The Farm Team
The Post reports that we have no farm system. This piece from last year's Baseball America is also useful.
I have to admit that I'm really confused about this. For years, all I've been hearing about is how the Expos were forced to trade away their most expensive talent and just receive prospects in return. As part of a multi-team deal, the Red Sox traded for Orlando Cabrera last year because the Expos wouldn't be able to resign him, and Montreal got Francis Beltran, Brendan Harris, and Alex Gonzales in return. Gonzales is now a Devil Ray, but the other two remain with the Nationals. Really, I don't know a thing about Beltran and Harris, but after years of doing deals like this, shouldn't Washington be full of young talent? (In fairness, Cabrera was batting .246 at the time of the trade with an on base percentage of .298, so he wasn't exactly a hot commodity.)
But we aren't full of young talent.
Baseball America reminded me that in 2002, Omar Minaya -- in a no-win position -- nevertheless traded away Jason Bay, Cliff Lee, Donald Levinski, Brandon Phillips, Grady Sizemore, Matt Watson and Justin Wayne to try to win the Wild Card that year. Part of my bias in this comes from never being a believer in Bartolo Colon; Montreal sent Sizemore, Phillips, and Stevens to the Indians for Colon and Tim Drew. It didn't work out.
Hell, I don't know who half of those guys are, but Bay just won the National League Rookie of the Year and Cliff Lee now an Indian, and is the best young pitcher on that staff. The Giants wound up winning the Wild Card in 2002, and the Indians made themselves a contender in 2004. It was a perfect trade for Cleveland, who had no hope of contending that year or the next.
Somehow, Washington is presently left with very little in its farm system. I really can't add much here, because the Post article neglected to mention the AGES of any of the top prospects. I don't believe anything I read about a pitcher under 22, so forgive me if I'm not excited about Clint Everts.
It's going to be very, very hard to say, "Wait 'til next year" with a straight face.
I have to admit that I'm really confused about this. For years, all I've been hearing about is how the Expos were forced to trade away their most expensive talent and just receive prospects in return. As part of a multi-team deal, the Red Sox traded for Orlando Cabrera last year because the Expos wouldn't be able to resign him, and Montreal got Francis Beltran, Brendan Harris, and Alex Gonzales in return. Gonzales is now a Devil Ray, but the other two remain with the Nationals. Really, I don't know a thing about Beltran and Harris, but after years of doing deals like this, shouldn't Washington be full of young talent? (In fairness, Cabrera was batting .246 at the time of the trade with an on base percentage of .298, so he wasn't exactly a hot commodity.)
But we aren't full of young talent.
Baseball America reminded me that in 2002, Omar Minaya -- in a no-win position -- nevertheless traded away Jason Bay, Cliff Lee, Donald Levinski, Brandon Phillips, Grady Sizemore, Matt Watson and Justin Wayne to try to win the Wild Card that year. Part of my bias in this comes from never being a believer in Bartolo Colon; Montreal sent Sizemore, Phillips, and Stevens to the Indians for Colon and Tim Drew. It didn't work out.
Hell, I don't know who half of those guys are, but Bay just won the National League Rookie of the Year and Cliff Lee now an Indian, and is the best young pitcher on that staff. The Giants wound up winning the Wild Card in 2002, and the Indians made themselves a contender in 2004. It was a perfect trade for Cleveland, who had no hope of contending that year or the next.
Somehow, Washington is presently left with very little in its farm system. I really can't add much here, because the Post article neglected to mention the AGES of any of the top prospects. I don't believe anything I read about a pitcher under 22, so forgive me if I'm not excited about Clint Everts.
It's going to be very, very hard to say, "Wait 'til next year" with a straight face.
posted by Josh at
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
3 Comments:
The problem is that it really hasn't been years of doing this. Everyone remember John Wetteland, Larry Walker, Randy Johnson, etc, but the team just hasn't had that kind of talent since then. (Guerrero excepted)
The Post article indicates part of the problem: They haven't been able to develop talent because the MLB ownership situation cut back on scouting and the draft budget.
But, another factor was Omar Minaya's 'leadership'. His trades in an ill-fated attempt to contend in 2000, really hurt the farm system. This is what they gave up.
Lose: Geoff Blum, Guillermo Mota, Jason Bay, Scott Strickland, Brandon Phillips, Cliff Lee, Grady Sizemore, Carl Pavano.
Gain:
Jose Macias, Matt Herges, Lou Collier, Jim Brower, Sun Woo-Kim, and 3 months of Bartolo Colon.
You can't give up that much talent and expect to compete on a budget so low.
The top prospects in the system probably aren't anything to write home about, but they can be cheap stop-gaps, which would allow you to spend more money elsewhere.
New ownership, more than anything, will get us on the right track.
By
Chris Needham, at 11:38 AM
You know, the big name in the Colon trade was Brandon Phillips (who was traded because Cabrera had just stuck a gold glove in his path)... How things change
As for colon, I cherish the day I saw him hit a single at the big owe and then litteraly stand inert at first base. Feline. Purely feline. I was in teh right field bleachers and.. Well, you know, we all saw a big guy stand straight up, legs apart, knees somehow bending slightly in and backward?
That was Colon taking a lead at first.
But the lack of budget organization wide since the years just before Loria probably did more damages than Minaya...
By
Olivier, at 3:23 PM
It is very true that the Nationals' farm system is one of the worst in the league, if not the worst. There is a little hope with Hinckley, Broadway and Everts (if he returns to normal after Tommy John surgery). Ryan Church and Brendan Harris also have a good chance at being solid, but likely not stars, in the majors.
What the Nationals need to do in the next draft or two is to take a lot of lower risk college players (as oppose to risky high school picks), but not necessarily what they have done over the past two years, which is to take relievers (Chad Cordero and Bill Bray) who are almost ready to pitch in the majors. They need polished players, sure, but ones with more upside. And starting pitchers and position players have more upside than relievers.
The best thing to do is think of the Nationals as an expansion team. It’s not fair to expect them to win right away. Years of MLB control has strip the team of all their star players (with apologies to Jose Vidro) and minor league talent. Trying to win too quickly will result in either destroying the team (see the early days of the Devil Rays) or bankrupting it (see the current Diamondbacks).
All is not lost, though. There is some talent in the minors… but the Nationals also need to put a lot of money into their minor league development program and have a real vision and plan for developing young players. They also need to make a lot of amateur free agent signings, whether it be Latin America, Australia or the Asia.
In the next week or two I will be doing a top 30 prospect list for the Washington Nationals at my site: www.washnationals.blogspot.com, which will hopefully come out before Baseball America publishes their annual lists.
By
Marc Hulet, at 9:29 AM
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