Execs poll: Top system? Best at drafting? Best at trading for prospects?

For the first three installments of the MLB Pipeline Executive Poll, we asked front offices around baseball to focus on players. For our fourth and final report, we asked them to turn the spotlight on each other.

As we have since we started this series in 2023, we are wrapping things up by asking executives about things from the organizational perspective: who has the best farm system, who is the best at acquiring prospects in trades, who develops pitching the best ... you get the idea.

This year, though, the questions were framed a little differently. We respect that members of a front office are going to be proud of the work their franchise is currently doing, and as a result, will want to pick their own organizations for any number of these questions. So we specifically asked them to exclude their own team from consideration when answering them. Now, not everyone followed the rules, but let’s see how it played out overall.

Who has the best farm system?

Also received votes: Orioles, Reds, Twins

The answer to this question is always a nice prelude to the work we do to line up our new farm system rankings in March. There’s clearly no consensus here with 10 different organizations getting votes and five getting double-digit shares percentage-wise. It might not seem fair for the Dodgers to sit atop this list after winning back-to-back World Series titles, but there they are. Los Angeles topped our midseason system rankings too. The Mariners -- second in this survey -- were third on that list, while the Brewers and Tigers -- tied for third here -- came in fourth and sixth respectively last summer.

Who does the best job drafting?

Also received votes: Mets, Orioles, Padres, Reds

All five of the Mariners’ first-round picks from 2018-2022 have made it to the big leagues, and of course, Cal Raleigh was a third-rounder at the start of that run. Arms like Bryan Woo and Bryce Miller came in later rounds; seeing a team like that come so close to heading to its first World Series undoubtedly had some influence here. The Brewers, Tigers and Dodgers are the teams getting multiple votes that also fared well in the first question.

Who does the best on the international market?

Also received votes: Astros, Marlins, Mets, Orioles, Phillies, Rangers, Rays, Red Sox

This is the first question of this set with a clear leader in the Brewers. It’s not hard to see why: Jackson Chourio in the big leagues, Jesús Made near the top of prospect lists, Luis Peña not far behind and lots more adding depth. The Dodgers and Padres continuously are aggressive about going after talent on this market as well.

Who does the best job of acquiring prospects in trades?

Also received votes: Astros, Guardians, Mariners, Mets, Padres, Phillies, Red Sox, Twins

There are few certainties in life, but we might want to add the Rays leading the way in this response to death and taxes. Over time, they’ve frequently received prospects in trades, even as an add-on to a big league-focused deal. They got one of their best pitching prospects, Brody Hopkins, in a deal that sent a previously acquired prospect, Randy Arozarena, to the Mariners, and they used another one, Shane Baz, to get Slater de Brun from the Orioles this offseason. The Dodgers have done the same thing while trying to win it all, getting Zyhir Hope in 2024 and an intriguing lefty in Adam Serwinowski this past Trade Deadline.

Who has the most underrated farm system?

Also received votes: A’s, Blue Jays, Giants, Nationals, Yankees

A grand total of 17 organizations received votes and it’s interesting to see the team that led the voting in this category a year ago, the Brewers, rising up from underrated to one of the best. The leaders this year, the Pirates, did get some votes for best farm system, but the No. 2 team, the Marlins, did not.

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Which team hoards prospects the most?

Also received votes: Angels, A’s, Mariners, Mets, Rays, Royals

In the previous two years, it’s been the Guardians and the Orioles at the top. Baltimore has slid down the list, though it hangs on to its core. Cleveland promotes heavily from within and has long been considered a team that would rather give its prospects a chance to make it at home rather than raid the cupboard to bring in big league talent.

Which team develops pitchers the best?

Also received votes: Blue Jays, Pirates, Reds, Royals, Tigers, Twins

The Guardians and the Mariners had finished in the top three the past two years and are still top four this time around. This time, the Dodgers have floated to the top and they do excellent work, especially in fixing pitchers or rehabbing hurt ones. The development of Nolan McLean and Jonah Tong certainly helped the Mets move up these rankings.

Which team develops hitters the best?

Also received votes: Cardinals, Cubs, D-backs, Guardians

The Dodgers leapfrog over the Orioles and Red Sox, who tied for first a year ago. That has more to do with what’s in the pipeline than recent success stories getting to Los Angeles. Six of their seven Top 100 prospects are hitters, with three hitters in the upper portions of the list. (The new Top 100 comes out in late January!) Boston still gets plenty of support thanks to the Roman Anthonys of the world and the Tigers have jumped on the board behind the bats of Kevin McGonigle, Max Clark and others.

Which team does the best at finding and developing sleeper prospects?

Also received votes: Astros, Braves, Cardinals, Guardians, Mariners, Orioles, Red Sox, Twins

It’s the same top three for the third year in a row, but in a different order, with the Brewers switching places with the Dodgers, going from third to first. Milwaukee does particularly good work finding steals on the international market (though it get lots of credit for Draft work here as well), and we’ve noted how the Dodgers and Rays are always adding talent, finding sleepers via trades especially well.