If prospects won championships, the Tigers would be the 1950's Yankees. They'd have rings on both hands. They'd be the best team in baseball and it wouldn't be close.
And maybe one day they will be. Maybe one day soon(ish).
For now, they'll have to settle for best farm system.
MLB Pipeline released its preseason ranking of the Top 100 prospects in baseball on Friday, and the Tigers placed five players ... in the top 25.
Yeah, one-fifth of the game's 25 best prospects belong to the Tigers. No other team has more than two.
Of course, you'd hope that'd be the case for an organization that will make its fourth straight top-five draft pick this summer and picked first overall in two out of three years.
Indeed, the Tigers' top two prospects are their two No. 1 picks: Spencer Torkelson, who ranks third, and Casey Mize, who ranks 11th. And their third best prospect was the fifth overall pick in 2019: Riley Greene, who ranks 21st.
Tarik Skubal and Matt Manning round out the top five, at Nos. 24 and 25, respectively. Manning was another first-round pick, ninth overall in 2016. The Tigers did well to find Skubal in the ninth round in 2018.
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Mize, Skubal and Manning all have a shot to start the season with the Tigers, especially the former two. Manning, who dealt with an arm injury last year, figures to arrive sometime this summer.
Torkelson is likely to start 2021 with High-A West Michigan, while Riley Greene could start as high as Double-A Erie.
And hopefully, one day soon, they'll all be together in Detroit.
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