Let's take a look at the latest WPK prospects lists mostly from the perspective of the team rankings:
As you can see, the two first wave expansion clubs- the Chicago Fire and the Houston Cavaliers- are both in the top 3 on this list. Chicago has the top ranked pitcher in Mike Low and Houston's top prospect, Alex Raymos, is only listed at #5 but if the Brewers scouting staff is right, this kid is going to own the WPK soon with his absolutely elite all-around bat tools and strong leadership makeup. The lowly Phoenix Speed Devils, who have lost at least 100 games in three of the past five seasons (and in the other two lost 97 each season) has the 2nd ranked farm system, so perhaps better days are ahead. Their 19-year old future Gold Glove award winning center fielder Dan Johnson is considered the best prospect in the game (his not great bat to ball skills might hold him back though, according to Denver scouts) and they have some solid pitching prospects on the list after that. Of course, Phoenix Municipal Stadium is death to pitchers.
Speaking of pitching, our Denver Brewers have the 4th best farm system on the strength of starting pitching prospects- 5 of them in the top 100- and this in spite of Denver having put together 8 straight 100 win or better seasons (holy crap, I'm not sure I knew the streak was this long) and not having had a losing season since 1967.
And hey, look at that, with the Denver Brewers having recently had the #2 top prospect graduate to the big league club in
Eric Maisch, last year's 1st round pick,
Mike Costa, is already up at AAA Chester and is now considered the 2nd best pitching prospect in the WPK, 3rd best prospect overall. Watch for this kid later this season. As you can see, he isn't necessarily a well-rounded hurler the way
Maisch is, but
Costa looks like a guy who will simply mow batters down with his elite level pitch repertoire and nasty as it comes stuff.
But back to the team strength list to wrap up. It certainly looks like contending teams like the Philadelphia Mud Hens, El Paso Dawgs, Brooklyn Aces, and San Antonio Keys better take full advantage of their current strengths as they have some of the least promising prospects in the game. And how sad it must be to be a Montreal Royals fan. After their surprising MGL pennant in their first year as a club (1980) they have not only dropped to the bottom of the standings but they also have the 20th ranked farm system, with their top prospect a pitcher with serious injury risks.