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Jim Callis: Top Ranked Farm System = Playoffs

After all of the grief Ben Rogers received on air from his ESPN radio cohorts for touting the importance of a strong farm system, I hope that he sees this fact and adds it to his ammo.

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Jim Callis of Baseball America notes that every single organization that topped BA's organizational rankings in the past decade made the playoffs within four years. In order, that would be:

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2001 White Sox, 2002 Cubs, 2003 Indians, 2004 Brewers, 2005 Angels, 2006 Diamondbacks, 2007 Rays, 2008 Rays, 2009 Rangers, 2010 Rays

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With the Rangers making the playoffs just one season after their top ranking, the streak continues. The Texas-Tampa Bay series also boasts both the last two top ranked systems and the top two from 2010, as the Rangers placed just behind the Rays.

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Next spring's expected number one? It will likely the Kansas City Royals, so we should see yet another fine test of the pattern.

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Photographs by jamesbrandon, jdtornow, phlezk, flygraphix, mcdlttx, tomasland, and literalbarrage used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.