The backbone of every organization is its farm system. When you’re building a skyscraper, the penthouse is the most expensive real estate, but the foundation is the most important part of the structure. Without the foundation, there is no penthouse. And without a solid farm system, there is no major-league team.



When we look at baseball’s most recent championship teams over the last four years, they all had one common thread: The cores of these teams were built through their farm systems. The defending World Champion Houston Astros were built around homegrown players such as José Altuve, George Springer and Carlos Correa. The 2016 Chicago Cubs were constructed around prospects like Kris Bryant, Willson Contreras and Javier Báez, and the 2015 Kansas City Royals core included first-round draft picks like Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Alex Gordon. Go back to the 2014 San Francisco Giants and you’ll find much of that team came from the farm...