Houston Astros’ Farm System Rankings For 2024 Revealed

The Houston Astros remained among the bottom of Major League Baseball’s farm systems as new rankings from both Baseball America and ESPN were revealed this week.

The Astros were ranked No. 27 by ESPN and No. 29 by Baseball America, a reflection of the fact that the system only has one Top 100 prospect per both evaluators.

When the Astros reached the 2019 World Series, their system had a No. 5 ranking going into that season. But, thanks to trades for veteran players and some prospect not panning out the way the Astros had hoped, their rankings has bottomed out, per Baseball America.

In 2022 the system went from No. 5 to No. 27, followed by No. 26 in 2021, No. 28 in 2022 and No. 24 in 2023.

The system took a hit in the evaluators’ eyes after trading two of their top prospects — outfielder Drew Gilbert and Ryan Clifford — to the New York Mets to re-acquire pitcher Justin Verlander last August.

Both sites agreed on the same top prospect in the Astros’ system, which happens to another outfielder, Jacob Melton. ESPN ranked him No. 74 while Baseball America ranked him No. 88. Melton reached Double-A Corpus Christi at the end of last season and has an outside shot at making the Astros’ Major League roster sometime in 2024.

The Astros are coming off another playoff appearance, as they tied with the Texas Rangers for the AL West lead on the season’s final day. The Astros claimed the division thanks to a tiebreaker over the Rangers, but Texas got a measure of revenge by eliminating Houston in seven games in the American League Championship Series.

Baseball America Farm System Rankings (as of February 2024)

1. Baltimore Orioles

2. Milwaukee Brewers

3. Texas Rangers

4. Chicago Cubs

5. Detroit Tigers

6. San Diego Padres

7. Tampa Bay Rays

8. New York Mets

9. New York Yankees

10. Los Angeles Dodgers

11. Cincinnati Reds

12. Pittsburgh Pirates

13. Boston Red Sox

14. Minnesota Twins

15. Washington Nationals

16. Seattle Mariners

17. Arizona Diamondbacks

18. Chicago White Sox

19. Cleveland Guardians

20. St. Louis Cardinals

21. Philadelphia Phillies

22. San Francisco Giants

23. Colorado Rockies

24. Toronto Blue Jays

25. Oakland Athletics

26. Atlanta Braves

27. Miami Marlins

28. Los Angeles Angels

29. Houston Astros

30. Kansas City Royals

ESPN Farm System Rankings (as of February 2024)

(Note: systems are ranked by empirical surplus dollar values for each future value tier of prospect, based on a formula developed by FanGraphs)

1. Baltimore Orioles ($371 million)

2. Chicago Cubs ($328 million)

3. Detroit Tigers ($318 million)

4. San Diego Padres ($284 million)

5. Milwaukee Brewers ($276 million)

6. New York Yankees ($252 million)

7. Tampa Bay Rays ($249 million)

8. Los Angeles Dodgers ($247 million)

9. Minnesota Twins ($241 million)

10. Cincinnati Reds ($237 million)

11. New York Mets ($235 million)

12. Texas Rangers ($228 million)

13. Boston Red Sox ($223 million)

14. Pittsburgh Pirates ($222 million)

15. San Francisco Giants ($207 million)

16. Washington Nationals ($203 million)

17. Seattle Mariners ($200 million)

18. St. Louis Cardinals ($193 million)

19. Cleveland Guardians ($187 million)

20. Chicago White Sox ($172 million)

21. Arizona Diamondbacks ($168 million)

22. Colorado Rockies ($161 million)

23. Philadelphia Phillies ($158 million)

24. Toronto Blue Jays ($126 million)

25. Oakland Athletics ($112 million)

26. Kansas City Royals ($89 million)

27. Houston Astros ($88 million)

28. Atlanta Braves ($87 million)

29. Miami Marlins ($82 million)

30. Los Angeles Angels ($66 million)