Ong Talk

                                                    By: Ryan Ong

 

Evaluating the MLB Farm Systems - March 26, 2008

As baseball's regular season approaches, every fan wonders if their team has the right stuff this year. Teams with deep pockets, like Steinbrenner's Yankees, continue to spend to stay in contention. However, in order to be competitive in the playoffs, teams will need a good mix of youth and seasoned veterans.

Last year, the Boston Red Sox had major contributions from veterans like Mike Lowell and Josh Beckett. But rookies like Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury provided huge lifts as well. Along with the Red Sox, the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks had a healthy dosage of youth, with Troy Tulowitzki and Chris Young respectively.

One successful farm system that has proven to help the pro team stay competitive is the Oakland A's. The A's have proven year-after-year that a good farm system can keep an organization competitive. Their farm system has become weaker in recent years, but they have created a buzz again by trading up-and-coming stars such as Dan Haren and Nick Swisher for blue chip prospects. Fans may be disappointed at the A's high turnover in the last few years, but at least they have someting positive to watch.

Across the bay, the San Francisco Giants are trying to win back true fans by marketing their club as "Gamers". The one-man show has left the building. And Bonds' followers have left with him. The Giants' old system of signing veteran players to be around Bonds failed to bring a ring home to San Francisco. Now the team is left with a few overpaid veterans who are past their prime. The organization's farm system and fan base will be crippled for years because the Giants lack a winning product (and will for some time).

Another Giants philosophy was to draft pitching prospects and trade them away for veteran hitters. This philosophy was proved wrong with the A.J. Pierzynski for Joe Nathan and Francisco Liriano trade. The Giants are still feeling the effects of that bad decision.

Over the years, the Giants have not been able to successfully develop a position player. In fact, they have not drafted an everyday position player for over two decades. The last one was Royce Clayton, the 15th overall pick in 1988. The Giants handicapped their farm system each year as they traded away many first-round draft picks in an effort to fill roles around Bonds. The team's current payroll is roughly $90,470,000. A huge portion of that is going to an overpaid veteran named "Light Me Up" Zito.

Successful teams can build competitive teams through the draft and sprinkle in veteran players to keep their payroll down. For example, the once down-and-out Milwaukee Brewers have resurrected their organization over the past couple years with their young, blue-chip talent.

Since 2002, three of the Brewers' first-round selections are now impact players on their active roster. In 2002, the Brewers selected Prince Fielder, who was the 2007 National League Home Run Champion (with 50 bombs). Starting second baseman Rickie Weeks was selected in 2003. Baseball scouts see a lot of potential in Weeks to become a superstar. Finally, there was last year's National League Rookie of the Year, third baseman Ryan Braun, who was selected in 2005.

If you count Ben Sheets (the Brewers' selection in 1999) Milwaukee will be starting four former number one picks on Opening Day this year. Factoring in other draft picks like Bill Hall (6th round, 1998), Corey Hart (11th round, 2000), J.J. Hardy (2nd round, 2001), Manny Parra (26th round, 2001) and Tony Gwynn (26th round, 2003), the Brewers have built an organization that can compete for a long time. Also, since the Brewers wisely built their franchise through the draft the cost of their payroll is a mere $71,986,500, which is the 18th-highest payroll in baseball according to ESPN.

Every year brings new hope for every organization. But the ones that can compete every year are the teams who have up-and-coming talent, like the Red Sox, Rockies and Diamondbacks. Teams who lack blue chip prospects in their farm system will eventually struggle and financially handicap themselves, as was the case with the San Francisco Giants.

Speaking of young talent, be sure to check out my interview with Eric Farris. Farris was selected in the 4th round last season.