Upward trajectory continues for D-Backs’ farm system
Handed a lead on Tuesday night, reliever Kevin Ginkel cut through the Colorado Rockies’ lineup across two scoreless innings. In that same game, infielder/outfielder Josh Rojas reached base twice and scored a run. Both players contributed to a win at Coors Field. Both were recent products of the Diamondbacks’ farm system.
During his first offseason on the job, General Manager Mike Hazen said improving the farm system was a “crystal-clear priority."
Nearly three years later, the club’s prospect inventory probably still is not to the level Hazen would like, but through every avenue available – draft, international signings and trades – the club has added to its system to the point where it continues to climb in various rankings.
Last week, MLB.com ranked the Diamondbacks as having the fifth-best farm system in baseball, an aggressive placement that came with a nod to the club’s depth and upside, albeit much of which still remains several years away. Then this week, Baseball America, which has been more conservative with regard to the organization, put the Diamondbacks at No. 16, up seven spots following their trade-deadline moves.
Not everything has gone right for them this season in player development – for example, right-handers Jon Duplantier and Taylor Widener have had disappointing years, for different reasons – but enough has gone right that more observers seem to be buying into the system as a whole.
“As a group, it’s been a pretty good year,” said Diamondbacks Assistant General Manager Amiel Sawdaye, who oversees the club’s scouting and player development. “I think there are six (minor league) teams in the playoff races; that’s always good to see. And we’re doing it with prospects. That, to me, is important. I know you don’t stress winning in player development, but when you have good prospects and you win, you kind of get your cake and eat it.”
The system’s strength has quickly shifted to its position-player group. Outfielders Alek Thomas, Kristian Robinson and Corbin Carroll, the club’s top pick in June, each performed well enough to earn promotions this season and to earn praise from scouts. The same is true of shortstop Geraldo Perdomo.
Catcher Daulton Varsho is leading the Southern League with an .893 OPS, and even his teammate, first baseman Pavin Smith, the No. 7 overall pick in the 2017 draft, has put himself back on the prospect map with a strong second half.
“I think their system is good,” a scout with an American League club said. “Alek Thomas and Kristian Robinson have both probably moved forward over what people thought they were last year. I think (Varsho) is going to be an aboveaverage player. I think Perdomo is legit, too. It wouldn’t stun me if he’s better than Jazz – and I still love Jazz.”
That would be shortstop Jazz Chisholm, whom the Diamondbacks traded to the Miami Marlins on July 31 in exchange for right-hander Zac Gallen, a starter who moved directly into the club’s major-league rotation.
That deal, along with the blockbuster trade that sent right-hander Zack Greinke to the Houston Astros, addressed multiple weaknesses at once, giving the Diamondbacks’ prospects at their upper-levels, where they are comparatively thin, while augmenting their big league-ready position player depth.
Gallen has an impressive four-pitch mix that has proven effective in his first nine starts in the majors, the last two of which have come with the D-Backs.
Rojas, who was part of the Greinke trade and had been in the system for less than two weeks, has the makings of a valuable super-utility type. In his first three days in the majors, he has shown plate discipline and tremendous bat speed – and his defensive versatility has yet to be put on display.
Ginkel, a product of the 2016 draft and thus a holdover from the previous regime, has followed up two years of minor league dominance with a strong first 10 days in the majors, allowing just one run in five innings in relief.
Scouts have been somewhat cautious in projecting high ceilings for most of the Diamondbacks’ top prospects, but Sawdaye believes that could begin to change within the next year.
“I think we probably have a lot of depth,” he said, “and not necessarily the Bo Bichette/Vlad Guerrero Jr., slamdunk types where everybody walks in and says, ‘That guy’s a big leaguer.’
“I don’t think we have anybody that’s vaulted their way into the top-20 prospects in baseball, but we have some guys – Robinson, Thomas, Carroll – where maybe you could argue that if they repeat what they’re doing this year from start to finish next year, maybe that happens.”