Monday, December 26, 2011

prospects, HUH. what are they good for???


(the following is a reply to an email i just wrote regarding trading kids in our farm system to bulk up our team. forgive the possible inaccuracies, although i got most of it right...i just woke up...and i typed it all in about 4 minutes.)

the thing is, yes. rookies, or prospects, do have seasons of struggle. i remember when everyone was all in fits over cano's first few seasons, wanting to trade him due to his fielding and, well, lack of TENURE / SUPERSTAR status, really. and here we are. cashman stood by him, knowing he was still developing, and the ALL SO SOUGHT AFTER VETERAN FREE AGENTS would only continue to age and their career numbers would decline and we'd be right back at square one, looking for YET ANOTHER VETERAN FREE AGENT to fill his shoes. yes, not all prospects develop into KEEPERS. but, robbie went on to post some amazing numbers and acquire a silver? glove (if not gold. again, it's the offseason and i'm barely awake right now...)

what the san francisco giants wouldn't do for a robbie cano today...

and, inasmuch as i am FINE with freeing ourselves from ian kennedy, turns out he really DID have the potential cashman had stood by in 08. (although he and hughes hadn't quite developed enough to be in the 4th and 5th spots.) however, they...along with cano and a handful of others, were sought in exchange for JOHAN SANTANA. well, where is santana now? and how many seasons has he MVP'd for the mets? imagine, instead of a future of developing prospects (much like jeter, rivera, pettitte, posada, etc. etc. who forged a dynasty and have remained as invaluable to the yankees) we would be looking to replace johan.

i am a firm proponent of holding onto valuable prospects. 2010, the san francisco giants utilized madison bumgarner in the world series. the kid was in AA when the season began. and where was their $127 million dollar VETERAN, barry zito? not even on the roster.

the future is NOT formulating a team of HAS-BEEN VETS with lengthy contracts that usher us into a 92 wins season, behind the red sox...

the future is patiently grooming our prospects and wise trades or FA acquisitions. after all, was ANYONE thinking MVP for a guy named DAVID FREES last december? if you were, i applaud you. lol.

anyhow. this is the foundation of my philosophy behind building another dynasty. not unlike the vision buck showalter has had for the various championship-bound teams he's been asked to assemble over the years.

as a side note, it was BUCK who preceeded OUR dynasty. when jeter, pettitte, posada, and rivera were rookies. and rivera was extremely close to being traded, due to his COMPLETE INABILITY TO START. patience and vision. and here we are. we will always have the BEST CLOSER IN THE HISTORY OF THE GAME.

just food for thought...