Maybe it is the end of an era. For the first time since the 2021 preseason farm system organizational rankings by MLBPipeline.com, the Orioles are not the No. 1 team.
In the midseason ranking, released Aug. 15, the Tampa Bay Rays are back on top followed by Minnesota, the Orioles now third, then Cleveland and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
MLBPipeline has been publishing organization rankings twice per calendar year since the preseason of 2015 and no team had been first in six straight rankings until the Orioles did it through the 2024 preseason rating.
Before the O’s run of six straight, Tampa Bay was first three times in a row and before that San Diego four in a row.
The O’s had that amazing run of three straight years of No. 1 ranked players with Adley Rutschman and then Gunnar Henderson and then Jackson Holliday. But now via trades where they dealt some talent and highly ranked players making the majors, the farm ranking is taking an evitable hit.