What to make of FanGraphs’ prospect rankings for the Colorado Rockies

Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs has been going through each MLB farm system recently and looking at their top 36 prospects and the outlook for the Colorado Rockies is not particularly glowing.

The Rockies have not been ranked as one of the top farm systems in more than half of a decade but they have made some strides with their recent draft picks. While those recent draft picks have been good since they did not have 11 of their top 15 prospects in their system before the 2020 Draft, the Rockies farm system is still problematic.

The Colorado Rockies don’t have much future talent in the farm system, according to FanGraphs.

Of all 36 prospects listed as the best for the Colorado Rockies for FanGraphs, only one has a “future value” or “FV” that is projected to be an “average everyday player” for the team in his first six years in the majors: the Rockies #1 prospect Zac Veen.

Veen, 20, was drafted as the ninth overall pick in the 2020 Draft by the Rockies out of high school in Port Orange, Florida. Recently, in Baseball America’s top prospects list, they listed Veen as their #22 prospect after his excellent 2021 season.

He spent the entire season in Low-A Fresno and he hit .301/.399/.501 with 15 homers, 75 RBI, and 27 doubles in 106 games. He primarily played right field (69 games) but he also played left field (26 games). Two of the best comparisons they have for Veen are Jason Heyward and Jayson Werth.

Longenhagen views catcher Drew Romo as the Rockies #2 prospect. Romo, 20, was drafted by the Rockies in the first round of the 2020 draft, like Veen. He also spent the entire season at Fresno and in 79 games, he hit .314/.345/.439 with six homers, 17 doubles, and 47 RBI. Romo is the only Rockies prospect that has a 45+ rating, which is a “low end regular/platoon” player up to “average everyday player.”

The Rockies have seven more players in the “45” category and a staggering 17 more in the “40” or “40+” category, which is the “bench player” category.

Perhaps, the most alarming ranking, though, is the 2021 Rockies first round draft pick Benny Montgomery.

Due to his “cacophonous” swing, a lot of scouts didn’t like him, which is why he is ranked as the Rockies #8 prospect and with a future value of 40. What gets him up to a 40 is his speed, “raw power,” and fielding. But currently, they have his hitting at a 20, which is the lowest grade you can have on a 20-80 scouting scale.

In the Arizona League in 2021, Montgomery hit .340/.404/.383 so hopefully, he can have that average and on-base in (most likely) Fresno in 2022 and perhaps, he can show some more power too. But it’s troubling to see that even the better prospects for the Rockies are only projected to be fringe MLB players and even then, many of them are still years away from the majors.