The Tigers, over the past several years if not longer, have typically been in "win now" mode. It led to some success at the big league level during the Dave Dombrowski era, with four straight postseason appearances from 2011-14. There was one World Series appearance and two other trips to the American League Championship Series.
The postseason drives didn't come without a price, as pieces from the farm system were often used to trade for big league players deemed necessary to keep competing atop the AL Central. The 2015 season was different, with the Tigers falling out of the race. As a result, they were able to restock a little bit, courtesy of the David Price, Yoenis Cespedes and Joakim Soria trades. Those deals brought in three players in the top 15, led by No. 1 prospect Michael Fulmer -- the lone Tigers representative on the Top 100 Prospects list -- who came from the Mets for Cespedes.
• Tigers' 2016 Top 30 Prospects list
Two of the young players from the Price trade, Daniel Norris and Matt Boyd, have graduated from prospect status, but they still count toward building young depth. And just in case it was unclear if new general manager Al Avila would be in full rebuild mode, he's already turned around and traded an acquired prospect, Luis Cessa (from the Cespedes deal), to the Yankees for big league reliever Justin Wilson.
Biggest jump/fall
Here are the players whose ranks changed the most from the 2015 preseason list to the 2016 preseason list.
Team Top 30 Prospects lists
Jump: Mike Gerber (2015: NR | 2016: 6)
Fall: Greyson Greiner (2015: 10 | 2016: NR)
Best tools
Players are graded on a 20-80 scouting scale for future tools -- 20-30 is well below average, 40 is below average, 50 is average, 60 is above average and 70-80 is well above average.
Top 10 Farm Systems
Hit: Mike Gerber (50)
Power: Steven Moya (60)
Run: Derek Hill (70)
Arm: Arvicent Perez (65)
Defense: Hill (60)
Fastball: Joe Jimenez (70)
Curveball: Beau Burrows (55)
Slider: Michael Fulmer (60)
Changeup: Kevin Ziomek (55)
Control: Tyler Alexander (60)
How they were built
Draft: 17
International: 8
Trade: 3
Free agent: 2
Breakdown by ETA
2016: 7
2017: 8
2018: 12
2019: 3
Breakdown by position
C: 2
1B: 1
3B: 1
SS: 3
OF: 6
RHP: 13
LHP: 4