As we reach the top three, you’ve probably noticed that they’re all coming from the AL East. It really is remarkable how strong that division is. One of the three best teams in baseball isn’t going to make the playoffs this year, and probably for the next few years. These teams are all set up for long term success, and over the next few years, we could see the strongest division in the history of baseball.

Rankings So Far

#30: Washington Nationals
#29: Florida Marlins
#28: Houston Astros
#27: Kansas City Royals
#26: Pittsburgh Pirates
#25: San Diego Padres
#24: Cincinnati Reds
#23: Colorado Rockies
#22: Detroit Tigers
#21: St. Louis Cardinals
#20: Toronto Blue Jays
#19: San Francisco Giants
#18: Minnesota Twins
#17: Chicago White Sox
#16: Baltimore Orioles
#15: Seattle Mariners
#14: Philadelphia Phillies
#13: Los Angeles Dodgers
#12: Texas Rangers
#11: Oakland Athletics
#10: Los Angeles Angels
#9: Arizona Diamondbacks
#8: Atlanta Braves
#7: Chicago Cubs
#6: Milwaukee Brewers
#5: New York Mets
#4: Cleveland Indians

#3: New York Yankees

Ownership: A+

Say what you will about the Steinbrenner’s, but the Yankees enjoy a monstrous financial advantage over the rest of baseball due in large part to the way they have expanded the Yankee brand. The creation of YES Network gave them a significant revenue stream that other teams simply couldn’t match, and while they had an inherent advantage thanks to the history of the franchise, they have capitalized on that legacy more than any other team. The Yankees can literally spend any dollar figure they want on the team and still be profitable. Money just isn’t an issue in the Bronx, and that gives them a sustainable advantage that essentially ensures their competitiveness on a yearly basis.

Front Office: B+

Brian Cashman doesn’t get enough credit for the things he’s done right in New York. Yes, the payroll gives their baseball operations department room to make mistakes that no other franchise could live with, but he’s continually targeted the highest quality of players. He’s also redirected significant cash back into the farm system to develop home grown talent, and he’s shown that he’s an adept trader when he needs to add a piece to the puzzle. The money obviously helps, but Cashman is a good GM, and the Yankees are run well.

Major League Talent: A

With expenditures on major league talent approaching $250 million (including luxury tax payments), it shouldn’t be a surprise that they have a lot of good players. I don’t even have to name them all – we all know who the players on their roster are. The offense is terrific, the rotation is excellent and deep, and the bullpen still has Mariano Rivera. The team lacks depth on the infield and has too many outfielders, but that should be a relatively easy problem to fix. The core of the team isn’t young, but the team always has enough salary obligations opening up to be a premier spending in free agency, so that’s less of an issue than it would be for other organizations.

Minor League Talent: C+

Again, thanks to the financial advantage the Yankees have, the fact that they don’t have a great minor league system isn’t that big of a deal. Jesus Montero has a great bat, but he’s not a catcher in any way, shape, or form. Austin Jackson is a solid prospect who looks like a good bet to be an average to slightly above center fielder. Dellin Betances and Andrew Brackman have high ceilings and come with lots of risk. Besides Montero and maybe Jackson, most of the position players in the system are trade bait, as they probably aren’t good enough to start for the Yankees, so they’ll be shipped off for a major league player who is. It’s just the nature of the Bronx Beast.

Overall: A

When you outspend everyone else by close to $100 million, it’s hard not to win. The Yankees have done a fantastic job of creating a revenue model that works better than any other franchise in any sport, and they’re reaping the rewards of that advantage. Unless MLB intervenes and adds a third franchise into New York, it’s hard to see them ever going through a sustained down period. They are the Wal-Mart of baseball, and the machine is basically unstoppable. Love them or hate them, they aren’t going anywhere.

As we finish out the top eight, all of the remaining clubs earn an overall grade of A-, A, or A+. These eight franchises have separated themselves from the rest of the pack – there’s probably a bigger gap between #8 and #9 than between #8 and #4, for instance. If you root for any of the upcoming teams, you should be very pleased. The future looks bright for all the upcoming franchises.

Rankings So Far

#30: Washington Nationals
#29: Florida Marlins
#28: Houston Astros
#27: Kansas City Royals
#26: Pittsburgh Pirates
#25: San Diego Padres
#24: Cincinnati Reds
#23: Colorado Rockies
#22: Detroit Tigers
#21: St. Louis Cardinals
#20: Toronto Blue Jays
#19: San Francisco Giants
#18: Minnesota Twins
#17: Chicago White Sox
#16: Baltimore Orioles
#15: Seattle Mariners
#14: Philadelphia Phillies
#13: Los Angeles Dodgers
#12: Texas Rangers
#11: Oakland Athletics
#10: Los Angeles Angels
#9: Arizona Diamondbacks
#8: Atlanta Braves
#7: Chicago Cubs
#6: Milwaukee Brewers
#5: New York Mets

#4: Cleveland Indians

Ownership: B

Since Larry Dolan bought the team in 2000, they’ve gone from a high payroll team down to a low-to-mid payroll franchise, but that coincided with a significant rebuilding period. As the team has grown back into a contender, Dolan has significantly increased his investment in the budget, and the team spent nearly $80 million in 2008. Dolan has shown a willingness to spend money on a contending franchise, and while they won’t be able to compete with the New York/Boston/Chicago markets in payroll, they’ll have enough capital to put competitive teams on the field.

Front Office: A+

Mark Shapiro and his gang of advisers set the standard for how a front office should operate. The implementation of DiamondView gave them the ability to combine scouting and statistical data into a resource that could be used at all levels of the organization. They’ve established a fundamental system that works from top to bottom, and explore every area that could give them a competitive advantage. They understand how to value talent, where the inefficiencies are, how to build a roster that works together, and how to sustain winning teams through player development. It’s hard to find any chinks in the armor – the Indians front office is what everyone else aspires to be.

Major League Talent: B

If Travis Hafner shows that his recent struggles were an extended slump and not a nose dive off the cliff, they’d grade out better here. Even with his bat as a question mark, though, they are still the best team in the AL Central. Grady Sizemore is an MVP candidate, and the surrounding cast includes valuable players such as Cliff Lee, Fausto Carmona, Victor Martinez, Asdrubal Cabrera, Jhonny Peralta, and Shin-Soo Choo. The additions of Mark DeRosa and Kerry Wood help patch some holes from last year’s roster, and while the rotation has question marks, the team has depth of starters to cycle through until they find a combination that works. The team might be a player away from a true championship contender, but the core is strong for the future and they have the pieces in place to make a mid-season acquisition if they deem it necessary.

Minor League Talent: B+

The team got some needed impact talent by trading away CC Sabathia and Casey Blake last summer, netting themselves their two best prospects in return – Matt LaPorta and Carlos Santana. Both are close to being major league ready and have the ability to contribute as everyday players. After those two, there’s significant depth of lower upside guys – Nick Weglarz is an interesting bat with some long term concerns about his abilities to stay in the OF. Beau Mills can hit, but his position is clouded, especially with LaPorta ahead of him. Adam Miller is looking at another surgery. Luis Valbuena, Wes Hodges, David Huff, Michael Brantley, and Lonnie Chisenhall profile as solid but not great major leaguers. There’s a good group of young players on the farm, but LaPorta and Santana are the only two who project out as significantly above average players.

Overall: A-

The Indians have a good major league team built around a solid young core, an above average farm system that should deliver several more young players into the fold shortly, and a baseball operations department that runs the team exceptionally well. Only their mid-market payrolls keep them from the top tier. This is a team that should be the favorite in the AL Central for years to come.

As we finish out the top eight, all of the remaining clubs earn an overall grade of A-, A, or A+. These eight franchises have separated themselves from the rest of the pack – there’s probably a bigger gap between #8 and #9 than between #8 and #4, for instance. If you root for any of the upcoming teams, you should be very pleased. The future looks bright for all the upcoming franchises.

Rankings So Far

#30: Washington Nationals
#29: Florida Marlins
#28: Houston Astros
#27: Kansas City Royals
#26: Pittsburgh Pirates
#25: San Diego Padres
#24: Cincinnati Reds
#23: Colorado Rockies
#22: Detroit Tigers
#21: St. Louis Cardinals
#20: Toronto Blue Jays
#19: San Francisco Giants
#18: Minnesota Twins
#17: Chicago White Sox
#16: Baltimore Orioles
#15: Seattle Mariners
#14: Philadelphia Phillies
#13: Los Angeles Dodgers
#12: Texas Rangers
#11: Oakland Athletics
#10: Los Angeles Angels
#9: Arizona Diamondbacks
#8: Atlanta Braves
#7: Chicago Cubs
#6: Milwaukee Brewers

#5: New York Mets

Ownership: A-

The Wilpons have certainly not been afraid to spend money since taking over ownership in 2002. They’ve also managed to get Shea Stadium replaced, which should only add to the significant revenues they already enjoy. Thanks to the New York media market, the Mets should be one of the best capitalized teams in baseball going forward. Even the Wilpon’s meddling can’t overcome the financial advantage the team enjoys.

Front Office: C

Omar Minaya is a pretty good scout. He does a good job of identifying young players who can contribute at the major league level. However, he’s just not good at the valuation aspect of the GM job – trying to figure out how much to pay for different skills, finding inefficiencies in the market, and putting together a roster that maximizes the assets he has. The Oliver Perez signing, the K-Rod signing, the J.J. Putz trade are all examples of identifying players who could help his team but not understanding how much those players should cost, given the availability of alternatives in the market. When handed a payroll large enough to give him the ability to overpay, he can build a contending roster, but most GMs in baseball could do more with the same resources. There are smart people working for the Mets, but they have the wrong guy in charge, and that’s a problem.

Major League Talent: A-

Jose Reyes, David Wright, Carlos Beltran, and Johan Santana are all among the elite players in the game. It’s hard to imagine a team with those four not contending for the World Series, honestly. The supporting cast leaves you wanting, however. Ryan Church is solid when healthy, but that’s not often. Mike Pelfrey and John Maine have talent, but as the #3 and #4 starters on a contender? Carlos Delgado has held off decline, but for how much longer? Just a lot of questions surround the non-elite part of the roster. However, the big four are so good that they make up for a lot of issues, and there’s enough talent in the supporting cast to imagine this team winning a World Series if enough things go right.

Minor League Talent:: B-

Is Fernando Martinez the next Hanley Ramirez or Ruben Rivera? His aggressive promotion schedule makes his performances tough to judge in proper context, but most still believe in his physical abilities. Jon Niese is a good but not great pitching prospect, and Wilmer Flores and Jefry Marte are high upside guys that aren’t anywhere close to the majors. So, while there’s talent, there’s not a lot of upper level depth, and there aren’t any guys on the system who don’t have a real question mark that needs to be answered. The Mets will have to get by with what they have for a little while, but there are valuable assets in the system, so if they need to make a few more big trades, they can.

Overall: A-

Thanks to a roster that should be favored to make the playoffs for the next few years and a stream of revenue that allows the GM to cover his mistakes, the Mets are in a good position to win for a while despite a front office that could use some improvement. There are wasted opportunities in Queens that are keeping the Mets from being up with the cream of the crop, but they have enough current advantages to give them quite a bit of margin for error. They need every bit of that wiggle room, but this team is too talented to keep getting shut out of October baseball for much longer.

As we finish out the top eight, all of the remaining clubs earn an overall grade of A-, A, or A+. These eight franchises have separated themselves from the rest of the pack – there’s probably a bigger gap between #8 and #9 than between #8 and #4, for instance. If you root for any of the upcoming teams, you should be very pleased. The future looks bright for all the upcoming franchises.

Rankings So Far

#30: Washington Nationals
#29: Florida Marlins
#28: Houston Astros
#27: Kansas City Royals
#26: Pittsburgh Pirates
#25: San Diego Padres
#24: Cincinnati Reds
#23: Colorado Rockies
#22: Detroit Tigers
#21: St. Louis Cardinals
#20: Toronto Blue Jays
#19: San Francisco Giants
#18: Minnesota Twins
#17: Chicago White Sox
#16: Baltimore Orioles
#15: Seattle Mariners
#14: Philadelphia Phillies
#13: Los Angeles Dodgers
#12: Texas Rangers
#11: Oakland Athletics
#10: Los Angeles Angels
#9: Arizona Diamondbacks
#8: Atlanta Braves
#7: Chicago Cubs

#6: Milwaukee Brewers

Ownership: B-

Since Mark Attanasio bought the Brewers from the Selig Trust, the team has dramatically shifted gears. Payroll went from $27 million to $81 million in four years, and the team showed willingness to invest in the roster when opportunities arose, offering a significant deal to CC Sabathia. The team is profitable, even at these higher payroll numbers, and Attanasio is intent on winning. Things got a bit messy towards the end of the season when he demanded that manager Ned Yost be fired, but overall, he’s mostly stayed out of the baseball operations team’s way.

Front Office: A-

Perhaps the most under the radar of the sabermetric front offices, the Brewers are among the leading organizations in baseball in applying new ways of thinking to roster building. Doug Melvin has instituted a lot of forward thinking ideas, and there are a ton of smart people working up in Milwaukee. The loss oF Jack Zduriencik, Tony Blengino, and Tom McNamara hurts, but there are qualified men ready to fill their shoes. Melvin understands how to build an organization that can supply impact talent to he major league roster and how to surround those home grown players with valuable pieces from the outside. Milwaukee fans are in good hands with Melvin and his team.

Major League Roster: A-

Like the Diamondbacks, the Brewers have the best of both worlds – a core group of young talent that they can build around that is also capable of winning right now. Ryan Braun, J.J. Hardy, Prince Fielder, and Yovanni Gallardo are all-star caliber players, while Corey Hart, Rickie Weeks, David Bush, and Manny Parra are useful second tier pieces. Underrated players like Mike Cameron, Bill Hall, and Carlos Villanueva round out a roster that should be a wild card contender and could challenge the Cubs for the NL Central if everything goes right. They’ll have some decisions to make after the season, with a lot of expensive arbitration cases coming due, but they have enough assets to win now and win later.

Minor League Talent: A-

Even after trading prospects for Sabathia at the deadline, the team’s farm system remains very strong. Alcides Escobar, Mat Gamel, and Angel Solome provide potential as everyday position players who could be ready by 2010, helping to infuse another wave of talent into the major league roster. Jeremy Jeffress has a top notch arm, even with his off the field issues. Brett Lawrie has an advanced bat that should play anywhere, and his decision to play second base should get him through the minors fairly quickly. There’s good depth in the system as well, ranging from guys like Lorenzo Cain to Cutter Dykstra and Taylor Green. The Brewers have a lot of help on the way, or more potential trade pieces to help put them over the top in a playoff run.

Overall: A-

A smart front office, a talented young core that’s ready to win, and a very good selection of minor leaguers give the Brewers a chance to be good and stay good for quite a while. Their capital is a bit lower than most of the rest of thess elite franchises, which drags down their grade a bit, but they have a front office that can win with an $80 million payroll, especially given the cost controlled talent already in the organization. The Brewers are going to be fighting for a playoff spot for the foreseeable future, and they’ve earned their way into contention.

Terrible news today – John Brattain has passed away at the age of 44. He was a great writer, and a remarkable asset to the community of baseball nerds that we’re all a part of. I never had any interaction with him, but enjoyed his work at a distance. We’ve lost a good one. My condolences to his family.

As we finish out the top eight, all of the remaining clubs earn an overall grade of A-, A, or A+. These eight franchises have separated themselves from the rest of the pack – there’s probably a bigger gap between #8 and #9 than between #8 and #4, for instance. If you root for any of the upcoming teams, you should be very pleased. The future looks bright for all the upcoming franchises.

Rankings So Far

#30: Washington Nationals
#29: Florida Marlins
#28: Houston Astros
#27: Kansas City Royals
#26: Pittsburgh Pirates
#25: San Diego Padres
#24: Cincinnati Reds
#23: Colorado Rockies
#22: Detroit Tigers
#21: St. Louis Cardinals
#20: Toronto Blue Jays
#19: San Francisco Giants
#18: Minnesota Twins
#17: Chicago White Sox
#16: Baltimore Orioles
#15: Seattle Mariners
#14: Philadelphia Phillies
#13: Los Angeles Dodgers
#12: Texas Rangers
#11: Oakland Athletics
#10: Los Angeles Angels
#9: Arizona Diamondbacks
#8: Atlanta Braves

#7: Chicago Cubs

Ownership: ?

With the Tribune companies sale of the club to an ownership group led by the Ricketts, the team is changing hands one more time. Unlike with the Padres situation, we don’t really have anything to judge the new owners by, so I’m just working off the assumption that the Cubs will continue to be fairly well capitalized, based on their revenues and market.

Front Office: B-

Believe it or not, Jim Hendry has a good eye for talent. When he was the Cubs scouting director, the team acquired a significant batch of young talent, and he consistently built farm systems that were supplying the Cubs with impact players. Since being promoted to GM, his weaknesses have been exposed, however – the team has had problems in how the young talent is integrated into the major league roster and the team has shown questionable discernment in handing out contracts to free agents. He’s built a quality major league roster, but squandered a lot of assets in getting there.

Major League Talent: A

For 2009, this is the best team in the National League. The line-up is going to put runs on the board in bunches, and the team isn’t sacrificing defense in order to build an offensive juggernaut. They have a roster full of players who contribute on both sides of the ball with skill sets that age well. The rotation is terrific, and even without a proven closer, the bullpen has a solid collection of interesting arms. There are depth issues, and with Milton Bradley and Rich Harden involved, you know the team isn’t going to be at full strength on most days, but they’ve got a team on the field that could be the class of the NL for the next several years.

Minor League Talent: C-

There’s Josh Vitters and then a pretty large gaping hole. The lack of minor league depth hurt the team over the winter, as the Padres couldn’t find enough interesting pieces to ask for in a Jake Peavy trade and required an additional team be involved in order to get enough quality prospects headed back towards San Diego. It’s a good thing the Cubs have a loaded major league team, because they aren’t going to get much help from the farm system for a couple of years.

Overall: A-

The Cubs management has made a lot of mistakes, but their payroll gives them a lot of room for error, and they’ve managed to assemble a top tier major league roster even with their questionable judgments. If Hendry and company can stay out of the way, the team should be playing in a World Series in the next few years – there’s just way too much talent on the 25 man roster for them to not make it deep into October sooner than later. Given the state of the farm system and the lack of a great young core at the major league level, the fall-off could be pretty steep down the line, but for right now, they’re legitimate contenders for the foreseeable future.

As we finish out the top eight, all of the remaining clubs earn an overall grade of A-, A, or A+. These eight franchises have separated themselves from the rest of the pack – there’s probably a bigger gap between #8 and #9 than between #8 and #4, for instance. If you root for any of the upcoming teams, you should be very pleased. The future looks bright for all the upcoming franchises.

Rankings So Far

#30: Washington Nationals
#29: Florida Marlins
#28: Houston Astros
#27: Kansas City Royals
#26: Pittsburgh Pirates
#25: San Diego Padres
#24: Cincinnati Reds
#23: Colorado Rockies
#22: Detroit Tigers
#21: St. Louis Cardinals
#20: Toronto Blue Jays
#19: San Francisco Giants
#18: Minnesota Twins
#17: Chicago White Sox
#16: Baltimore Orioles
#15: Seattle Mariners
#14: Philadelphia Phillies
#13: Los Angeles Dodgers
#12: Texas Rangers
#11: Oakland Athletics
#10: Los Angeles Angels
#9: Arizona Diamondbacks

#8: Atlanta Braves

Ownership: A-

As we’ve mentioned, corporate ownership generally isn’t a great thing for a franchise. However, the Braves have been swapped between media conglomerations and been lucky enough to have both invest in the franchise during their respective periods of control. Liberty Media took control from Time Warner in 2007 and significantly added to the payroll last year, then went on a spending spree this winter. With a major media market and a broad following thanks to their years on TBS, the team has plenty of revenue and should be able to sustain high level payrolls going forward.

Front Office: B+

Over the last 20 years, no one has developed a stronger player development pipeline than the Braves. They’ve mastered the art of drafting local kids, getting them into their system, and turning them into major league regulars. It’s been the foundation of their success, and the system is still in place. That continual stream of young talent has allowed them to compete even while making some questionable decisions at the major league level, and while the Braves still operate with little regard for statistical analysis, they are so good at scouting and development that they can succeed anyway. They’d do well to complement their strengths with some better understanding of major league value, but what they do well dwarfs the things they do poorly. As long as they keep developing a bundle of home grown stars, they’ll be contenders.

Major League Talent: B

Atlanta spent liberally this winter to rebuild their rotation, importing Derek Lowe, Javier Vazquez, plus bringing back Tom Glavine for added depth. Given the presence of Jair Jurrjens, a rehabbing Tim Hudson, and a young flamethrower like Tommy Hanson, they probably have the deepest starting rotation in baseball. They’re going to have to get quality pitching to make up for some offensive deficiencies, though, as the outfield is weak and the line-up depends heavily on Chipper Jones‘ health. The team is good enough to contend in the NL East this year, but the core going forward is going to need some help. Brian McCann is a great foundation behind the plate and Yunel Escobar, Kelly Johnson, and Casey Kotchman have their strengths, the team needs a couple of young impact position players to keep winning beyond 2009.

Minor League Talent: A-

As always, the Braves system is stacked with talent. Hanson, as mentioned, is a premier young arm. Jason Heyward is an athletic outfielder who can hit, which is exactly what the Braves could use. Jordan Schafer and Gorkys Hernandez give the team a couple of center field options, Cole Rohrbough and Julio Teheran give the team some pitching depth. Freddie Freeman has solid upside as a power hitting first baseman. There’s just talent up and down the system, and the Braves future looks to be very bright given their up and coming talent.

Overall: A-

The Braves are the example for all franchises in terms of player development. Everyone should be envious of the way they are able to churn out high level talent from their farm system and keep it continually flowing from the low levels to the majors. However, some blind spots in their analytical processes have kept them from duplicating that success at the major league level, and while the 2009 team should be good, it’s unlikely to be great. If they ever integrate some more modern thinking about major league player analysis into their decision making, they could be unbelievably scary. For now, they’re just impressive.

Today, we launch the top ten, heading towards the top spot and closing out this series. All of the teams that we discuss this week are legitimate contenders for both this year and the future, and these are the organizations that the rest of baseball is chasing.

Rankings So Far

#30: Washington Nationals
#29: Florida Marlins
#28: Houston Astros
#27: Kansas City Royals
#26: Pittsburgh Pirates
#25: San Diego Padres
#24: Cincinnati Reds
#23: Colorado Rockies
#22: Detroit Tigers
#21: St. Louis Cardinals
#20: Toronto Blue Jays
#19: San Francisco Giants
#18: Minnesota Twins
#17: Chicago White Sox
#16: Baltimore Orioles
#15: Seattle Mariners
#14: Philadelphia Phillies
#13: Los Angeles Dodgers
#12: Texas Rangers
#11: Oakland Athletics
#10: Los Angeles Angels

#9: Arizona Diamondbacks

Ownership: C

Honestly, this one’s a bit tough to figure out. Since the D’Backs were purchased by a group of investors, they’ve trimmed payroll back from the free spending days of Jerry Colangelo and operated more like a small to mid market franchise. They haven’t spent more than $70 million on the major league roster for the last five years, though they did increase spending last year when they had a chance to contend. The ownership group has mostly kept their hands off the baseball operations department with the exception of the Eric Byrnes extension – hopefully they learned their lesson from that one. Jeff Moorad, who was the face of the ownership group, just left to run the Padres, so that adds another level of uncertainty about how the ownership group will operate going forward. I have a lot less conviction about this grade than most others.

Front Office: B

From a big picture standpoint, Josh Byrnes has done a good job of building a forward thinking organization that develops talent internally and can contend for the NL West for years to come. They’ve made their share of mistakes, and I think they had a pretty bad off-season in missing out on opportunities to take control of the NL West, but overall, they’ve shown that they have a pretty solid grasp of building rosters that can contend with limited payrolls. There’s room for improvement, but they won’t be held back by a bad management team.

Major League Talent: B

The core of young talent in place is impressive – Justin Upton, Chris Young, Stephen Drew, Chris Snyder, Conor Jackson, Brandon Webb, Dan Haren, Max Scherzer… there’s quantity and quality across multiple positions, and several of them have already been locked up at team-friendly salaries for years to come. The problem, though, is that the team lacks enough good players around that young core to help make them a championship contender right now. Eric Byrnes, Doug Davis, Jon Garland, and Felipe Lopez will earn nearly $30 million between them this year, and given that’s about 40% of the D’Backs payroll, they just aren’t getting enough bang for the buck. It leaves them as a good up and coming team that is going to need a lot to go right to be playing in October in 2009.

Minor League Talent: C

Since the system was thinned out significantly with the Dan Haren trade, picking out the top prospect here doesn’t take an expert – Jarrod Parker is a big time arm with a high ceiling and a good feel for pitching at age 20. After that, though, it gets sketchy – Daniel Schlereth has a power arm but his uspide is limited as a reliever. Gerardo Parra is long on tools and short on performance. It’s a good thing the D’Backs have a lot of young talent in the majors, because they aren’t likely to get a big infusion of help from the farm system over the next few years.

Overall: B

The D’Backs don’t have any glaring weaknesses – the ownership isn’t great but gives them just enough to contend. The front office makes mistakes, but not enough to nullify the talent on the roster. They are a few players short of a championship club, but the core of their roster isn’t going anywhere. The minor league system isn’t good, but Jarrod Parker gives them at least one impact talent to hang their hope on. Being strongish across the board, with potentially the best group of young talent in the National League, is good enough to get them in the top 10.

Today, we launch the top ten, heading towards the top spot and closing out this series. All of the teams that we discuss this week are legitimate contenders for both this year and the future, and these are the organizations that the rest of baseball is chasing.

Rankings So Far

#30: Washington Nationals
#29: Florida Marlins
#28: Houston Astros
#27: Kansas City Royals
#26: Pittsburgh Pirates
#25: San Diego Padres
#24: Cincinnati Reds
#23: Colorado Rockies
#22: Detroit Tigers
#21: St. Louis Cardinals
#20: Toronto Blue Jays
#19: San Francisco Giants
#18: Minnesota Twins
#17: Chicago White Sox
#16: Baltimore Orioles
#15: Seattle Mariners
#14: Philadelphia Phillies
#13: Los Angeles Dodgers
#12: Texas Rangers
#11: Oakland Athletics

#10: Los Angeles Angels

Ownership: A

Since Arte Moreno bought the Angels, he has pushed the team’s payroll over $100 million and left it there, allowing the team to have significant funds to add big ticket players to the roster. Moreno wants to win, and he’s willing to put up more than enough money to do so. However, he doesn’t involve himself in baseball decisions, and plays the role of owner very well. It’s hard to ask for much more than what Moreno gives the Angels.

Front Office: B-

The transition from Bill Stoneman to Tony Reagins was fairly smooth, as the Angels continue to push forward their specific brand of baseball. They like position players with speed, hitters who make contact, starting pitchers who throw strikes, and a bullpen full of power arms. The names change, but these qualities are always associated with the Angels roster. The problem has been, however, that this speed and contact offense that Mike Scioscia prefers often lacks power and patience, and limits the amount of runs the Angels can score in a season. The Angels do a pretty good job of evaluating talent, but the “Angel Way” of playing baseball limits their options, and they’ll have to be willing to make more adjustments as they did with signing Bobby Abreu this winter. The team scouts well, but they will eventually have to integrate some new thinking into the front office.

Major League Talent: B-

Mike Napoli is dealing with health issues, and Jeff Mathis isn’t an adequate fill-in. Their two best hitters are aging fairly quickly, and both are free agents at the end of the year, as is the team’s best starting pitcher. The core of the team that’s in place for the future is filled with talented question marks, and while the Angels should contend in 2009 with what they have, they’ll likely have a very different look in 2010, and it’s not certain that they’ll have enough to hold off the rest of the teams in their division. They are quite likely to add another big name piece this summer, though – I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Jake Peavy ended the year as an Angel.

Minor League Talent: C+

While there isn’t a sure thing prospect in the bunch, there are enough intriguing talents that the team should get some quality just out of the sheer quantity of prospects that they’ve assembled. If Nick Adenhart busts, Jordan Walden could break through as the team’s next good young starter. Or maybe Trevor Reckling. Or Sean O’Sullivan. If Hang Conger doesn’t hit, Mark Trumbo might. Peter Bourjos gives them a potential premium defender to add to an outfield that could certainly use one. All of these guys come with significant risk, but also some legitimate upside, and the Angels should get some future help from this farm system, even without an obvious top prospect in place.

Overall: B

Strong ownership supported by big market revenues gives the team all kinds of wiggle room, and allows them to overcome mistakes like the Gary Matthews Jr signing. The front office isn’t the best in baseball, but they scout well enough to develop talent internally, and that home grown core gives them the ability to spend a lot of money on established veterans, who are usually fairly easy to identify as good talents. The team’s stars are getting older, though, and they’re going to have to figure out how to replace the production they’ve gotten used to seeing from Vladimir Guerrero, as he heads into his decline. With their three division partners all pushing their organizations in the right direction, the Angels are going to have to make a lot of good decisions in the next 12 months to keep their hold on the top of the AL West.

Today, we keep looking at some teams that have legitimate hope, so it gets harder from here on out. And, for those of you who haven’t seen the previous parts (which are linked below), keep in mind that this is a forward looking exercise – we are evaluating clubs on their overall ability to contend for a World Series title in the future. We are not evaluating how they have performed historically. This is about the health of each organization going forward.

Rankings So Far

#30: Washington Nationals
#29: Florida Marlins
#28: Houston Astros
#27: Kansas City Royals
#26: Pittsburgh Pirates
#25: San Diego Padres
#24: Cincinnati Reds
#23: Colorado Rockies
#22: Detroit Tigers
#21: St. Louis Cardinals
#20: Toronto Blue Jays
#19: San Francisco Giants
#18: Minnesota Twins
#17: Chicago White Sox
#16: Baltimore Orioles
#15: Seattle Mariners
#14: Philadelphia Phillies
#13: Los Angeles Dodgers
#12: Texas Rangers

#11: Oakland Athletics

Ownership: D

Lew Wolff seems like a pretty smart guy. I’m sure he wants to win, and it’s not really his fault that the A’s play in the worst stadium in baseball. But, since this section is about the team’s ability to compete financially with the rest of baseball, the A’s end up near the bottom of the pack. They don’t draw fans, they just blew up the Fremont option for a new stadium, and they appear locked in to the Oakland Coliseum for the foreseeable future. That means that they’ll continue to operate on one of the lowest payrolls in the game, and that puts them at a significant disadvantage.

Front Office: A

At this point, even the most ardent old school guy has to admit that Billy Beane is just very good at this whole GM thing. During their initial success, the credit was given to the A’s Big Three, but now that all have moved on and the A’s continue to compete with limited resources, it’s impossible to ignore the fact that Beane and his crew have done a great job of exploiting weaknesses in other team’s analytics to build quality rosters. They scout better than people give them credit for, and they obviously have a pretty firm grasp on statistical analysis. They aren’t perfect, but every organization in baseball would love to have Billy Beane in charge. It will be interesting to see how much longer he stays, though – rumors continue to swirl that he’s going to move upstairs and hand the job to David Forst in the not too distant future.

Major League Talent: C

The additions of Matt Holliday, Jason Giambi, and Orlando Cabrera have put the A’s in a position to compete for the AL West title this year, but when you look for a young core of major leaguers to build around, you start to realize that there’s not a lot here to be excited about. Daric Barton has a lot to prove and might have to do it in Triple-A. Travis Buck needs to stay healthy. Ryan Sweeney is a role player, not a building block. Gio Gonzalez, Dana Eveland, and Sean Gallagher are interesting arms with upside, but they’re all guys you want at the back-end of a championship rotation. They’re an ’09 contender if they can get a healthy starting rotation, but there’s going to be a lot of turnover at the big league level after the season.

Minor League Talent: A

Beane’s decision to trade off significant major league assets let him rebuild his farm system very quickly, and the A’s have some premium talents headed for the Bay Area. Few organizations have two arms that can match up with Brett Anderson and Trevor Cahill, and Vin Mazzaro provides some extra depth behind the big two. Michael Ynoa is perhaps the most hyped signing out of Latin America in years, and provides a high ceiling long term asset. Adrian Cardenas, Jemile Weeks, and Chris Carter provide some position player depth, and I’m a bigger fan of Aaron Cunningham than some others. With a bunch of stopgap position players at the major league level, there will be open jobs for a lot of these guys for 2010, and the guys on the farm will be the ones they’re counting on to contend going forward.

Overall: B

If they could figure out how to get into a real stadium and generate some revenue, they’d have a chance to put a stranglehold on the AL West. However, that doesn’t look likely any time soon, forcing the front office to keep trying to win with tape and bailing wire. It can work, but it’s tough to sustain on a yearly basis, and some bad luck with prospect development could set them back for several years. The A’s margin for error just isn’t very large, and they have to continually make excellent decisions in order to stay ahead of the curve. They should be able to maintain their analytical advantage, but for how long? The rest of baseball is catching up.