MLB Pipeline’s Top-100 list does not include a Diamondbacks prospect

This is not a list that MLB teams don’t want to be on.

MLB Pipeline, the league’s own prospect news and notes section on MLB.com, released its 2017 list of the 100 top prospects on Sunday, and the Arizona Diamondbacks didn’t have a single representative among them. It’s partially a result of the former front office staff, led by chief baseball officer Tony La Russa and general manager Dave Stewart, trading away multiple prospects in a series of deals to cut salaries and acquire ready-to-go MLB players over the past few seasons.

As for MLB Pipeline’s prospect list, Arizona joined the Kansas City Royals and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim as the clubs who didn’t land a player on the list. It’s not necessarily a surprise; the Diamondbacks’ farm system was recently ranked by ESPN’s Keith Law as the worst in the majors.

That doesn’t mean the D-backs won’t find familiar faces on the list.

The 2015 draft’s No. 1 overall pick by Arizona, Dansby Swanson, came in ranked fourth on the prospect rankings after playing 38 games for the Atlanta Braves last season. The shortstop batted .302 with a .442 slugging percentage, 20 runs scored with 39 hits, including seven doubles, a triple and three homers.

Atlanta acquired Swanson, 22, in the deal that saw the D-backs trade for pitcher Shelby Miller last offseason.

Additionally, Brewers infielder prospect Isan Diaz came in ranked 65th in MLB Pipelines 2017 list. He was the Diamondbacks’ 70th overall pick in 2014 but was a piece sent to Milwaukee in the Jean Segura deal — this offseason Segura was traded to Seattle after a 200-plus hit season for starting pitcher Taijuan Walker.

Diaz, 20, slashed .277/.267/.491 with Single-A Wisconsin in 2016, recording 71 runs in 135 games and knocking in 75 RBI, including 20 home runs.

The Braves and Yankees led MLB with seven prospects each making the rankings.

The Brewers landed five of their prospects on the list.

As for the D-backs, their depleted farm system likely played a partial role in the D-backs’ decision to cut ties with Stewart and reduce La Russa’s role before hiring GM Mike Hazen this offseason. Regarding those moves, Arizona president and CEO Derrick Hall joined MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM over the weekend and had this to say about the team’s former front office structure.

#DBacks Hall: "We probably had 'too many cooks in the kitchen' If we had to do it over again, we probably wouldn't have done it that way"

— MLB Network Radio (@MLBNetworkRadio) January 29, 2017

Hall says La Russa has been team player "Made a lot of sense to keep Tony. It was another skill set Mike Hazen thought he needed around him"

— MLB Network Radio (@MLBNetworkRadio) January 29, 2017

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