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Author Topic: As if it needed to be said again  (Read 1942 times)

GreatBagwellsBeard

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As if it needed to be said again
« on: January 27, 2009, 09:12:06 am »
Keith Law is an asshat.

Ranking our farm system at 30th when even Baseball Prospectus is more bullish on our recent draft picks is just lazy.  I don't waste my money on ESPN Insider anymore, so I'm not going to bother linking to the primary source.  Instead, enjoy some Nationals fans crowing over finishing 29th.
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Limey

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Re: As if it needed to be said again
« Reply #1 on: January 27, 2009, 09:29:16 am »
I LOVE ESPN Insider.  Love it!

They took a bunch of their more irritating columnista and locked 'em behind a subscription wall.  That way fewer people see their poorly written and even more poorly thought out crap, and so fewer people come in here with Rob Neyer's butt cheeks on their heads crowing about how Jason Isrinblousen is the greatest closer ever*.


* I made this up, I don't think he's ever said this.  I haven't read Neyer in so long that I cannot remember the last comment of his that made me want to break furniture.
« Last Edit: January 27, 2009, 09:30:47 am by Limey »
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subnuclear

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Re: As if it needed to be said again
« Reply #2 on: January 27, 2009, 09:46:41 am »
Quote from: GreatBagwellsBeard on January 27, 2009, 09:12:06 am
Keith Law is an asshat.

Ranking our farm system at 30th when even Baseball Prospectus is more bullish on our recent draft picks is just lazy.  I don't waste my money on ESPN Insider anymore, so I'm not going to bother linking to the primary source.  Instead, enjoy some Nationals fans crowing over finishing 29th.

That link is hilarious.
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S.P. Rodriguez

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Re: As if it needed to be said again
« Reply #3 on: January 27, 2009, 10:10:23 am »
I'm not totally surprised by his lack of consideration of last year's draft.  Law has been a Wade basher for some time, and IIRC was critical of the Astros for hiring him.  I'll just mention in passing that Castro is around his 90th "best prospect" in the minors.  Who am I to disagree.  Seems like a bus ride discussion.

Somehow, despite all the horrible reviews of the Astros system, they keep churning out major leaguers, many of whom play on other teams.  But of course, that just highlights Houston's incompetence because if Houston knew what they were doing, they would retain all those players.  Am I right or am I right?  Anyone???

eta: Okay, I just wasted 5 minutes reading that.  Texas is #1?  Seriously?  Well okay, maybe that's true.  Unfortunatley their GM has the unfortunate tendency to trade away those prospects for more prospects, only to watch the player traded start to deliver on some of that potential.   Just ask San Diego (Young), ChiSox (Danks), and Cincy (Volquez). 

I guess what I'm taking away from that is, it's great to have a strong farm system but it won't amount to a pile of beans if you don't use it properly, i.e. have more to show for trades and promotions than Josh Hamilton and Brandon McCarthy (and I had to stop and consider whether I wanted to include that name).
« Last Edit: January 27, 2009, 10:16:26 am by S.P. Rodriguez »
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Bench

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Re: As if it needed to be said again
« Reply #4 on: January 27, 2009, 10:13:37 am »
Quote from: S.P. Rodriguez on January 27, 2009, 10:10:23 am
Somehow, despite all the horrible reviews of the Astros system, they keep churning out major leaguers, many of whom play on other teams.  But of course, that just highlights Houston's incompetence because if Houston knew what they were doing, they would retain all those players.  Am I right or am I right?  Anyone???

Like Jason Lane!
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S.P. Rodriguez

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Re: As if it needed to be said again
« Reply #5 on: January 27, 2009, 10:17:52 am »
Quote from: Bench on January 27, 2009, 10:13:37 am
Like Jason Lane!

Myles, Bruntlett, etc... I'm not talking stars (although, that's all Law fantasizes about).  No, I mean solid, productive players. 
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BUWebguy

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Re: As if it needed to be said again
« Reply #6 on: January 27, 2009, 10:58:47 am »
I'm no fan of Law, but I expect Baseball America (who I think usually does a fairly good job) will also have Texas #1 and Houston #30. These things aren't generally so much a ranking of the farm system's ability over a period of time; more a ranking of the amount of talent in the system right now. It's not like the Rangers are churning out a ton of talent; they just dealt away their best players, and voila! They've got a bunch of good prospects.

It would be interesting to see someone who really knows their stuff take a crack at ranking organizations by their ability to produce talent (from stars to major-league subs) year to year.
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VirtualBob

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Re: As if it needed to be said again
« Reply #7 on: January 27, 2009, 11:03:56 am »
Quote from: BUWebguy on January 27, 2009, 10:58:47 am
It would be interesting to see someone who really knows their stuff take a crack at ranking organizations by their ability to produce talent (from stars to major-league subs) year to year.

[/hold breath]
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moriartp

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Re: As if it needed to be said again
« Reply #8 on: January 27, 2009, 05:07:28 pm »
Quote from: BUWebguy on January 27, 2009, 10:58:47 am
It would be interesting to see someone who really knows their stuff take a crack at ranking organizations by their ability to produce talent (from stars to major-league subs) year to year.


I think BA did an analysis like that a little while back. Instead of ranking the systems based on prospect projection, they looked backward over the past few years and tried to figure out just how much those prospects had actually contributed to winning games for their major league teams. The Astros ranked near the top, as I recall.
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