At the start of last season, the Tigers' farm system ranked No. 10 in baseball. It jumped to No. 6 by August. Then to No. 5 this March.
Now it ranks No. 2, per MLB Pipeline.
What a turnaround for an organization that not long ago had one of the weakest farm systems in the game. Of course, that was the idea when the Tigers set out on this rebuild back in 2017.
Now they boast five of MLB Pipeline's top-50 prospects: Spencer Torkelson (No. 7), Casey Mize (No. 8), Matt Manning (No. 25), Riley Greene (No. 31) and Tarik Skubal (No. 49). All but Manning have arrived in the past three years.
The Tigers are the only team in baseball with five prospects in the top 50 and two in the top 10. Only the Mariners and Marlins have more top-100 prospects overall.
Per MLB Pipeline:
Four of Detroit’s five Top 100 prospects are former first-round picks after the team selected Torkelson with the No. 1 overall pick in June. What’s more, all six hitters drafted by the Tigers this past June now rank among the club’s Top 30 prospects, giving the formerly pitching-heavy system balance it had previously lacked.
Detroit earned unanimous praise for its draft class this year, beyond Torkelson. C Dillon Dingler now ranks No. 9 among the club's top 30 prospecs, OF Daniel Cabrera ranks No. 12, 3B Colt Keith ranks No. 23, 3B Gage Workman ranks No. 24 and SS Trei Cruz ranks No. 28.
The best farm system in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline, belongs to the Rays, who boast No. 1 overall prospect SS Wander Franco.