D-backs have 5 top-100 prospects in updated MLB Pipeline

There is further evidence the Arizona Diamondbacks have beefed up their farm system while maintaining a competitive major league team.

MLB Pipeline released its updated list of top 100 prospects Saturday. Arizona had five players on the list, just one behind the league-leading Tampa Bay Rays. The D-backs are one of eight teams to have five players.

Arizona’s top prospects are outfielder Kristian Robinson (No. 43), outfielder Alek Thomas (No. 49), catcher Daulton Varsho (No. 76), middle infielder Geraldo Perdomo (No. 82) and outfielder Corbin Carroll (No. 89).

With five players in the top 100, the D-backs matched their total over the prior three seasons combined, according to MLB.com reporter Jonathan Mayo.

“(T)he D-backs’ system improved exponentially last year as they infused their farm with young, impact prospects via a strong Draft and some shrewd trades,” Mayo wrote.

Varsho, a supplemental second-round draft pick in 2017, could be in the majors as soon as this season.

In Double-A last year, Varsho led the Southern League in runs (85), slugging percentage (.520) and OPS (.899), according to MLB Pipeline. He has unique abilities as a catcher, nearly posting a 20-20 season last year with 18 home runs and 21 stolen bases.

The other four players are expected to take more time before reaching the big leagues.

Robinson signed with the D-backs out of the Bahamas in 2017. Thomas was a second-round draft pick in 2018. Perdomo signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2016.

MLB predicts those three to get to the majors in 2022.

Carroll was a first-round draft pick in 2019. He is still a few seasons out, with 2023 as his predicted year of arrival.

Arizona has worked to remain a playoff contender in the National League while patching up its once-poor minor league system. It has been successful so far, as evidenced by the MLB Pipeline’s updated rankings Saturday and grading the D-backs as the second-most improved system in December.

In addition to their top five prospects, the D-backs have former top-100 players including three acquired in the Zack Greinke trade: Seth Beer, J.B. Bukauskas and Corbin Martin.

Arizona also had seven of the first 75 picks in the 2019 draft. The organization hopes players including Carroll and pitchers Blake Walston and Brennan Malone can be future pieces of the D-backs.

Mayo sees the organization on the right track. The team could take a step forward in next year’s release.

“(I)t can be argued that no club is in a better position to have more Top 100 prospects in 2021 than Arizona,” Mayo wrote.

Three other National League teams — the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres — have five top 100 prospects. The Dodgers’ Gavin Lux jumped all the way up to No. 2 on the list, and the Padres’ MacKenzie Gore is No. 4.

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