Tampa Bay Rays’ Minor League Dominance In 2021 Continues To Stand Out

With just a couple of weeks left in the minor league regular season for all but Triple-A, it seems quite likely that the Tampa Bay Rays will finish with the best overall record for their four full-season MiLB affiliates.

The Rays are winning at better than a 64% clip across their four full-season affiliates. There are two teams that have reached 70 wins around the minors, both are Rays affiliates. Low-A Charleston (74-31, .705 winning percentage) is the winningest team in the minors. High-A Bowling Green (72-33, .686) ranks second. Triple-A Durham (67-37, .644) is the third-best team in the Rays farm system; there are only three non-Rays teams around the full-season minors with a better record.

To look at it a different way, there are only three non-Rays minor league teams who better the .644 winning percentage the Rays have done as an organization.

As they have been for much of the season, the Yankees are right behind the Rays. The Yankees also have a quartet of very successful full-season teams this year. All four of the Yankees’ affiliates rank among the 20 winningest teams in the minors, led by Tampa (67-35, .657).

Here’s a look at the top 25 MiLB teams in 2021 ranked by winning percentage.

Team	Org	W	L	PCT	RS	RA	DIFF
Charleston	Rays	74	31	.705	662	436	226
Bowling Green	Rays	72	33	.686	634	477	157
Quad Cities	Royals	68	35	.660	616	468	148
Tampa	Yankees	67	35	.657	704	477	227
Fresno	Rockies	68	37	.648	582	453	129
Durham	Rays	67	37	.644	607	398	209
Greensboro	Pirates	67	38	.638	630	523	107
Bradenton	Pirates	64	38	.627	595	499	96
Akron	Indians	65	39	.625	563	419	144
San Jose	Giants	65	40	.619	598	456	142
Hudson Valley	Yankees	63	41	.606	534	463	71
Mississippi	Braves	59	39	.602	436	365	71
Salem	Red Sox	62	42	.596	596	497	99
Buffalo	Blue Jays	60	41	.594	496	381	115
Reno	D-Backs	60	41	.594	703	670	33
Carolina	Brewers	62	43	.590	684	565	119
Somerset	Yankees	61	43	.587	521	390	131
Scranton/WB	Yankees	59	42	.584	544	420	124
Sugar Land	Astros	60	43	.583	588	477	111
Tacoma	Mariners	60	43	.583	600	551	49
Bowie	Orioles	60	43	.583	558	496	62
Toledo	Tigers	61	44	.581	567	475	92
Wichita	Marlins	61	44	.581	575	510	65
Down East	Rangers	61	44	.581	549	496	53
Frisco	Rangers	58	45	.563	476	429	47

At the other end of the spectrum there is a new team at the bottom. The Nationals ranked 30th when we last checked in at the start of August, but those four Nats minor league teams won 46% of their games in August (bolstered by talent acquired at the trade deadline). Washington’s farm teams now rank 28th overall. The White Sox slid from 28th to 29th, having won 38% of their games over the same timeframe. The Cardinals’ farm teams had an awful month. St. Louis’ 33% winning percentage over the past month drops it to 30th overall.

Rk	Team	Org	W	L	PCT
1	Palm Beach	Cardinals	31	71	.304
2	Kannapolis	White Sox	32	73	.305
3	Visalia	D-Backs	32	73	.305
4	Hartford	Rockies	35	68	.340
5	Fredericksburg	Nationals	37	67	.356
6	Biloxi	Brewers	37	64	.366
7	Springfield	Cardinals	39	66	.371
8	Peoria	Cardinals	39	66	.371
9	Harrisburg	Nationals	39	65	.375
10	Winston-Salem	White Sox	39	65	.375
11	Syracuse	Mets	39	62	.386
12	Charlotte	White Sox	41	64	.390
13	Brooklyn	Mets	40	62	.392
14	Stockton	Athletics	40	62	.392
15	Norfolk	Orioles	41	63	.394
16	Tri-City	Angels	42	63	.400
17	Iowa	Cubs	43	62	.410
18	Reading	Phillies	43	62	.410
19	Augusta	Braves	43	62	.410
20	El Paso	Padres	42	60	.412

 

Here’s how all 30 organizations line up when looking at the four full-season affiliates.

Rk	Team	W	L	PCT	RS	RA	Diff.
1	Rays	269	149	.644	2418	1783	635
2	Yankees	250	161	.608	2303	1750	553
3	Pirates	233	180	.564	2170	2059	111
4	Mariners	234	184	.560	2447	2152	295
5	Red Sox	232	183	.559	2169	2004	165
6	Royals	229	188	.549	2316	2011	305
7	Giants	221	191	.536	2277	2053	224
8	Marlins	223	195	.533	2047	2003	44
9	Indians	221	195	.531	2087	2018	69
10	Dodgers	219	197	.526	2469	2176	293
11	Twins	213	196	.521	1897	1870	27
12	Rangers	213	199	.517	2117	2005	112
13	Orioles	213	202	.513	2121	2049	72
14	Braves	209	203	.507	1860	1869	-9
15	Tigers	212	206	.507	2044	1935	109
16	Blue Jays	207	204	.504	2135	2056	79
17	Rockies	207	208	.499	2109	2205	-96
18	Brewers	204	211	.492	2173	2123	50
19	Reds	201	210	.489	1886	1892	-6
20	Astros	200	214	.483	2226	2221	5
21	Athletics	196	219	.472	2181	2360	-179
22	Angels	187	221	.458	2032	2275	-243
23	D-Backs	188	226	.454	2216	2499	-283
24	Padres	188	228	.452	2095	2265	-170
25	Cubs	184	226	.449	1878	2076	-198
26	Phillies	183	225	.449	1763	2059	-296
27	Mets	179	225	.443	1912	2077	-165
28	Nationals	164	248	.398	1762	2180	-418
29	White Sox	166	252	.397	1899	2356	-457
30	Cardinals	159	258	.381	1841	2469	-628

The rankings don’t change dramatically when you include all Rookie-levels (Arizona, Florida and Dominican Summer Complex Leagues).

Rk	Team	W	L	PCT	RS	RA	Diff.
1	Rays	329	198	.624	2994	2230	764
2	Yankees	315	207	.603	3051	2337	714
3	Mariners	290	210	.580	2900	2472	428
4	Red Sox	300	228	.568	2758	2502	256
5	Pirates	307	250	.551	2814	2712	102
6	Indians	285	243	.540	2715	2624	91
7	Rockies	288	246	.539	2783	2627	156
8	Dodgers	282	248	.532	3096	2696	400
9	Rangers	282	248	.532	2752	2598	154
10	Giants	300	265	.531	3034	2757	277
11	Royals	296	273	.520	2973	2701	272
12	Marlins	256	237	.519	2423	2381	42
13	Blue Jays	250	238	.512	2620	2432	188
14	Braves	231	226	.505	2047	2088	-41
15	Reds	244	247	.497	2382	2334	48
16	Twins	243	247	.496	2247	2312	-65
17	Brewers	277	291	.488	2876	2825	51
18	Phillies	245	263	.482	2243	2459	-216
19	Astros	236	254	.482	2560	2600	-40
20	Tigers	254	281	.475	2561	2662	-101
21	Padres	235	261	.474	2524	2654	-130
22	Angels	231	257	.473	2451	2640	-189
23	Orioles	262	297	.469	2715	2910	-195
24	Mets	234	283	.453	2359	2587	-228
25	Cubs	237	289	.451	2475	2746	-271
26	Athletics	218	275	.442	2483	2828	-345
27	D-Backs	235	299	.440	2693	3134	-441
28	Nationals	203	289	.413	2100	2496	-396
29	White Sox	199	302	.397	2249	2807	-558
30	Cardinals	208	320	.394	2337	3064	-727