Where does the Twins farm system rank?

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After a strong performance at the Trade Deadline, the Twins now have a farm system that ranks among the top half-dozen in the game. They picked up a pair of interesting prospects (right-hander Jhoan Duran, outfielder Gabriel Maciel) from the D-backs in a deal for Eduardo Escobar and two more (righty Jorge Alcala, outfielder Gilberto Celestino) from the Astros in exchange for Ryan Pressly. They also added a couple of sleepers from the Yankees (righty Luis Rijo) and Dodgers (outfielder/first baseman Luke Raley) as part of packages for Lance Lynn and Brian Dozier.
Minnesota also has recent premium Draft picks and international prospects who are taking positive steps in their development this year. For more on the Twins, check out the video at the top of this column.

As they challenge for the worst record in baseball and the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 Draft, the Orioles finally have embraced the need to totally rebuild their organization. But I'm not in love with all of their trades in the past month.
Manny Machado's impending free agency detracted from his trade value, and though Baltimore did well to get outfielder Yusniel Diaz (one of two Top 100 Prospects to change addresses in July) as part of the five-player package from the Dodgers, they should have gotten a better second-best prospect in the deal. I have no qualms with the three players they extracted from the Yankees for free-agent-to-be Zach Britton.
But Kevin Gausman remains under team control through 2020 and Jonathan Schoop won't be a free agent until after 2019, so the Orioles could have waited and gotten more for them in the offseason. Dumping Darren O'Day's contract and getting $2.5 million in international bonus pool money from the Braves for Gausman affected the quality of the prospects they received in that deal, with only promising but raw third baseman Jean Carlos Encarnacion offering much upside.
Getting 14 prospects in those four trades bolstered the depth of Baltimore's system, but Diaz is the only one with a strong chance to make an impact at the big league level. The Orioles have an awful Major League team and a farm system that would rank about 20th among the 30 organizations, so they still have a lot of work to do.

The obvious answer is the Royals, heading into the 2011 season. I worked at Baseball America at the time, and Kansas City placed a record nine players on our Top 100 Prospects list that spring: Eric Hosmer (No. 8), Mike Moustakas (No. 9), Wil Myers (No. 10), John Lamb (No. 18), Mike Montgomery (No. 19), Christian Colón (No. 51), Danny Duffy (No. 68), Jake Odorizzi (No. 69) and Chris Dwyer (No. 83).
I don't know if any of those guys individually turned out quite as good as hoped, but the first three did become All-Stars. More importantly, Hosmer, Moustakas, Colon and Duffy were part of the Royals' 2014 pennant winners and 2015 World Series champions, with Colon delivering the Series-clinching hit. Myers, Montgomery and Odorizzi were used in a trade for Wade Davis and James Shields, two more key members of the 2014-15 clubs, and Lamb was part of a package for Johnny Cueto in mid-2015.
Beyond the Top 100 Prospects, Kansas City's system also included four other future All-Stars in Aaron Crow, Kelvin Herrera, Greg Holland and Salvador Perez, as well as Jarrod Dyson, Whit Merrifield and the late Yordano Ventura. Dyson, Herrera, Perez and Ventura also played major roles on Kansas City's 2014 and 2015 teams. In terms of quantity of significant big leaguers and parlaying them into pennants and championships, that Royals system stands out in the last decade.

In a word: very. Signed for $1.35 million out of Venezuela as a catcher last December, Cabello had uncommon speed for his position and fringy arm strength. The Yankees decided to move him to center field and he has had a strong pro debut in 2018, batting a combined .323/.444/.564 with five homers and six steals in 38 games between the Rookie-level Dominican Summer and Gulf Coast leagues at age 17.
Cabello is an advanced right-handed hitter who already makes consistent hard contact. He offers promising power potential as well, not to mention well above-average speed. He's still learning in the outfield but has the quickness to be at least an average defender in center once he gains more experience.