Farm System Breakdown – #1: Banocolates

For an explanation on the distinction between the “Exponential” and “Linear” rankings given below, please refer to my earlier post “Farm System Primer”. I know it’s tedious, but I had just enough details that I felt needed to review, that I didn’t want to start off each Farm System Breakdown post with 4 paragraphs of jargon. And of course, any questions, feel free to inquire within.

Top 30 Rank (Exponential/Linear): 1/2
Total Rank (Exp/Lin): 1/3
Average of Total Rank (Exp/Lin): 1/1
Average Prospect Grade/Risk (Exp/Lin): 55.2/High / 48.6/High
Total Prospects: 61

Groups of 15 Rankings

Organization Prospect Rankings

MPTK = “More Players to Know” section of Handbook, DC = Depth Chart of Handbook, 21IFA = IFA signed and drafted in 2021, NL = Not listed in handbook under any sections

Summary

Can you be the #1 overall farm system if you’re not #1 in EVERY possible valuation method? For the sake of this series, I’m going to go with yes. Pro Bowlers has a fantastic farm. Somehow, incredibly, this farm is better. And I mean, a lot better. In the exponential system I used for these rankings, the Banocolates are approximately a 70/Very High prospect better than Pro Bowlers. It’s mind blowing that at this point in the rankings, there is that much separation.

Oof, ok, uhm, there are a lot of good names. You know what, don’t take my word for it. Scroll up, and just start reading them. Keep reading until you get to a name you wouldn’t want to trade for if you had the ammo and the opportunity. Then keep scrolling until you get to a player you wouldn’t even considering owning. Go on, I’ll wait……
I got to the late teens for the first one, and the mid twenties for the second one.
Let’s talk hard numbers. 20 upper tier prospects, including Pache, Torkelson (who should be #1), Witt and Hayes. Seven 60/Highs, nine 55/High’s, twenty three 50/High’s, ten 45/Highs, and 8 scrubs. I’ll pick Tanner Burns, Cal Raleigh and Peyton Burdick to concisely summarize the remaining post upper tier talent, which I might add is an entirely impossible task.

I could 8 players expected to graduate from his top 20 in 2021, but only 3 of the top 10. Given the combination of depth and quality, I think it’s fair to assume that some prospects will gain value to supplement the loss of any graduations, at least for this season. I see no reason why Banocolates can’t have AT LEAST a top 3 farm next season, and will likely be competitive for the #1 overall title, while simultaneously rocking a competitive MLB offense. Normally, I’d say with a talent pool this deep, you could get into the territory of perpetual motion, where there’s so much talent, as some graduate, others mature to take their place in an endless loop. However, as the Banocolates approach has been to take older talent, this is a pool that might actually dry up fairly soon, and almost all at once. But, that’s probably 3-5 years out. Until then, we are looking at the makings of a top 3 farm system.

We should be terrified of the 2023 Pro Bowlers, and shitting our pants at the thought of the 2023 Banocolates. You bastard.