The MLB trade deadline is right around the corner. With a myriad of superstars available in trade talks, there's sure to be tons of phone calls made between managers looking at every angle at which they might be able to acquire someone capable of leading them on a World Series run.
However, trades go both ways. A great player will require an equally great payout of prospects. So, while your team may be in a position to make a move for a serious superstar like Tarik Skubal or Mason Miller or Byron Buxton, they are going to need a great farm system to make it work. And frankly, not every team has that.
The most well-run organizations in the league have both star players to either trade away or go on a run with, plus a fantastic farm to fill the big league lineup once the other stars have either left or retired. Teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers might be buying every superstar known to man at exorbitant prices, but they have also done a remarkable job at producing homegrown talent like Andy Pages, Dalton Rushing, and top prospect Josue De Paula. That's just one of the reasons why they're on top year in, year out.
Here are our rankings of the best farm systems in Major League Baseball.
Power Ranking MLB farm systems
*Top prospects listed per mlb.com
30) New York Mets
Top 5 prospects:
- RHP Jonah Tong
- 1B/OF Ryan Clifford
- 3B/1B Jacob Reimer
- RHP Jack Wenninger
- SS/2B Mitch Voit
When your top prospect, the only player in your farm system listed in MLB's Top 100, looks like a shadow of his former self, that's never a good sign. Coming into the season, the Mets' system leaned heavily on the strength of its top pitchers, but both Tong and Wenninger have struggled in 2026.
Tong specifically saw his ERA jump to a massive 5.83 across 71 innings in Triple-A this year, while his strikeout rate has decreased and his walk rate has increased. Wenninger, meanwhile, has been better at keeping runs off the board, but lacks putaway material, seeing his strikeout rate drop to under 9.0 per nine innings in Triple-A. Neither of them is moving in the right direction, which makes it hard to trust this team's system in the immediate future.
29) Houston Astros
Top 5 prospects:
- OF Kevin Alvarez
- 3B/SS Xavier Neyens
- OF Ethan Frey
- C Walker Janek
- RHP Bryce Mayer
While Alvarez and Neyens are two of the best prospects the Astros have had in years, the Astros still don't boast a very impressive farm system. They have a good influx of hitters at a wide variety of positions, but very few of them seem to be standout bats, capable of being All-Star players at the major league level. Couple that with lackluster pitching prospects, and the Astros remain near the bottom of the rankings yet again.
28) Los Angeles Angels
Top 5 prospects:
- RHP Tyler Bremmer
- OF Nelson Rada
- LHP Johnny Slawinski
- RHP George Klassen
- C/3B Gabriel Davalillo
The Angels are certainly taking a smarter approach with their farm system as of late, giving their players a little more time to develop rather than just speedrunning them to the majors as fast as possible. However, despite their improved management on that front, they still remain one of the thinnest systems in MLB, boasting only one Top 100 prospect and very few promising hitters.
27) San Diego Padres
Top 5 prospects:
- C Ethan Salas
- LHP Kruz Schoolcraft
- RHP Miguel Mendez
- LHP Kash Mayfield
- SS Jorge Quintana
The Padres have one — ONE! — standout performer in their farm system. With their decision last year to trade away Leo De Vries to the Athletics, the team gave away what little depth it had in exchange for potentially trading Mason Miller at this year's deadline.
The Padres' farm system is also filled with players who are far too old for where they are playing in the minors. While the presence of Salas keeps this team from being last place, it wouldn't be far-fetched to say this is all-around the worst farm in MLB.
26) Arizona Diamondbacks
Top 5 prospects:
- OF Ryan Wladschmidt
- SS Kayson Cunningham
- OF Slade Caldwell
- 2B/3B Demetrio Crisantes
- 2B JD Dix
While the Diamondbacks' system certainly looks better than it did a year ago, it still isn't where it needs to be. Now, that could change soon, and the D-Backs could be the biggest riser on this list by the end of the season, but that relies a little too heavily on the continued development of lower-tier prospects like Carlos Virahonda, Daniel Egan, and Druw Jones. If they continue their current trajectories, the Diamondbacks could certainly be in business.
25) Kansas City Royals
Top 5 prospects:
- RHP Kendry Chourio
- SS/3B Josh Hammond
- C Blake Mitchell
- LHP David Shields
- OF/2B Sean Gamble
While the Royals have tremendous pitching depth in their system, boasting several options who will likely blossom into capable MLB starters, their hitting depth remains questionable, specifically in the outfield. Sean Gamble looks poised to operate more as an infielder, and the best prospect the team has in the outfield appears to be Asbel Gonzalez and he's still years away from joining the big league club.
24) Chicago Cubs
Top 5 prospects:
- SS Jefferson Rojas
- OF/1B Josiah Hartshorn
- RHP Jaxon Wiggins
- OF Ethan Conrad
- OF Kane Kepley
The Cubs might have one of the top-ten regiments of hitters in their minor league system, but they lack pitching depth. Even their best arms are mostly slated to be relievers, making their options at starter very thin for the foreseeable future. Although Jaxon Wiggins looks like a capable arm, he has had serious struggles with injuries throughout his career, making his future as an innings-eater seem dim.
23) Texas Rangers
Top 5 prospects:
- SS/3B Sebastian Walcott
- RHP Caden Scarborough
- RHP AJ Russell
- RHP Jose Corniell
- RHP Winston Santos
While Sebastian Walcott remains one of the most promising prospects in the league, even after his elbow injury forced him to miss a good chunk of the 2026 season, the Rangers' system lacks substantial depth. That said, the incredible potential of Walcott, Scarborough, and guys like Santos and Josh Owens makes the top-heavy system look good enough to avoid the bottom-five.
22) Baltimore Orioles
Top 5 prospects:
- OF Nate George
- OF/1B Ike Irish
- LHP Joseph Dzierwa
- LHP Luis De León
- RHP Trey Gibson
Given how many great bats have come out of the Orioles' system in recent years, it's nice to see depth in their pitching prospects. Trey Gibson, Luis De Leon, JT Quinn, Boston Bateman, Nestor German, and Juaron Watts-Brown all appear to be valuable arms that will contribute to the big league club.
The hitting side certainly lacks some depth, though, and of the hitters they hope to provide pop in the majors, guys like Jud Fabian, Enrique Bradfield Jr., Vance Honeycutt, and Griff O’Ferrall have all struggled to carry their weight offensively this season.
21) Atlanta Braves
Top 5 prospects:
- LHP Cam Caminiti
- OF Eric Hartman
- 2B/SS Tate Southisene
- SS Alex Lodise
- RHP Owen Murphy
Eric Hartman was selected in the last round of the MLB draft. Now look at him. He's a stud. That's the kind of win that great organizations like the Atlanta Braves get. At the start of the year, this organization probably would've ranked near or at the bottom. While they certainly haven't climbed into that upper echelon of farm systems just yet, they have created some excitement about their pipeline. Now, if they can just add a little more depth.
20) Cincinnati Reds
Top 5 prospects:
- C Alfredo Duno
- SS Steele Hall
- SS/2B Edwin Arroyo
- SS/3B Tyson Lewis
- OF Héctor Rodríguez
Alfredo Duno is a monster. He has remarkable power and plate discipline, but his ability to stay as a catcher long-term is still in question. In general, the Reds' farm system has tons of hitting to love moving forward, but their lack of pitching depth keeps them this low.
19) Toronto Blue Jays
Top 5 prospects:
- SS JoJo Parker
- SS Arjun Nimmala
- RHP Nolan Perry
- LHP Johnny King
- LHP Ricky Tiedemann
This may not last long, as reports indicate that the Blue Jays are willing to move some of their top guys, particularly Arjun Nimmala, at this year's deadline. Until that happens, though, the Blue Jays are chock full of promising offensive talent and steady pitching for their future. They don't have many standout performers, but several solid options have them near the middle of our rankings.
18) Philadelphia Phillies
Top 5 prospects:
- SS Aidan Miller
- RHP Gage Wood
- OF Francisco Renteria
- 2B Aroon Escobar
- OF Dante Nori
Though this farm system certainly lacks in hitting depth, they make up for it with an incredible heap of right-handed pitchers, including Moises Chace, Matthew Fisher, Cody Bowker, and Ramon Marquez, among others. Of course, that won't matter if the big league club can't score runs. As great as someone like Aroon Escobar is at the plate, he struggles to play second base, which could end up moving him to a power position and stifling the offensive potential of this farm.
17) Athletics
Top 5 prospects:
- SS Leo De Vries
- LHP Jamie Arnold
- LHP Wei-En Lin
- RHP Braden Nett
- SS Johenssy Colome
The A's certainly have some of the best prospects in baseball, but that's about it. The guys at the top are studs with Johenssy Colome, Joshua Kuroda-Grauer, and Edgar Montero all offering signs of immense potential even if some of their moments in 2025 have been equally disappointing. The shining star of this group is undoubtedly Leo De Vries though. He's having a remarkable 2026 and is a huge reason the A's rank this high.
16) Colorado Rockies
Top 5 prospects:
- SS Ethan Holliday
- 1B/OF Charlie Condon
- OF/2B Roldy Brito
- OF Jared Thomas
- OF Robert Calaz
The Rockies' farm system might be one of the most polarizing in the league. On one hand, you have a myriad of talented hitters who were high draft picks. On the other hand, they don't have much experience between them. Guys like Ethan Holliday, Charlie Condon, and Roldy Brito have all the tools to develop into stars, but we haven't seen enough of them yet to make a great prediction. Regardless, placing the Rockies in the 20's or even toward the bottom of the rankings is not uncommon.
15) Pittsburgh Pirates
Top 5 prospects:
- RHP Seth Hernandez
- OF/1B Edward Florentino
- LHP Hunter Barco
- OF Jhostynxon Garcia
- 2B Termarr Johnson
Between Paul Skenes, Bubba Chandler, Seth Hernandez, Reinold Navarro, and Antwone Kelly, the Pirates are going to have an absolutely loaded rotation with remarkable strikeout potential. That is, if they can hold on to all of their guys until everyone is ready. The Pirates have some very good, very promising options, but far too many of their top prospects are still years away from the majors.
14) San Francisco Giants
Top 5 prospects:
- SS Josuar González
- SS Luis Hernández
- SS Jhonny Level
- SS/2B Gavin Kilen
- OF Dakota Jordan
Every time you take a look at the Giants' top prospects, they're taking another leap up the top 100. They are good. Really good. And there's a good chunk of them. However, the same can't be said for their pitching. Most of their top pitchers are still years from joining the team.
13) Tampa Bay Rays
Top 5 prospects:
- OF Theo Gillen
- C Nathan Flewelling
- C Caden Bodine
- RHP Brody Hopkins
- OF Jacob Melton
The Rays have everything they could possibly want from their farm system. They've been able to develop prospects with solid consistency and have always had great talent to call up. However, they fall just short of the top-ten because ironically, many of their top prospects are not ready to be called up just yet.
The Rays are a small-market team, meaning any chance they have to call prospects up to improve their ball club, they will take. But the fact of the matter is that this year, the team is more likely to trade for a piece at the deadline rather than call up a talent from Triple-A to give them an extra push. In two years, this will be the best farm system in baseball bar none.
12) Boston Red Sox
Top 5 prospects:
- SS Franklin Arias
- RHP Anthony Eyanson
- OF Justin Gonzales
- RHP Kyson Witherspoon
- RHP Juan Valera
The top-five listed above does not encapsulate just how deep the Red Sox are at pitcher. The team only recently saw Payton Tolle and Connelly Early move to the big league level, but between them and the names above, the Red Sox have a lot of homegrown pitchers to pick and choose from.
The biggest issue with the Red Sox farm system is undoubtedly swing-and-miss power. Though most of their hitting prospects outside of Arias can smack towering home runs, many of them struggle to make consistently good contact.
11) Detroit Tigers
Top 5 prospects:
- OF Max Clark
- SS Bryce Rainer
- C/1B Josue Briceño
- 2B/3B Max Anderson
- C/1B Thayron Liranzo
Many people look at the Tigers' farm system and think, "They can't stay healthy.' However, when they are healthy, this is one of the best pools in MLB. While the team lacks a serious top pitching prospect, the high-end hitting makes the Tigers one of the most enviable farm systems in the league.
10) New York Yankees
Top 5 prospects:
- INF George Lombard Jr.
- SS Dax Kilby
- RHP Elmer Rodríguez
- RHP Carlos Lagrange
- RHP Ben Hess
The depth among position players is certainly thin within the Yankees' organization, but with the two highest-ranked prospects being position players, the team has enough time to develop more position players, particularly outfielders, to fill the team once the current core starts dissolving. Given how consistent the Yankees are at either generating talent or trading for talent, the current lack of depth isn't too concerning.
9) Miami Marlins
Top 5 prospects:
- LHP Thomas White
- LHP Robby Snelling
- SS Aiva Arquette
- RHP Karson Milbrandt
- RHP Kevin Defrank
The pitching in this system is undeniably great, with talented arms like Keyner Benitez and Grant Shepardson not even listed among their top-five prospects. However, the hitting is the biggest concern here. Many of their top hitting prospects have at least one solid to elite trait, but lack the overall hitting talent you'd want. Still, having so many hitters with high-end traits is hard to come by. At the very least, many of them will make for solid power or contact options, even if you'd prefer to have everything wrapped into one.
8) St. Louis Cardinals
Top 5 prospects:
- C Rainiel Rodriguez
- LHP Liam Doyle
- OF Joshua Báez
- RHP Jurrangelo Cijntje
- C Leo Bernal
This is where we start getting into the fantastic farm systems, and there really isn't anything too negative to say about St. Louis. They have tons of power at key positions coming up and pitchers with terrific breaking material. There are some concerns about the amount of walks doled out from guys like Xavier Cruz, Brandon Clarke, and Jacob Odle, but that's what the minors are for: to iron out those issues before they get to the bigs.
7) Minnesota Twins
Top 5 prospects:
- OF Walker Jenkins
- SS Kaelen Culpepper
- C Eduardo Tait
- OF Emmanuel Rodriguez
- LHP Dasan Hill
Much like St. Louis, this is a farm system with very few holes, but one glaring flaw. In this case, it's availability. Two of the Twins' top prospects in Walker Jenkins and Emmanuel Rodriguez have spent almost as much time off the field dealing with injuries as on it. Furthermore, many of the team's top pitching prospects have missed significant time this year as well.
6) Cleveland Guardians
Top 5 prospects:
- 1B/OF Ralphy Velazquez
- SS Angel Genao
- C Cooper Ingle
- RHP Braylon Doughty
- OF Jaison Chourio
The Guardians are absolutely loaded at the catcher position, and given how thin that position is at the major league level, they could utilize their plethora of backstops as trade chips to acquire game-changing talent at this year's deadline. Guys like Bo Naylor, Bennett Thompson, and Kody Huff are all MLB-caliber catchers that teams would love to get their grubby fingers on.
5) Chicago White Sox
Top 5 prospects:
- 3B/SS Caleb Bonemer
- OF Braden Montgomery
- LHP Hagen Smith
- SS Billy Carlson
- RHP Tanner McDougal
The White Sox farm system is absolutely loaded. Braden Montgomery boasted an insane .548 slugging percentage in the minors before being called up. Caleb Bonemer is sitting at .527 for the season. I could go on and on, but the power in this system speaks for itself. The pitching is also high-end with a small concern regarding the lack of innings from their top guys. Still, that is a minor, minor issue considering the upside most of their prospects bring.
4) Washington Nationals
Top 5 prospects:
- SS Eli Willits
- RHP Travis Sykora
- RHP Jarlin Susana
- INF Ronny Cruz
- INF Devin Fitz-Gerald
With so many prospects in MLB's Top 100, it's hard to find a weak spot in this system. Some of their pitchers have trouble staying healthy. Both Susana and Sykora are currently out, but they also lack significant injury histories to be concerned about. Furthermore, the amount of talent that can play shortstop in the minors is a sign that Washington would likely be comfortable trading CJ Abrams at this year's deadline. They have so many options coming up at that position that some of them, like Fitz-Gerald and Gavin Fein, are learning different positions to accommodate for how many shortstops they have. Even if several fail at the major league level, they'll have more players to choose from. They have backup plans on backup plans on backup plans. That's depth right there.
3) Seattle Mariners
Top 5 prospects:
- LHP Kade Anderson
- RHP Ryan Sloan
- OF Lazaro Montes
- 2B/OF Michael Arroyo
- OF Jonny Farmelo
The Mariners' top-ten prospects are almost certainly the best set of prospects in baseball. Beyond them, there are some questions. Still, nine or ten homegrown talents that look primed to provide considerable value at the major league level is more than basically every team in MLB can say.
2) Milwaukee Brewers
Top 5 prospects:
- SS Jesús Made
- INF Luis Peña
- SS Cooper Pratt
- OF Luis Lara
- 3B/SS/OF Jett Williams
No team matches the overall depth of the Milwaukee Brewers. Boasting the No. 1-ranked prospect as well is just icing on the cake.
Anything you could want from a farm system is available with the Brewers. You want power? Look no further than Blake Burke or Andrew Fischer. You want defensive versatility? Check out Jett Williams or Josh Adamczewski. You want great starting pitching? Logan Henderson. They have so many great prospects that their talented pitching staff options don't even crack their top-five. That's the mark of a well-run organization.
1) Los Angeles Dodgers
Top 5 prospects:
- OF Josue De Paula
- OF Mike Sirota
- OF Zyhir Hope
- OF Eduardo Quintero
- SS Emil Morales
Well, the rich get richer. The Los Angeles Dodgers not only boast two of MLB's top-11 prospects, but have more Top 100 prospects than anyone else (9). To put this in perspective, there are 31 outfielders on the MLB Top 100 prospect list currently. The Dodgers own seven of those guys. Yeah. They're loaded at every level.
The only flaw you could possibly find in the farm system is the lack of depth at positions like catcher. That said, not only have they recently graduated Dalton Rushing, but they have so many talented prospects at other positions that if they really needed another catcher, they could either trade one of their millions of top prospects or just give someone way more money than they deserve in free agency.
Yes, the Dodgers are a superteam at the MLB and MiLB levels. They will be at the top of baseball for a long, long, long time.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY Sports: Power ranking all 30 MLB farm systems ahead of the 2026 trade deadline
