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MLB.com's Top 100 Prospects - Eight Astros!

Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com puts eight Astros on his Top 100 prospect list. Is there any doubt that the Astros have the strongest farm system in baseball?

By Chris Perry
Scott Halleran

Here is how I view the baseball season, as a dedicated blogger and fan:

January - March: Preseason Excitement season
April - June: Draft preparation season
July - August: Summer Trade and Prospect List Season
September - October: Baseball Going Away Season :(
November - December: Winter Meeting Trade and Prospect List Season

At some points in there, baseball gets played too. We are currently in the middle of "Summer Trade and Prospect List Season". In the spirit of this particular calendar cycle, MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo has published an update to his Top 100 Prospects list. Of the lists we've seen so far (Check out the Read More links below), this is the first to include 2013 draftees. On his list:

#9: Carlos Correa
#22: Jonathan Singleton
#27: George Springer
#29: Mark Appel
#65: Lance McCullers
#67: Mike Foltynewicz
#74: Jarred Cosart
#80: Delino DeShields

Eight Astros on the Top 100. I'll use some math to show how fantastic that is. If the other 92 prospects were spread evenly among the other 29 teams in the Major Leagues, the Astros would have 8, and each of the other clubs would have 3. So on average, the Astros have more than twice as many Top-100 prospects as the rest of the league.

Cue the celebration.

More: Sickel's Top 75 BA's Top 50 BP's Top 50

MLB.com has gone beyond the other lists though, as they also name the Top 20 prospects in every system. Nolan Fontana and Domingo Santana round out Mayo's Top 10. Several starters have jumped upwards in the system as well -- Velazquez, Wojciechowski, Thurman, and Peacock all sit within the teens.

Worth noting:

  • Worth noting: Andrew Thurman, the Astros 2nd-round pick in 2013 and Mayo's 42nd-ranked draft prospect overall, is ranked 17th on the Astros Top 20. That should indicate how strong the Astros' farm system is at present.
  • Jonathan Villar makes it at #11. That's the same Villar whom Mayo ranked #3 in the system during the 2011 season.
  • Appel at #29. We've all said this draft class was weaker than past ones. After Correa and Buxton both debuted in the low teens last season, the fact that the best player in the class barely cracked 30 is telling. Few 2013 draftees made the list. Jonathan Gray is 37 and Kris Bryant is 40. Speculative 1-1 draft pick Colin Moran is 78.


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