Guardians among the clubs who improved their farm system most in 2024

There is no singular established path to farm system improvement.

The best organizations do it internally. They take the players already in the pipeline and help them get the most out of their tools or, in a best-case scenario, improve the tools already in their profiles. That takes a good combination of coaching, internal scouting and buy-in from the players, and prospects themselves will tell you it’s better when an organization can speak to individual strengths and weaknesses rather than painting with broad, system-wide brushes.

But some orgs are also great at drafting and/or international signing, i.e. identifying players ready to take the leap in pro ball who may be overlooked by the rest of the industry for one reason or another. And other clubs still improve by being sellers and acquiring as much prospect talent as possible in deals for their Major Leaguers to give a rebuild an extra kick.

We saw plenty of each track in 2024, and to illustrate the point, here are the most improved farm systems of the past year listed in alphabetical order:

Boston Red Sox
Boston’s player-development group (and the player himself) deserves major credit for helping Kristian Campbell go from a non-Top 30 prospect in the system to a Top 10 overall prospect in all of baseball. The 2023 132nd overall pick began hitting the ball in the air more with authority and helped turn the Red Sox’s Big Three (featuring Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer and Kyle Teel) into a Big Four. The Sox dealt away Teel and 2024 first-rounder Braden Montgomery along with two other prospects for Garrett Crochet in one of the blockbusters of the offseason, dealing from a strength to address a need. The group still claims four Top 100 prospects, including 19-year-old standout Franklin Arias, and another teenager, Yoeilin Cespedes, could join in 2025. Boston still lacks standout arms, but the pitching department has taken a nice jump forward in recent years, so keep an eye on leaps from that group next season.

Chicago White Sox
Four of Chicago’s Top 10 prospects weren’t White Sox a year ago at this time. Teel and Montgomery were solid additions in the Crochet deal, and right-hander Jairo Iriarte came over in the Dylan Cease trade with the Padres in the spring. In the Draft, the group added potential quick climber Hagen Smith with the fifth overall pick after the Arkansas southpaw was named SEC Pitcher of the Year. At the top, Noah Schultz got through a stellar season at High-A Winston-Salem and Double-A Birmingham and continued to show the makings of a potential ace on the South Side. Putting Colson Montgomery‘s Triple-A struggles aside, this became a more dynamic system through necessary external moves. The White Sox could still use more high-end talent and depth to be considered one of the best farms in the game — and might not be done dealing to achieve that goal.

Cleveland Guardians
It sure does help to have the No. 1 overall pick, doesn’t it? The Guardians won the 2024 Draft Lottery and used the selection on Oregon State star Travis Bazzana, who ended his first season as the No. 12 prospect in the game. But the arrival of the 70-grade-hitting second baseman didn’t get Cleveland here alone. Jaison Chourio, Angel Genao and Ralphy Velazquez — three players 20 or younger with no experience above High-A — also joined the Top 100 in 2024, and 2023 third-rounder C.J. Kayfus’ first-season dominance pushed him onto our Top 10 first baseman list. Welbyn Francisca hit well enough in his age-18 season to give the Guardians yet another potential future Top 100 name on the dirt. The organization doesn’t quite have the breakout arms in its system that it’s become known for, but adding Michael Kennedy and Josh Hartle in the Spencer Horwitz trade at least bolsters the group and gives it two projects for ’25.

Colorado Rockies
This is mostly Draft-based. The Rockies found Golden Spikes winner Charlie Condon too good to pass up with the third overall pick in July, and while the former Georgia star struggled out of the gate at High-A Spokane, he still has some of the best power potential among any active prospect. One can only dream of what numbers he could produce at elevation, but Rockies fans might not have to wait long if he can move beyond the early contact issues. Colorado similarly took a big swing at 38th overall with Iowa right-hander Brody Brecht, who has two plus-plus pitches in his fastball and slider but a checkered history of control. He has significant upside, though, and that’s the type of arm the Rox should aim to add when they have the chance. Proof in point: 2023 first-rounder Chase Dollander finished with a 2.59 ERA and 169 strikeouts in 118 innings at High-A and Double-A in his first full season. This is still a middle-of-the-road system, as compared to others here, but its ceiling is higher now than it was in the spring.

Detroit Tigers
Deadline sellers don’t typically make the postseason, but that’s precisely what the Tigers did this season. Trading a few weeks of Jack Flaherty for eventual Major Leaguer Trey Sweeney and Thayron Liranzo, who had a 1.032 OPS in 26 games at High-A West Michigan after the deal and was a steady Arizona Fall League performer this autumn, might be one of the most significant moves of the year from a long-term perspective. Of course, there were internal developments as well. Kevin McGonigle jumped into the top half of the Top 100 with a potential plus-plus hit tool. Fellow 2023 pick Jaden Hamm went from outside the Top 30 to inside the Top 10 on the strength of his high-carry fastball. Josue Briceño was the AFL Triple Crown winner after missing significant time with a knee injury. Jackson Jobe and Max Clark continued to look like two of the best prospects in the game, with the former debuting in the Majors and getting playoff innings. Detroit already has a Top 5 farm system in our preseason rankings but looks possibly even deeper and more robust now.

Miami Marlins
The Fish bucked industry trends and took prep pitchers at the top of their 2023 Draft class in Noble Meyer and Thomas White, and it’s White who jumped more significantly into prominence in the pair’s first full seasons, striking out 120 in 96 innings while reaching High-A Beloit. Miami picked up prospects in bulk from trades throughout the season as well, adding Agustin Ramirez (No. 96 overall), Deyvison De Los Santos, Robby Snelling, Dillon Head, Jared Serna and Adam Mazur among players ranked among its Top 11 right now. Ramirez and De Los Santos, in particular, bring loud power potential, and 2023 second-rounder Kemp Alderman was a standout slugger in the Arizona Fall League too. Considering the Marlins ranked 29th on our preseason farm system ranking, the prospect group is in a much better standing now.

Minnesota Twins
Despite an early hamstring strain, 2023 fifth overall pick Walker Jenkins solidified his place as one of the game’s best hitting prospects with his climb to Double-A Wichita, and he gives the Twins a potential superstar in the making at the top of the pyramid. Below him, Luke Keaschall, David Festa and Zebby Matthews (the latter two have since graduated) all pushed their way onto the Top 100 with breakout seasons. Marco Raya‘s career-high 97 2/3 innings certainly helped the top of the pitching group as it stands now. At the time of our midseason farm system rankings, Minnesota boasted six Top 100 talents and placed second. The graduations will probably cause them to slip, but there’s no ignoring Jenkins up top alongside the toolsy Emmanuel Rodriguez.

Seattle Mariners
Colt Emerson was No. 87 on our preseason Top 100 and now sits 60 spots higher after looking the part of a high-average shortstop. Lazaro Montes (No. 47) and Felnin Celesten (No. 66) weren’t on the T100 at all in the spring but joined with strong summers. Cole Young and Harry Ford kept their fans at Double-A, while Jonny Farmelo and Michael Arroyo earned groundswell support with strong low-level performances. Those are all hitters we’ve mentioned to this point, but the M’s are never far from developing a pitching star either, so it was notable they took Jurrangelo Cijntje and Ryan Sloan with their top two Draft picks in July. Ranked ninth in the midseason update, the Seattle farm has a claim as a Top 5 system entering 2025.

Tampa Bay Rays
There were already strong names up top here in Carson Williams, Xavier Isaac and Brayden Taylor (and the graduated Junior Caminero). But Tre’ Morgan and Dominic Keegan took strong steps forward as well among the hitting group. Gary Gill Hill went from outside the Top 30 to the system’s top pitcher in our midseason ranking. After five straight postseason years, the Rays also became smart sellers at the Deadline and added Aidan Smith, Dylan Lesko, Brody Hopkins, Jackson Baumeister, Mac Horvath, Gregory Barrios, Homer Bush Jr., Matthew Etzel, J.D. Gonzalez and Ty Johnson to the Top 30 in in-season trades. The Rays typically have one of the deeper farm systems in the game out of necessity given their limited spending in the Majors, but their combination of internal development and external additions make this undoubtedly the deepest system in the game once more.