I don't think they care about the ranking. I think they do care about the talent level that justifies the ranking.
My last comment on this point (for now).
In past years, it wouldn't be uncommon for the Orioles to lose the prospect status of Hays, Diaz, Mountcastle, Akin and maybe Lowther and Harvey.
You think it's an accident that Hays fell 2 ABs short of losing his rookie status?
The change in your prospect ranking is one of (maybe the only) metric of rebuilding success.
Prospect status doesn't change your system Talent.
Prospect status has a huge impact on your Talent rankings (the only thing the ignorant public understands).
I'm confident they love the narrative "...has taken the Orioles system from #30 to #10 in just one year". Of course that's evidence of "continuing to pack the minors with as much talent as possible"....except they didn't really add anything unique to the system this year....but they're still taking credit for the change.
...and just so I'm clear, I know how to play both the Talent ranking and Service time games, no issues there, it just has nothing to do with avoiding the accountability for winning (which is still my only point).