Inbox: What sets Brewers’ farm apart from Yanks’?

Jonathan Mayo and I spent Wednesday at MLB Network, recording a Top 50 Prospects special with Greg Amsinger and Dan O’Dowd. The show features video clips of all 50 players, breakdowns of several of them and discussion of topics such as using prospects as trade currency and what goes into player development beyond the refinement of physical tools. The special will air on the Network on Sunday at 11 p.m. ET and Monday at 7 a.m. ET.

@jimcallisMLB @MLBPipeline what set the Brewers and Yankees apart in the Brewers ranking 1 and the Yanks 2?

I’ve received a lot of questions and comments about my updated farm-system rankings. I did spend a lot of time deliberating about the Brewers versus the Yankees for the top spot. They were clearly the two best and deepest systems, recently bolstered by a potential first-round steal in the Draft and some savvy moves at the Trade Deadline.

When it came time to separate them, I liked Milwaukee’s blue-chip prospects just a little bit more than New York’s. I’d take shortstop Orlando Arcia and outfielder Lewis Brinson over any Yankees prospect, and I’d take left-hander Josh Hader and right-hander Luis Ortiz over any pitcher in New York’s system. If the Brewers hadn’t acquired Brinson, Ortiz and Phil Bickford on Deadline Day, the Yankees would have ranked No. 1.

Now that the Yankees have acquired Gleyber Torres, which prospect infield duo do you prefer: Dansby Swanson /Ozzie Albies with the Braves or Torres/Jorge Mateo with the Yankees? With the latter pair, who is the better bet to stick at shortstop? — J.P. S., Springfield, Ill.

Those are two talented double-play combinations, with all four players ranked in the Top 25 of MLBPipeline.com’s recently revamped Top 100 Prospects list. I like Swanson and Albies slightly more because they’re better bets to hit and a little more athletic as a combo, though Torres and Mateo have a higher combined offensive ceiling.

Torres and …

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