Colorado Rockies slip in minor league talent rankings

The Colorado Rockies have plenty of individual players who could make an impact on the organization in future years. Names like Riley Pint, Brendan Rodgers, Colton Welker and Yency Almonte (among others) have Rockies fan excited and optimistic about the future.

However, on the whole, one site seems to think that Colorado’s farm system isn’t as loaded with as much talent as it once was.

In its most recent organizational talent rankings, Baseball America has the Rockies ranked as the 20^th-best farm system in Major League Baseball. That’s the lowest it has been since 2013 when the Rockies also ranked 20^th.

As a note of comparison, the Rockies ranked 10^th in the poll in 2017, sixth in 2016, eighth in 2015 and 11^th in 2014.

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National League West foes Arizona (25^th) and San Francisco (26^th) were ranked behind the Rockies in the 2018 poll while San Diego (3^rd) and Los Angeles (8^th) cracked the Top 10.

Atlanta had the top ranking (after being third in 2016) while Seattle grabbed the lowest spot. The Mariners have been in the 20s for the past four seasons.

So what does all of this mean for the Rockies? While on the surface the news may seem a little dire, there is a reason why the Rockies plummeted. Many of the faces considered “prospects” in recent years have already made an impact for the Rockies at a major league level, including Kyle Freeland, Antonio Senzatela, Jeff Hoffman and German Marquez. Those four young pitchers carried the Colorado rotation last season during a pivotal time in the team’s run for the postseason.

Next: Should Charlie Blackmon lead off for Colorado in 2018?

Colorado’s current top prospect is Rodgers, who was just ranked as the 15^th-best prospect in all of Major League Baseball. That high ranking and his ascent through the minor leagues at such a young age is one of the reasons why we believe this could be the last season that All-Star second baseman DJ LeMahieu is a member of the Rockies. Click here to read our reasoning.