9 farm systems that improved the most in 2025
We talk about individual breakouts throughout the season -- hitters and pitchers who exhibited impressive growth to unlock another level in their prospect stock.
Pile enough of those up, maybe throw in some nice additions through trades and the Draft and you'll notice that farm systems as collectives can have their own breakouts.
As we wrap up the 2025 calendar year in Minor League Baseball, here's a look at nine farm systems that took the biggest jumps this season, listed in alphabetical order:
Arizona Diamondbacks
Considered in the bottom third of farm systems in our preseason rankings, the D-backs now find themselves closer to the middle of the pack, if not a little bit above average in terms of depth after an active Trade Deadline. Kohl Drake, Mitch Bratt, David Hagaman and Ashton Izzi were some of the bigger additions -- all on the pitching side -- while an in-system breakout by Daniel Eagen (153 strikeouts in 117 1/3 innings between High-A and Double-A) helped fortify the arm group. (Arizona is still rumored to be after more pitching in potential Ketel Marte deals. You can never have too much, they say.) Ryan Waldschmidt may be the club's only Top 100 prospect at No. 66 -- and he deserves credit for an impressive power/speed showing in his first full season -- but a bounceback by Tommy Troy and the selection of potential plus hitter and plus runner Kayson Cunningham at 18th overall in the Draft deserve mention among the bats too.
Athletics
It's hard to fathom that a group that technically lost Nick Kurtz and Jacob Wilson to graduation could get better in 2025. Then the Deadline happened. The A's acquisition of No. 3 overall prospect Leo De Vries was one of the biggest prospect returns of the decade, and the switch-hitting shortstop wasn't alone in coming over. The Mason Miller trade also netted the A's No. 4 prospect Braden Nett, No. 8 Henry Baez and No. 15 Eduardniel Núñez. Meanwhile, the organization also developed 2024 No. 73 overall pick Gage Jump into one of the best left-handed pitching prospects in the game, and it added another southpaw with an even higher ceiling in Florida State hurler Jamie Arnold with the 11th overall pick. Speaking of lefties, Wei-En Lin deserves a mention for climbing to Double-A in his age-19 season. No one will be predicting that the A's will have the top two spots in the AL Rookie of the Year race again in '26, but there's still ample ceiling, and arguably more depth, in the system now.
Minnesota Twins
The fire sale at this year's Trade Deadline netted the Twins seven new Top 30 prospects at the end of July. The most notable among them were catcher Eduardo Tait (No. 57 on the Top 100), left-handed Kendry Rojas and the since-graduated righty Mick Abel. But this was about more than the additions. Internal development helped launch 2024 first-rounder Kaelen Culpepper into the Top 100 as a 20/20 shortstop, and southpaws Dasan Hill and Connor Prielipp showed massive stuff in smaller samples. The addition of Wake Forest shortstop Marek Houston -- a standout defender with growing pop -- with the 16th overall pick made Minnesota more dynamic at a crucial position, and it'll need all the dynamism it can get in this rebuild.
Milwaukee Brewers
Few teams develop internally as well as the Crew. The organization knew it could challenge Jesús Made with a move to Single-A Carolina quickly in his first stateside season, and his steady but productive ascent has made him one of the four best prospects in the sport. Luis Peña followed a similar track but didn't have the same name recognition coming into the year. He didn't enjoy quite the same High-A success as his fellow infielder, but he was certainly one of the breakout prospects of the year with his jump from outside the Top 100 to No. 18 overall. It wasn't just the big names either. Marco Dinges and Josh Adamczewski could equally be poster boys for Milwaukee's ability to draft and develop well with their offensive surges. Pitching is less noteworthy than hitting after the graduation of Jacob Misiorowski, but don't be surprised if Bishop Letson or J.D. Thompson become bigger names next year.
New York Mets
If you wanted to make the case that the Mets -- even after an active summer in trades and only having two of the top 102 picks in the Draft -- still had the deepest system in baseball, well, we wouldn't fight you. Nolan McLean and Jonah Tong both went from interesting arms to Major League ones, and in McLean's case, the best pitching prospect in baseball and a member of the Team USA staff at next year's World Baseball Classic. Fellow Oklahoma Stater Carson Benge surged to Triple-A in his first full season and showed a well-rounded skill set that could make him a fixture in the Queens outfield for years. Jett Williams rounds out the Top 100 quartet, but Brandon Sproat, Jacob Reimer, A.J. Ewing and Ryan Clifford could all get various levels of Top 100 support in future updates. Furthermore, Jack Wenninger, Jonathan Santucci, Will Watson and countless other pitchers helped the Mets lead the full-season Minors in strikeouts and K percentage in '25. It's a deeper group and much more well-rounded group than it was in the spring (and it was pretty good then).
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Bucs oversaw Konnor Griffin's development from a tooled-up shortstop/center fielder with some hit-tool questions to a full-blown five-tool superstar and the No. 1 prospect in baseball, and that alone would be enough to get on this list. But nice breakouts by Edward Florentino and Esmerlyn Valdez helped matters further. Bubba Chandler's season felt like one of peaks and valleys at Triple-A, but after flashing good stuff in his first MLB turn, he still has as much upside as any arm in prospectdom. Similarly, the Pirates reached for more ceiling by taking top prep pitcher Seth Hernandez sixth overall. Surrounding Paul Skenes with more talent in Pittsburgh should be a high priority, and the chances that some of that help could arrive internally is higher now than it was in March.
St. Louis Cardinals
The Cardinals were joyed to get JJ Wetherholt with the seventh overall pick in 2024, but they deserve credit for helping the former West Virginia star bloom into one of the best infield prospects in the sport with his plus-plus hit tool carrying nicely into the upper levels. Catcher Rainiel Rodriguez's dynamic age-18 season would be the headliner in many other organizations, and outfielder Joshua Baez erased the strikeout concerns that plagued his early career to post a 20-homer, 54-steal campaign. Like many other orgs on this list, the Cardinals got deeper by being sellers at the Deadline, but the Sonny Gray trade last month brought in the best prospect in lefty fireballer Brandon Clarke. Speaking of southpaws, the addition of Liam Doyle in the first round and nice breakouts by Ixan Henderson and Brycen Mautz helped offset pitching losses via injury (Tekoah Roby, Cooper Hjerpe and Tink Hence).
San Francisco Giants
Ranking 28th in our preseason rankings, the Giants' farm needed some steps forward from its youngest talent. Good news on that front. Top international signing Josuar Gonzalez had the looks of a potential future superstar in the Rookie-level Dominican Summer League with terrific defense, plus speed and a solid all-around offensive showing at just 17. While it looked like the system could go dry whenever Bryce Eldridge (who made his MLB debut in '25) graduates, Gonzalez will make for an easy headliner for a few more years yet. He wasn't alone. Fellow shortstop Jhonny Level climbed to Single-A at 18 since the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League wasn't much of a challenge, and outfielder Bo Davidson looked like more than just a good story in his second full season. That adds more intrigue for what the organization can do with former Tennessee star Gavin Kilen, the 2025 13th overall pick who would love to join Tony Vitello in the Bay Area as quickly as possible. This is still a group light on pitching, but the hitting gains have the Giants closer to the middle of the farm pack than they were only months ago.
Toronto Blue Jays
The Blue Jays completely turned around their pitching group in 2025 after injuries were the main storyline the year prior. Postseason hero Trey Yesavage was the main storyline, but a huge breakout by Gage Stanifer and a leveling up by Johnny King provided extra fortification. They don't count for the purposes of this story, but steps forward by Khal Stephen, Kendry Rojas and Juaron Watts-Brown helped Toronto make moves at the Trade Deadline. The bats now trail the arms, but there's some interesting firepower there too, topped by eighth overall pick JoJo Parker, who could hit for average and power in the pros. Keep an eye out for 18-year-old infielder Juan Sanchez after his sensational first season in the Dominican Republic too.