rankings, the Braves and White Sox now have nine and seven players, respectively, among the game’s top 100 prospects. The White Sox have two in the top five (second baseman Yoan Moncada, who is ranked No. 1, and Jimenez), three in the top 20 (pitcher Kopech being the other) and four in the top 45. The Braves have one in the top 10, three in the top 25 and six in the top 42.
Maybe the Braves and the White Sox can settle this debate in, say, the 2020 World Series.
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READ ON …
- Acuna, just 19 years old, was promoted by the Braves from Double-A Mississippi to Triple-A Gwinnett on Thursday. In his first game with the G-Braves, he went 3-for-5 with a home run, two singles, a walk and two RBIs. See story here.
- Like their team on the field, the Braves' attendance and TV ratings showed improvement in the first half of this season. And like the rebuilding team, both of those metrics still have plenty of room to grow. See story here.
- The ACC enacted a scheduling policy change that Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson drove after his statement in January that "the conference tries to screw us every way they can." See Ken Sugiura's story here.
About the Author
Tim Tucker, a long-time AJC sports reporter, often writes about the business side of the games. He also had stints as the AJC's Braves beat writer, UGA beat writer, sports notes columnist and executive sports editor. He was deputy managing editor of America's first all-sports newspaper, The National Sports Daily.
