Ask BA: Bad From Top To Bottom

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Q:What’s the worst combination of major league win percentage and minor league affiliates you can remember? Top to bottom, the Giants are hovering just above .400.

Roger Munter

BA: Yes Roger, it’s been a very bad year for the Giants both at the big league level and around the minors.

The AZL Giants are the only team in the organization with a winning record, and all four full-season minor league clubs and the major league club are winning fewer than 45 percent of their games.

But it could be worse. As bad as the Giants’ season is, the White Sox actually have a worse overall winning percentage.

The Giants are considered relatively thin in prospects at the minor league level. The White Sox, after some recent trades, are now considered to have the second-best farm system in the game. But even with that only Kannapolis among the White Sox’s eight teams has a winning record.

Minor League Baseball’s overall organization standings only go back to 2005, so that’s where we’ll cut this list off for now. Over those 13 seasons, the 2011 Astros are the only organization since 2005 to fail to win 40 percent of its games among all levels. Not one Astros team at any level had a winning record that year and Triple-A Oklahoma City was the only team in the organization to win more than 45 percent of its games. Their lack of success at all levels is a record that is hard to beat.

Year	Rk	Team	W	L	PCT
2015	10	MIL	400	518	.436
2016	9	CHW	400	523	.433
2006	8	WSN	427	559	.433
2009	7	HOU	426	562	.431
2006	6	TEX	395	527	.428
2017	5	SFG	281	376	.428
2017	4	CHW	274	375	.422
2015	3	MIA	392	538	.422
2008	2	HOU	421	579	.421
2011	1	HOU	393	594	.398

On the other side of the equation, the 2009 Giants had the best overall organization winning percentage since 2005. They then went out and won three World Series in the next five seasons. This year’s New York Yankees are pushing to top them. It’s worth noting that the teams that rank first and third on this list won a World Series the next season and were consistent playoff teams. The consistent minor league success of the Yankees is equally notable.

Year	Rk	Team	W	L	PCT
2009	1	SFG	551	379	.592
2017	2	NYY	422	298	.586
2007	3	NYY	578	419	.580
2017	4	LAD	409	297	.579
2016	5	SEA	537	390	.579
2008	6	NYY	574	421	.577
2006	7	NYY	565	423	.572
2017	8	MIN	375	282	.571
2011	9	TEX	527	398	.570
2009	10	NYY	562	428	.568