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Technical.ly
10-04-2025
- Business
- Technical.ly
‘Future of baseball' startup wants to change the game for other sports
Startup profile: Diamond Kinetics Founded by: CJ Handron, William Clark Year founded: 2014 Headquarters: Pittsburgh, PA Sector: Sportstech Funding and valuation: $45.5 million raised at an undisclosed valuation, according to PitchBook Key ecosystem partners: Major League Baseball, Major League Baseball Players Association, USA Baseball, Marucci Sports, Elysian Park Ventures, TNC Ventures, SeventySix Capital A decade after its founding, one Pittsburgh-based startup is proving that staying local doesn't mean thinking small. When cofounders CJ Handron and William Clark founded North Shore-based Diamond Kinetics in 2014, the concept of 'sportstech' was still in its infancy. Five years later, former Phillies player Ryan Howard called the startup 'the future of baseball. ' Fast forward to today, and the widespread use of its DK Bat Sensor to track swing data and help baseball players improve their performance is just one highlight in a portfolio of achievements. Now, Diamond Kinetics is trying to live up to that title and eyeing possible expansion into other sports. 'We started tinkering with this in a conference room at the University of Pittsburgh,' Handron told 'and now it's something that has been used tens of millions of times by hundreds of thousands of people.' Over the last decade, the company has raised over $45 million, putting that money toward evolving into a comprehensive sports technology platform. High-profile partnerships have helped it accelerate this growth even more. Diamond Kinetics secured a partnership with Major League Baseball in 2022 as its Trusted Youth Development Platform. Through the partnership, Diamond Kinetics' tech was integrated with MLB initiatives and content, giving young players across the country a way to track their progress, compete with friends and engage in an MLB-themed digital experience. The company has also forged partnerships with the Alliance Fastpitch, a California-based national league system for amateur fastpitch softball, and the Baltimore-based Ripken Baseball and Cooperstown-based All-Star Village to launch new in-app content to help user training. Plus, just last year, it acquired the youth sports streaming platform SidelineHD. In addition to livestreaming games, the platform uses AI to create video highlights that can be shared by families and friends. At the time, Handron said the acquisition aligned perfectly with the company's vision of providing a unified and complete experience for young athletes, allowing Diamond Kinetics to deliver more value to its users as they move from practice time to real games. Throughout all of the company's growth and success, it has remained headquartered in Pittsburgh because the city has a 'perfect recipe' of talent, sports interest and a supportive, early-stage technology ecosystem, Handron said. 'This city, and its affinity for sports, and the technical capabilities coming out of both Pitt and Carnegie Mellon,' Handron said, 'gave us an opportunity to find early investors and get people who were interested in what we were doing.' sat down with Handron at StudioMe in Oakland to learn more about Diamond Kinetics' origins, how it secured its major partnerships and his advice for other startups in the sportstech space. Watch or listen to the interview below.
NBC News
10-04-2025
- Business
- NBC News
MLB weighs a salary cap as potential lockout looms in 2026
For decades, Major League Baseball has stood alone among the major U.S. sports leagues as the only one without a salary cap. Team owners may test that dynamic at the end of next year. MLB owners as well as Commissioner Rob Manfred's office have begun privately contemplating what a new league economic structure could look like as the league heads toward a new Collective Bargaining Agreement with players, according to people familiar with the matter. The league's current CBA expires on Dec. 1, 2026. MLB officials have discussed adding both a salary cap and a salary floor, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. The Major League Baseball Players Association, however, has long been against a salary cap, and the group says its position hasn't changed. The result is a potential lockout in December of next year when the current CBA expires — one that appears increasingly likely given the opposing positions of both sides. If MLB owners are ultimately successful in forcing through a salary cap, it would end decades of limitless spending that's led to increasingly disproportionate spending between teams in the league. Critics of the format say the variability results in a competitive imbalance that reduces fan enjoyment and retention of star players in small markets. The remaining three major sports leagues in the U.S. — the National Football League, the National Hockey League and the National Basketball Association — all have salary caps. The NHL adopted its cap in 2005. The NFL introduced a cap in 1994, and the NBA has had one since 1984. While MLB maintains a luxury tax and revenue sharing, there's no formal limit on what teams can spend on a roster. Manfred addressed the issue of a salary cap last week on FS1′s 'The Herd.' 'We do hear a lot about it from fans, particularly in smaller markets,' said Manfred. 'But the reality is we're two years away from the end of the [bargaining] agreement. We're just not in a position where we are talking about or have made decisions about what's ahead in the next round of bargaining. I think that a lot of water is going to go over the dam before we need to deal with that issue.' In the meantime, the delta in spending between MLB's highest spending teams and the lowest has reached an all-time high. This season, the New York Mets are spending $323 million on players. The Miami Marlins are paying just over $67 million. There are nine teams spending more than $200 million on players in 2025, and there are five spending less than $100 million, according to MLB calculations obtained by USA Today. When including the league's luxury tax, the Los Angeles Dodgers will spend more than $500 million — a record amount — given the value of their contracts this year, which include deferred payments. The Mets will pay more than $400 million. The large gaps are evidence of 'a massive disparity problem,' Manfred said in a New York Times article this week. 'I am really cognizant of it, and I'm sympathetic to fans in smaller markets who go into the season feeling like they don't have a chance in the world to win,' Manfred said. 'I think our game turns on fans having hope when you enter the season. I think it's a really important issue that we need to pay attention to.' This isn't the first time MLB has considered installing a salary cap. In 1994, a stalemate over spending led to an MLB strike and the cancellation of the World Series that year. Players successfully prevented a cap then, and nothing has changed, according to Tony Clark, the MLBPA president since 2013. 'We've always believed in as free a market system as possible, such that the individual player can realize his value against the backdrop of teams that are interested in his services,' Tony Clark, MLBPA president, told The Athletic in February. 'A cap is an artificial lever that is the ultimate salary restrictor, independent of where you are on the salary food chain.' Both sides appear to be preparing for an impasse. The MLBPA has a so-called 'war chest' of money to help non-star players afford a work stoppage, and it's prepared to use it as soon as December 2026, according to people familiar with the union's thinking. The money derives from licensing fees from baseball cards, video games and other merchandise. The size of the war chest is unclear, but people close to the matter say it's larger than that of the last round of bargaining, when it was considered a record amount. The union executive board voted in December to withhold 100% of 2024 licensing money to prepare for bargaining to replace the current labor contract, said the people familiar. Diverging spending While the concept of introducing a salary cap has consistently been a nonstarter with the players' union, there's some evidence suggesting reforming MLB's economics could be good for players. The average MLB salary hasn't kept pace with the league's increase in revenue, which has grown at a rate of 4.1% per year in the past decade, according to Joel Litvin, former president of league operations for the NBA and a lecturer at Columbia University, who teaches a course called 'The Business of Professional Sports Leagues and Franchises.' That's not the case in the NBA, NHL and NFL, which have a cap, said Litvin. 'Had salaries been tied to revenues (as they are in the other leagues), the players would have earned an additional $2.3 billion in salaries over that period,' Litvin wrote in a Sports Business Journal op-ed last month. His calculations conclude players' salaries have increased 3% per year over the past ten years. 'The best outcome — for both teams and players — would be a salary cap/revenue-sharing system, which would promote competitive meritocracy and eliminate economic risk faced by both players and teams of a revenue/salary imbalance,' wrote Litvin, who worked for the NBA from 1988 to 2015 and managed the NBA's salary cap for years. While the MLBPA isn't against a salary floor, it views any restrictions on what a player could earn in a free market as unacceptable, according to people familiar with the matter. Unrestricted spending has led to outsized deals in baseball, such as the Mets' 15-year, $765 million contract for Juan Soto this offseason — the largest contract in the history of American sports. The deal surpassed Shohei Ohtani's 10-year, $700 million contract signed in 2023, though Ohtani's $70 million per year remains tops in the U.S. on an annual basis. Still, while the best MLB players benefit from the current rules, most of the league's players don't see the big bucks. This isn't all that different from any sport, where stars command the biggest contracts. But that's where the concept of a salary floor could help tip the scales for the MLBPA. Small market clubs would be forced to pay higher salaries for their 26-man rosters. Competitive balance While the commissioner's office, owners and executives legally can't discuss the upcoming CBA publicly, talk in private of changing the rules has started to heat up. Executives across the league have hinted at a growing desire to address the problem — including, surprisingly, those that work for the Dodgers and Mets, the two teams who benefit most from the current league rules. 'I think greater parity would be a benefit to the game,' Dodgers CEO Stan Kasten told CNBC Sport just days after the Dodgers won the World Series last year. 'It doesn't help that our revenue per game is 10 times that of a team on the bottom. It really isn't good for anyone. We have revenue sharing in our league, so we hope to close that gap, but I think there are other ways to achieve that. We see a lot of examples in the other sports.' Mets President of Baseball Operations David Stearns echoed Kasten's sentiments in a CNBC Sport interview earlier this year. 'I think there is a conversation that needs to occur, and it is ongoing, as to the importance to baseball closing some of those spending gaps,' Stearns said. 'I think it's primarily important because markets like Milwaukee, markets like Tampa — when you draft and develop, sign and develop a star, you should have the ability and the capability to really keep those stars in smaller markets. We've seen other sports figure out how to make that happen. Baseball has had a tougher time figuring out how to make that happen.' While some sports fans may enjoy dynasties, more parity generally increases fan engagement — at least that's the case in the NBA, Commissioner Adam Silver told CNBC Sport in October. 'The data is absolutely crystal clear that the more competition you have, the more it drives interest in the league,' Silver said. Eight out of the last 10 World Series champions have payrolls in the top 10 most expensive for that specific year. As the Wall Street Journal noted, since 1998, teams ranked in the top five in payroll have averaged 89 wins a season, while teams in the bottom five have averaged 74 wins. Still, the randomness of the MLB playoffs has equalized the World Series winner. The league has had 16 different World Series champions since 1998, more than any other of the major U.S. sports leagues. Yet, just one team has won the World Series with a bottom 10 payroll since 1998 — the 2003 Florida Marlins, who ranked 21st in terms of spending. The MLBPA views stingy owners as the principal problem in competitiveness rather than outsized spending from teams like the Mets, who haven't won a World Series since 1986, and Dodgers, who have won just two championships in the past 36 years. The RSN problem As the Dodgers' Kasten noted, part of what's causing spending discrepancies for MLB teams is local media revenue. Even with nationally broadcast games, MLB teams have heavily relied on regional channels to house much of each team's games. While NBA and NHL also air games on these networks, a broader assortment of games are nationally available. While the Dodgers make more than $300 million per year from their 25-year deal with Charter Communications (originally signed with Time Warner Cable in 2013), smaller market teams like the Marlins make about $50 million. Those figures may decline as fewer people subscribe to the cable bundle and regional sports networks are increasingly tiered by pay-TV providers to more expensive packages, further diminishing subscriber numbers. Main Street Sports, the largest portfolio of these regional networks, emerged from a lengthy bankruptcy earlier this year after renegotiating deals with teams. Some teams accepted lower fees, while others walked away from their networks for other options. MLB's national media rights deals expire in 2028, and the league's goal is to sell more packages of games to both new and old media partners, similar to the NBA's recently inked $77 billion deals, people familiar with the matter have said. MLB also hopes to take back many of their local rights to sell them as new national packages, which would replace the current RSN-dominated model. Industry bankers and consultants, however, are skeptical MLB could garner a blockbuster media rights deal akin to the NBA or NFL, even with a larger package of games. A salary cap could help MLB if it can't generate the same type of huge TV rights fees as the NBA and NFL. MLB has recently struck deals with streamers — but they have yielded far less revenue. Roku pays $10 million a year for 18 games for its free ad-supported streaming Roku Channel, while Apple spends $85 million annually to stream 'Friday Night Baseball.' ESPN opted out of its $550 million-per-year deal with the MLB earlier this year because the sports media giant felt it was overpaying. 'Everyone knows that 2028 is going to be a reset,' said Shirin Malkani, co-chair of the sports industry group at Perkins Coie. 'The league will have a new collective bargaining agreement, and I do think they will try to get a salary cap. Without a salary cap, it's a system of haves and have-nots among the teams. Layer in the local media rights fee disparities and there can be a real disparity in terms of funding payroll.'
USA Today
13-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Bobby Witt Jr. injury update: Kansas City Royals shortstop injures forearm vs. Mariners
Bobby Witt Jr. injury update: Kansas City Royals shortstop injures forearm vs. Mariners Show Caption Hide Caption Detroit Tigers visited by Major League Baseball Players Association Major League Baseball Players Association executive director Tony Clark talks to reporters March 5, 2025, about several topics in Lakeland, Florida. Kansas City Royals star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. was forced out of Wednesday's spring training game against the Seattle Mariners after being hit by a pitch on the forearm in the fifth inning. Last season, the Royals made the playoffs for the first time since winning the World Series in 2015. They even won their first round playoff series against the Baltimore Orioles. Expectations for the team are high heading into 2025, with some even believing an AL Central title could be on the table. Much of the Royals' success in 2024 came from Witt. He led the team in basically every category you can think of en route to a second-place finish in American League MVP voting. MLB News: Just how 'insane' will Dodgers' Japan Series be? Shohei Ohtani and Co. resume world tour Bobby Witt Jr. injury update While trailing 5-1 with two outs and no one on in the top of the fifth inning, Witt was hit in the forearm by a 95.9 mph sinker from Seattle's Andrés Muñoz. Witt was promptly replaced on the basepaths by Tyler Tolbert, who would end up scoring after stealing second base and coming home on a Vinnie Pasquantino double. The Royals said Witt would "undergo further evaluation." Later Wednesday, they said Witt "has a left forearm contusion. X-rays are negative for a fracture. He will be reevaluated in the morning." Bobby Witt Jr. stats Heading into Wednesday's action, Witt had played in 10 spring training games, posting a .296 batting average and .996 OPS, with two home runs and four RBI. Witt was one of the best players in baseball during the 2024 regular season, posting career highs in batting average (.332 - led AL), OPS (.977), home runs (32), RBI (109), hits (211), doubles (45) and runs (125). Witt was honored with his first All-Star selection, as well as his first Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Awards. How long will Bobby Witt Jr. be out? It is unclear at this point. The Royals said Witt would be reevaluated Thursday morning. Opening day for the Royals is scheduled for Thursday, March 27 at 3:10 p.m. local time, a home game against the Cleveland Guardians. MLB News: New Era MLB crossover hats mocked online as Texas Rangers caps pulled This story has been updated with new information.
USA Today
10-03-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Dave Roberts tops MLB managers with new contract, barely cracks top 50 in sports
Dave Roberts tops MLB managers with new contract, barely cracks top 50 in sports Show Caption Hide Caption Detroit Tigers visited by Major League Baseball Players Association Major League Baseball Players Association executive director Tony Clark talks to reporters March 5, 2025, about several topics in Lakeland, Florida. Fresh off his second World Series title, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts signed an extension with the organization worth $32.4 million over the next four years. That's an average annual value (AAV) of $8.1 million, pushing Roberts past Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell – five years, $40 million ($8 million AAV) – for the highest-paid manager in MLB. This was not an unexpected deal. Roberts was heading into the final year of his contract, and with talks of the extension heating up in recent weeks, it was only a matter of time before the two parties came to an agreement. USA TODAY's Bob Nightengale noted, "Roberts was in the final year of his three-year contract extension that paid him $4 million this season and now doubles his contract, making him the highest-paid manager on an annual average value basis." Still, despite the massive payday, Roberts is not one of the wealthiest managers/coaches in sports, which is surprising considering Roberts and Counsell earn significantly more than the third-highest-paid manager in MLB, Arizona's Torey Lovullo ($5 million). Despite MLB being one of the largest professional sports organizations in the world, the wealthiest manager in the league's salary would barely make a dent compared with some of the larger contracts. Here's where Roberts ranks among coaches across major sports: MLB News: Art Schallock, MLB's oldest-living player, dies at 100 Where does Roberts rank among American coaches/managers? Among American head coaches, Roberts boasts the 44th-largest salary, according to Sportico, with several NFL, NBA, college football and college basketball coaches ahead of him. Highest paid managers in sports NFL Andy Reid (Kansas City) - $20 million NBA Steve Kerr (Golden State) - $17.5 million College football Kirby Smart (Georgia) - $13 million College basketball Bill Self (Kansas) - $10.6 million MLS Phil Neville (Portland Timbers) - $1 million NHL Mike Sullivan (Pittsburgh) - $5.5 million Is Roberts worth that much? Roberts is one of the best managers in MLB. His .627 regular season winning percentage as with the Dodgers (he also had one game as San Diego Padres manager) is the best among active managers. Including the playoffs, Roberts' winning percentage is .618, which is sixth best all-time among qualified managers. In fact, there isn't a single manager who has coached since 1950 with a better winning percentage. Shockingly though, Roberts' incredible knack for winning games has earned him only one Manager of the Year Award. Roberts earned the hardware in 2016 after leading the Dodgers to a 91-71 record in his first year on the job. MLB News: Athletics unveil updated renderings for new Las Vegas stadium. See locker room, bullpens The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
USA Today
08-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
MLB farm system rankings for every team heading into Opening Day
MLB farm system rankings for every team heading into Opening Day Show Caption Hide Caption Detroit Tigers visited by Major League Baseball Players Association Major League Baseball Players Association executive director Tony Clark talks to reporters March 5, 2025, about several topics in Lakeland, Florida. As we approach the 2025 MLB season, one fact is abundantly clear: not everyone is going to compete for a World Series this season. That's just how the sport is. Some teams are good, some teams are bad, and some teams are building something grand. While some teams may not be in a position to compete for a championship this year, they've been able to build a team that will be ready to compete in a few short years. That said, other teams have sold all of their best young talent in an effort to push for a World Series now. They've given away all of the best prospects and their hope of a bright future in order to secure a coveted title as soon as possible. Neither of these strategies are necessarily better or worse than the other. After all, how many years of sorrow is a championship really worth? However, it is clear which teams have a brighter future ahead of them thanks to the talent they've retained, acquired, and/or developed at the lower levels. Here's every MLB team's farm system ranked ahead of the 2025 regular season. MLB News: Mariners have unicorn pitching staff but it's 'absurd' Seattle won't spend on offense MLB Farm System Rankings: *All top prospect rankings are provided by 30) Toronto Blue Jays SS Arjun Nimmala RHP Trey Yesavage 2B/3B Orelvis Martinez LHP Ricky Tiedemann OF Alan Roden Arjun Nimmala is the best this organization has going for it and he's not even considered a high-end talent just yet. After three of the tam's top-15 prospects were forced to undergo elbow surgery in 2024, and another was suspended for PEDs, it's hard to feel good about this team's future. Nay, it's near impossible. 29) New York Yankees OF Jasson Dominguez SS/2B George Lombard Jr. OF Spencer Jones RHP Ben Hess RHP Will Warren Jasson Dominguez has been the No. 1 prospect in this system for forever it seems, and even he has his issues. He's a switch-hitter who slashed .185/.264/.246 against lefties in the minors last year. He could be relegated to a platoon role at the major league level. If the Yankees had to wait so long just to bench Dominguez in certain situations, that would be a major blow to their World Series chances and shows just how poor the rest of their farm system is currently. 28) Houston Astros 3B Cam Smith SS/3B Brice Matthews OF Jacob Melton C Walker Janek 3B/1B Zach Dezenzo When your team's top prospects like Jacob Melton, Brice Matthews, and Zach Dezenzo are all considered MLB hopefuls as platoon players, you know your farm system is in a rough spot. Outside of Cam Smith, the Astros don't have much to brag about in their minor league affiliates, and even he only joined the club recently as part of the Kyle Tucker trade. 27) Atlanta Braves C Drake Baldwin LHP Cam Caminiti RHP AJ Smith-Shawver RHP Hurston Waldrep INF Nacho Alvarez Jr. Injury concerns, low ceilings, and long timetables are the most common issues with the Braves' farm system. While Baldwin and Smith-Shawver could each be solid contributors for the club soon, the Braves don't boast very many impact hitters or many top-line arms. Sure, there is depth on the mound, but that won't help Atlanta take down the Phillies or Mets. 26) San Francisco Giants 1B Bryce Eldridge LHP Carson Whisenhunt SS Josuar Gonzalez OF James Tibbs III SS Jhonny Level While Bryce Eldridge is a tremendous, enviable talent, the Giants don't have much else going for them. Whisenhunt is expected to make his big league debut soon, but he's not expected to be a top-of-the-rotation arm. Meanwhile, the Giants only have one other prospect in their top-ten expected to be ready for the majors in 2025. 25) Los Angeles Angels 2B Christian Moore RHP Caden Dana RHP George Klassen SS Joswa Lugo LHP Sam Aldegheri For once, the Angels are not at the bottom of these rankings. That will likely change given their tendency to call up prospects long before they are ready, but as it stands, the Halos have a few solid players like Christian Moore and Caden Dana. 24) New York Mets RHP Brandon Sproat SS/OF Jett Williams OF Carson Benge 1B/OF Ryan Clifford RHP Nolan McLean The Mets may have a deep farm system, but it's littered with question marks. Most of the team's top position prospects suffered injuries in 2024, including their top offensive prospect Jett Williams. As for the pitching side, the Mets do have a flurry of prospects ready to join the Major League club, but outside of Brandon Sproat, there isn't much hope that any of them will develop into franchise cornerstones. 23) Arizona Diamondbacks SS Jordan Lawlar INF Demetrio Crisantes OF Slade Caldwell RHP Yilber Diaz C Adrian Del Castillo The Diamondbacks were expected to boast one of the best farm systems in baseball this year. However, after another injury to Jordan Lawlar and struggles from first-rounders Druw Jones and Tommy Troy, the Snakes have fallen down in the rankings. Even with breakouts from Yilber Diaz and Adrian Del Castillo, the consistency from their top prospects has not been there. 22) Athletics SS Jacob Wilson 1B Nick Kurtz OF Colby Thomas RHP Mason Barnett RHP Luis Morales Jacob Wilson could be a future batting title champion. Nick Kurtz is a stud at the plate. That's basically all the A's have going for them though. If Kurtz and Wilson fail to live up to expectations, the Athletics don't have a single other prospect expected to produce at an All-Star level. 21) Texas Rangers SS/3B Sebastian Walcott RHP Kumar Rocker RHP Jack Leiter C Malcolm Moore RHP Winston Santos The Rangers could end up being much higher on this list by the end of this season, depending on how their 2024 breakouts play this year. Winston Santos, Alejandro Rosario, and Emiliano Teodo all provided enormous, unexpected value in 2024, but if they can't keep that momentum going into 2025, then the Rangers will be back to leaning almost entirely on Walcott and Rocker. 20) Colorado Rockies RHP Chase Dollander OF/3B Charlie Condon OF/SS Cole Carrigg OF Robert Calaz RHP Brody Brecht While Dollander and Condon are certainly huge gets, the Rockies have tricked people into thinking they have very solid pitching depth. However, given the fact that Coors Field is one of the most hitter-friendly ballparks in America, the Rockies will need more high-end pitching talent to feel good about their future on the mound. 19) San Diego Padres SS Leo De Vries C Ethan Salas LHP Kash Mayfield RHP Humberto Cruz LHP Boston Bateman Outside of De Vries and Salas, this Padres' farm is subpar to say the least. However, those two players are two of the top-33 prospects in baseball. That alone keeps them in the top-20. 18) Miami Marlins LHP Thomas White SS Staryln Caba RHP Noble Meyer C/1B Agustin Ramirez SS Andrew Salas The Marlins' inability to hold onto talent, or even trade them for big prospect hauls has come back to bite them in recent years. They have only two top-100 prospects heading into 2025, and if they hadn't added Starlyn Caba in the Jesus Luzardo trade, they'd be much lower on this list. 17) St. Louis Cardinals SS JJ Wetherholt LHP Quinn Mathews RHP Tink Hence C Jimmy Crooks INF Thomas Saggese Everybody agrees that the Cardinals were given a gift when JJ Wetherholt fell to them at No. 7 in the MLB draft. However, the lack of consistent, proven talent is what holds this farm back. Sure, there are prospects like Rainiel Rodriguez who have provided glimpses of greatness that could develop into franchise cornerstones, but until we see those glimpses come more consistently over a longer period of time, it's hard to have a ton of faith that the Cardinals will develop any future All-Stars. 16) Kansas City Royals 1B Jac Caglianone C Blake Mitchell C Carter Jensen RHP Ben Kudrna LHP Noah Cameron Undeniably top-heavy, the Royals are certainly praying that Caglianone and Mitchell live up to their expectations. Outside of them, though, there are several question marks. 15) Baltimore Orioles C/1B Samuel Basallo 3B/1B Coby Mayo OF Enrique Bradfield Jr. RHP Chayce McDermott OF Vance Honeycutt It's hard to maintain a top spot in the rankings when you graduate all of your top prospects. However, this team's farm is still nothing to scoff at. Basallo and Mayo are widely regarded as two of the best bats in the minor leagues, and the Orioles have decent depth on the mound as well. 14) Milwaukee Brewers C Jeferson Quero SS/3B Jesus Made SS Cooper Pratt RHP Jacob Misiorowski 3B/1B Mike Boeve The Brewers may have graduated several of their top prospects in 2024, but that hasn't slowed their farm system down much. The team continues to boast one of the best international scout teams in the business with the addition of Jesus Made. That signing alone could keep them in the top half of the league in these rankings. 13) Washington Nationals OF Dylan Crews RHP Travis Sykora RHP Jarlin Susana 3B Brady House SS Seaver King This farm system is obviously carried by Dylan Crews. While there is hope that Sykora and Susana can bring some much-needed pitching depth to the big league squad, the Nationals lack depth at the position beyond those two prospects. 12) Minnesota Twins OF Walker Jenkins OF Emmanuel Rodriguez 2B/OF/1B Luke Keaschall 3B Kaelen Culpepper LHP Connor Prielipp Walker Jenkins is the best prospect the Twins have had in years, but after him, it does take a bit of a tumble. Emmanuel Rodriguez is incredible but has faced some serious injury issues. Furthermore, their lack of a truly elite pitching prospects is troubling, but Minnesota has shown capable of developing late-round pitchers into solid MLB starters lately. 11) Pittsburgh Pirates RHP Bubba Chandler SS/OF Konnor Griffin RHP Thomas Harrington 2B/SS Termarr Johnson 2B/OF Nick Yorke We've seen the Pirates develop tremendous pitchers, and that's no different with their 2025 prospect pool. Bubba Chandler and Thomas Harrington remain two of the game's most coveted minor league arms. However, their lack of a truly talented homegrown hitter has led to some skepticism, with fans waiting to see whether or not Konnor Griffin can break the streak. 10) Cincinnati Reds RHP Chase Burns RHP Rhett Lowder 2B/3B Sal Stewart 3B Cam Collier SS Edwin Arroyo By the end of 2025, the Reds could very well have their entire starting rotation composed of homegrown arms. That speaks volumes to their development programs. However, their MLB roster does lack in the homegrown hitter department. We're still a few years away from seeing Stewart, Collier, and Arroyo join the big league squad. 9) Cleveland Guardians 2B Travis Bazzana OF Chase DeLauter OF Jaison Chourio INF Angel Genao 1B Ralphy Velazquez The Cleveland Guardians were already a great farm system. Then they got the No. 1 overall pick and selected an absolute dawg at second base in Travis Bazzana. The Guardians are known for being able to develop their pitchers, yet each of their top-five prospects are hitters. That's terrifying if you're a fan of any other AL Central team. 8) Philadelphia Phillies RHP Andrew Painter SS Aidan Miller OF Justin Crawford C Eduardo Tait RHP Moises Chace While the Phillies have certainly gutted their farm to an extent in their quest for a World Series, they've still got a very solid top-end, headlined by top pitching prospect Andrew Painter. The Phillies could certainly use a little more depth, but it's hard to deny their wealth in the minors with so many trusted prospects still available to them. 7) Tampa Bay Rays SS Carson Williams 1B Xavier Isaac INF Brayden Taylor 1B/OF Tre' Morgan OF Theo Gillen The Rays' decision to sell Randy Arozarena, Zach Eflin, and Jason Adam at the deadline has paid off in a huge way. Many fans believed the Rays' well of prospects had finally started to run dry, but woah, Nellie, did it fill back up overnight? Not only did they refill their pools, but they've continued to see development at the lower levels from homegrown talents like Trevor Harrison and Gary Gill Hill, giving them a steady farm that will provide a solid influx of talent each year for years to come. 6) Seattle Mariners SS/3B Colt Emerson OF Lazaro Montes SS/2B Cole Young C Harry Ford SS Felnin Celesten Although there isn't a single pitcher in the team's top-five prospects, the Mariners have actually done a tremendous job balancing their focus between hitters and hurlers in recent years. The Mariners need hitting now, so their top prospects are hitters. However, they clearly focused on pitching in the 2024 draft, using 15 of their 20 picks on pitchers. They're certainly not dying for mound talent at the lower levels. 5) Chicago Cubs INF Matt Shaw RHP Cade Horton OF Owen Caissie C/1B Moises Ballesteros 2B/OF James Triantos While the loss of Cam Smith certainly hurts the Cubs' prospect pool, this is still one of the deepest farm systems in the league, boasting seven top-100 prospects, tied for the most in MLB. The biggest issue is the lack of pitching. Outside of Cade Horton, the Cubs really don't have a transcendent arm they can develop. They also only have one top-50 prospect. However, given the sheer volume of talent they can pick from, their approach of shotgunning a dartboard and hoping one or two darts hit the bullseye is arguably better than praying one or two elite prospects develop into the players you expect them to be. We've seen too many instances where players fail to live up to expectations they'd developed in the minors. 4) Chicago White Sox LHP Noah Schultz C Kyle Teel LHP Hagen Smith SS Colson Montgomery OF Braden Montgomery While Colson Montgomery experienced an underwhelming season a year ago, the White Sox have done a solid job building their farm system, especially after trading Garrett Crochet to Boston. Unfortunately, the White Sox are still a long way away from being a World Series threat, and even their abundance of high-end prospects may not be enough to help them in the near future. 3) Los Angeles Dodgers RHP Roki Sasaki C/OF Dalton Rushing OF Josue De Paula LHP Jackson Ferris SS Alex Freeland The Los Angeles Dodgers can do no wrong. Even if Roki Sasaki did not count as a prospect, the Dodgers would still likely have a top-10 or 12 farm system. However, adding the best international pitcher, who will be ready to join the Dodgers by opening day, is obviously a huge plus. 2) Boston Red Sox OF Roman Anthony 2B/SS/OF Kristian Campbell SS Marcelo Mayer SS/2B Franklin Arias RHP Luis Perales This is really more of a 1A/1B situation between the Red Sox and our No. 1 team. The Red Sox have undoubtedly the higher-end, but are a little thinner, boasting just four top-100 prospects. That said, when your team holds three of MLB's top-12, that's a pretty impressive feat. When the 2024 Minor League Player of the Year isn't even your top prospect, you know you've done a good job of building your farm. Even with the Red Sox dealing four solid prospects to the White Sox for Garrett Crochet, Boston still has a flurry of talent that will be game-changers in just a few years. 1) Detroit Tigers RHP Jackson Jobe OF Max Clark SS/2B Kevin McGonigle SS Bryce Rainer C/1B Thayron Liranzo Given that the Tigers were able to develop Tarik Skubal into arguably the best pitcher on the planet, the Tigers' farm system is made even scarier by the fact that each of their top-three prospects will be ready to join the team by 2026. Jobe, Clark, and McGonigle all have tremendously high ceilings.
