Phillies Farm System Ranked One of Worst in MLB

The Philadelphia Phillies farm system is sub-par, you don’t need to be a genius to see that. It’s especially concerning given that the Phillies have posted just one winning season since 2011 and that was 2021’s 82-win season.

On Monday, Keith Law of The Athletic released his yearly ranking of MLB farm systems. Philadelphia wasn’t dead last, but they were close. Ranked 28th, the Phillies placed just above the Oakland Athletics and Chicago White Sox, both of whom have had success in recent years at the major league level.

It would also seem like the Phillies are trending down. With holes to fill at center field, left field, shortstop, and closer, Philadelphia will be calling up their triple-A talent soon and/or they could trade high-ranking talent like Bryson Stott and Mick Abel to replenish the gaps in their lineup.

This, of course, will only diminish the talent remaining in an already bleak farm system. However, Keith Law does tend to make bold statements that have a history of backfiring, and he ranked the Phillies lower than any other website this past year.

Baseball America ranked Philadelphia 23rd, and Bleacher Report and MLB placed them at 27th. These rankings are all a significant drop off from where the Phillies were less than a year ago.

Pre-2021, MLB Pipeline ranked the Phillies as the 19th best farm system, still mediocre, but a far cry from the fourth worst system in baseball.

These newly syndicated rankings may have to do with the Phillies selection of RHP Andrew Painter in the 2021 MLB Amateur Draft. Selecting a high school pitcher is a high-risk, medium-reward move. While it seems like the selection of Painter may pay off in the long run, he still has years of development ahead.

For the Phillies to rise again in these rankings, they will need to draft and develop consistently, a trait the franchise had not maintained since their last run of dominance in the 2000s.

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