*This is where the rankings get tough, because starting with the Cubs, these systems are very good to elite. I have gone back and forth on multiple scenarios, but hey, it’s not life and death, it’s just some pretty awesome farm system rankings

Top 15:

1. Xander Bogaerts (SS)- Bogaerts likely future is going to be at 3B, but that shouldn’t matter one bit. He has the bat to carry any position. Looks like a guy that will fit right in the 3rd spot in the order, hitting for plenty of power and average.

2. Jackie Bradley Jr. (OF)- I put Bradley second on this list because of his ability to play Gold Glove type center field, while being offensively skilled enough to be a top of the lineup threat. Doesn’t have a lot of power, but should get on base while hitting plenty of doubles and triples.

3. Matt Barnes (SP)- Barnes has the look of a #2 starter with a plus fastball that sits 93-94, touching higher, and a curve that shows promise given it’s tight rotation. His change up lags quite a bit behind and he will have to work to make it an average offering. Tired down the stretch of a long season.

4. Allen Webster (SP)- Similar ceiling to Barnes and may even surpass him. Webster has an effective sinking fastball that sits low to mid 90′s, generating a bunch of ground balls. He pairs that fastball with an above average change up that shows good armside fade. Webster also throws a curve and a slider but would be better off scrapping one, as neither is tremendously sharp at this point. Command could be better.

5. Garin Cecchini (3B)- Cecchini looks the part of a guy who could end up as a middle or top of the order bat. Shows quality plate discipline despite some swing and miss in his game. Projects to have solid power as some of those doubles will turn into homers down the road, and runs better than I thought when he was drafted. Defensively he is still raw, and could wind up in left field.

6. Henry Owens (SP)- Owens has some issues, however, his projection for me ends up in the 2nd or 3rd starter range. His fastball sits in the low 90′s currently with potential for more as he continues to add strength and refine his consistency in his delivery. His curve ball is a potential plus pitch down the road flashing really good bite, and might be his best overall offering right now. The change is far behind the other two pitches.

7. Blake Swihart (C)- Swihart is an athletic catcher who shows good enough defensive tools to project as an above average defender. There is some excitement about the bat as well as Swihart shows good pop, but has to work on pitch recognition and patience to reach a higher ceiling offensively.

8. Ty Buttrey (SP)- Buttrey is an exciting pitching prospect. Sitting in the low 90′s with his fastball, Buttrey has potential for a bigger fastball as his projectable frame fills out. Buttrey gets on top of the baseball and should generate a good amount of ground balls as well. He pairs his fastball with a good curve ball that should be above average down the line. Buttrey also shows some feel for a change up.

9. Brian Johnson (SP)- Johnson is nothing to get overly excited about but should reach his projection of a back of the rotation starter. Shows average velocity from the left side, and also possesses a solid curve and change up. Knows how to attack hitters, and has shown better velocity in shorter stints.

10. Pat Light (SP)- Light has the ceiling of a mid rotation starter who works with an above average fastball that sits low to mid 90′s with good movement. His slider flashes above average, and he shows good feel for a change up, but needs consistency with both of his secondary offerings.

11. Cody Kukuk (SP)- I liked Kukuk coming out of high school, and despite not pitching much as a pro, he has flashed enough to be really intriguing. Kukuk has an easy delivery from the left side, giving his low 90′s fastball plenty of life. He pairs that with a potential plus slider that gets sharp break. Pretty athletic and projectable, it’s easy to see more fastball down the road, as well as developing a good change up.

12. Bryce Brentz (OF)- Brentz is a power hitting right fielder who may be hindered a bit by the poor pitch recognition displayed that leads to a lot of swing and miss. When he connects, it goes far. Has good defensive ability showing solid athleticism and above average arm.

13. Manuel Margot (OF)- Margot is the buzz of the Red Sox farm system right now. Shows plus ability to hit for average as well as plus speed on the bases. Defensively, he should be above average because of the speed and a good arm, but needs to work on reads. Could develop some pop offensively as well.

14. Jose Iglesias(SS)- Iglesias has the defensive chops to be one of the better shortstops in all of baseball. Great hands, instincts, and the arm to make all the throws. Offensively, he isn’t going to hit much, but even at .240 with little pop, he could be asset.

Oct. 2, 2012; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees pinch runner Brett Gardner is caught stealing by Boston Red Sox shortstop Jose Iglesias (58) during the eighth inning at Yankee Stadium. Yankees win 4-3 in 12 innings. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports

15. Deven Marrero (SS)- Marrero is a good defender at SS, but opinions vary on his ability to hit. I haven’t seen him live yet, but people I trust are skeptical in his ability to hit going forward, so I am going to have to be convinced that he can. Solid regular if he does.

Just Missed The List:

Jose Vinicio (SS), Brandon Workman (SP), Brandon Jacobs (OF), and Austin Maddox (SP)

Vinicio has the look of a good defensive shortstop with some pretty good projection on the bat. Workman looks like an innings eater, but may be best in the pen. Jacobs has a ton of swing and miss, but impressive raw power. Maddox could fit nicely in the back of a rotation with his ability to pitch.

Sleepers:

Jamie Callahan (SP) and Mike Augliera (SP)

Callahan has projectability on his side despite his arsenal needing sharpening across the board. His frame is good, and he already sits low 90′s with potential for more. Augliera is a guy that has a solid pitch mix but relies on a low 90′s fastball that has plus sinking action.

Summary:

This is obviously a strong system that has a couple of high end guys, but plenty of depth as well. I probably wasn’t as aggressive on some higher ceiling guys as I usually am because the concerns outweighed the upside in my book. Simon Mercedes shows a good power arm with a mid 90′s fastball, but reports are that his delivery isn’t ideal making his command and secondaries lag quite a bit behind. Same goes with super powered arm Francellis Montas. Montas can get into the upper 90′s regularly, but lacks secondaries.

There is good balance in the system between pitching and hitting, and there is also a good deal of guys that have not performed but have tools to become good players. Drake Britton probably tops that list for me, and guys like Anthony Ranaudo and Sean Coyle could improve at any time.

It sure doesn’t seem prudent for Mike Illitch to dish out that much, but he’s spending money like a college kid at Taco Bell recently. The funny part about this scenario is not the contract itself: it works quite well in terms of Sanchez being a 28-year old pitcher in the prime of his career coming off of an impressive playoff performance. The problem is his role on the Tigers with this deal.

Oct 27, 2012; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Tigers pitcher Anibal Sanchez (19) throws a pitch against the San Francisco Giants in the first inning during game three of the 2012 World Series at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports

Justin Verlander is the undisputed ace of the staff. Max Scherzer and Doug Fister continually vie for the role of Number Two, and both appear to be realizing their vast potential over the course of the last few seasons. Sanchez, although a very talented pitcher, does not seem to be better than any of those three pitchers. Again, spending CJ Wilson money on a fourth pitcher just doesn’t seem to be the best course of action.

Yet retaining Sanchez’s services appears to be a do-or-die scenario. The Dodgers have recently admitted that they want to spend big bucks to get talented, big-name players on their squad, so they seem to have no qualms with snatching up Sanchez. The Red Sox have proven in the past to be more than willing to hand over big contracts to pitchers, and are in dire need of adding a quality starter this offseason. And let’s not forget the Angels, who have parted ways with Ervin Santana and Dan Haren recently, and might lose Zack Greinke to free agency. Arte Moreno has shown his willingness to spend big and now seems to need some solid starters. Unless the Tigers really connected to Sanchez on a personal level, those teams can offer him much more than Detroit could be able to.

The issue that looms the biggest over this is one that would reflect negatively on Dave Dombrowski. DD gave up the Tigers’ top minor league pitching prospect in the deal that brought over Omar Infante and Sanchez. If Anibal doesn’t resign and Jacob Turner ends up becoming a good, God forbid great, pitcher for the Marlins, doesn’t that trade then seem wasteful? Granted, it’s hard for anyone to properly gauge what’s going to become of any prospect dealt – would the Tigers be trading a Jair Jurrjens or an Andrew Miller (or even a Smoltz) – but the fact that they’d be seemingly be giving away one of their best minor leaguers for a rental player doesn’t sit well.

This whole contract issue should be very interesting as it unfolds. Let’s just hope it’s one that unfolds well in the Tigers’ favor.

Aug 9, 2012; Cleveland, OH, USA; Boston Red Sox first baseman Adrian Gonzalez (28) grimaces after being hit by a pitch in the eighth inning against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-US PRESSWIRE

But… Beckett, Gonzalez and Crawford are all more than a little tarnished at the moment. The big 3 have accounted for only 4.9 WAR this season (and Crawford won’t be playing until 2013) and are owed untold millions, so they fall more into the mold of a Chan-Ho Park, Carlos Lee or a Raul Mondesi – classic examples of hard-to-move albatross contracts that come attached to players that still added at least a little value. There is a lot of talent there – and certainly hope that these guys will come closer to living up to their contracts in Dodger blue than they have in Boston of late. So we find a Dodgers team willing to part with legitimate prospects AND take on almost all of the salary that these guys are due in order to cement themselves (with their new ownership) as the big-budget beasts of the West. Still – you can easily make a legitimate case that the Dodgers are the ones who got swindled here. They now look to fall well above next year’s luxury tax threshold – just with players that they already have – and Boston will be free to chase whatever free agents they choose with the dollars that they won’t be paying Beckett, Crawford and Gonzalez.

Boston is 6 games under .500 and 8.5 back in the wild card race. They are – as they should – giving up on 2012 and looking toward 2013. They remain a big market, high budget franchise. They will be fine. The Dodgers – despite all the talent on the roster – still sit 3 games behind the Giants in the NL West and a game and a half behind the Cardinals in a very competitive NL Wild Card race. They needed to do something and they certainly went out and did it. They have had some of the worst first base production in the MLB from Loney and will get an improvement here even if Gonzalez is only a hair above average at the plate (he’s still one of the best defensive first sackers). Beckett may not be ace material at the moment – but he should be an upgrade over Joe Blanton or whatever scrub would otherwise be taking Chad Billingsley‘s place in the rotation – assuming he does actually miss time due to his elbow thing.

The Dodgers and Pirates look like the only teams currently on the outside looking in for NL playoff races, so tightening those up would seem to be good for baseball in general. They do not – of course – play Detroit at any point in the seasons remaining 5 weeks. The Red Sox don’t actually play the Tigers again this season either – making this a somewhat awkward bit of (huge) news to somehow tie in on a Tigers site. They aren’t even going to be playing any against Kevin Youkilis‘ White Sox. What the Red Sox will be doing – with their newly gutted roster – is playing a lot of games against other Wild Card contenders (and like it or not, the Tigers are Wild Card contenders and that will be increasing in importance if the White Sox don’t stop winning games). The Red Sox have 4 games coming up in LA against the Angels at the end of the month, after getting swept by that team at home earlier this week. Then they play 3 in Oakland against the bizarrely competitive As. And of course – with they way schedules are designed these days – they have 6 games against the Rays in September and 6 against the Orioles. So one impact here may be to throw a bone to all non-Detroit contenders for the two American League Wild Card spots as the Red Sox formally give up. Not great news.