Cleveland Guardians' Farm System Earns Massive Final Ranking

The Cleveland Guardians' farm system is receiving major love at the end of the season.

Feb 29, 2024; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Cleveland Guardians right fielder Chase DeLauter (6) grounds out in the third inning against the Los Angeles Angels during a spring training game at Tempe Diablo Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images / Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images

The Cleveland Guardians are well known for building from within, as evidenced by the fact that they have one of the most homegrown rosters in baseball.

As a matter of fact, only three players on the Guardians' active roster came via free-agency. It just goes to show how shrewd the organization is.

Well, Cleveland's front office continues to be top notch in various areas, most notably in scouting.

That's why it should not come as much of a surprise that the Guardians' farm system has been ranked fifth in all of baseball by Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter.

Cleveland's system certainly got a bump due to selecting second baseman Travis Bazzana with the No. 1 overall pick of the MLB Draft back in June, but the Guardians are pretty loaded from top to bottom.

While Reuter has Bazzana ranked as Cleveland's top prospect, outfielders Chase DeLauter and Jaison Chourio, first baseman Ralphy Velazquez and shortstop Angel Genoa round out the top five.

The Guardians' minor-league system is so deep, as a matter of fact, that emerging slugger Jhonkensy Noel—who has homered 13 times in 191 plate appearances for the big-league squad in 2024—was not even considered one of the organization's best prospects going into the year.

Of course, prospects are exactly that: prospects. There is a chance that many of the youngsters listed on Cleveland's elite list will never even see the light of day in the majors, but the Guardians have a pretty impressive success rate in this area.

Perhaps some of the top teams in baseball should try to lure Cleveland's scouts away to their own respective clubs.