Thursday, October 8, 2009

Focus still has to be on the minors

The Post Gazette has an article giving 10 ways to make the Pirates better in 2010. I have a fundamental disagreement with the writer, Dejan Kovacevic. I believe Dejan’s view is stuck in a previous era of baseball.

First, let me say what I agree with. I agree with 8 through 2. There is nothing to complain about with those points. They are good and with the exception of promoting Alvarez and Lincoln, not controversial. I agree with the sentiment of number 9, but not his thinking. The Pirates have to stick with Jones, and by all accounts they are going to do just that. Yet, I think he should believe the denials of the Pirates about the reasoning for their constant moving around of Jones from 1B to OF. They may have indeed wanted to see more of Moss and Pierce. Those guys will be competing next year for jobs. Jones will not. But also the platooning also gave the Pirates the best chance to win day in and day out. Moss hit about .240 against mostly righties. Can you imagine how bad he would have been if he had to face lefties? Pierce hit about .210. It would have been worse if he had been in there against lefties. It really was the best for the Pirates this year. Sad, I know, but probably true.

What I really disagree with is point number 1 and 10 which are linked. Focus on Pittsburgh and spend. This is not how great teams are built. It used to be. You went out and paid a handsome price and you were set as a contender for years. Not anymore. Let us just look at history to prove my point.

Let us just start with 1996. The Yankees ascension to dominance. Their first championship did include a lot of journeymen, but it was based upon Jeter and Williams along with Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera. All were in house Yankees. Because it was so Free Agent built they did not return in 1997. That was the year the Florida Marlins bought the World Series with their Free Agents including Bonilla. The Marlins disbanded and that was that for them. It used to be Free Agents could get you a title, but something changed.
1998 saw the Yankees return to the top by adding Jorge Posada from their own organization. Hideki Irabu did help the pitching and should be considered an in house product since it is not really the same thing as Free Agency or trading. It was in 1999 that they added Roger Clemens. They won again, but their overall record plunged 16 games. In 2000 they bolstered by Free Agents again adding David Justice and Deany Neagle, and they won again. Their record also dropped another 11 games. In 2001 they added Mike Mussian, a major Free Agent. Their record did increase by 8 games, but they also added Alfonso Soriano from their own minor league system. They lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks who were led by two great pitchers neither of whom originated in Arizona. So 2001 saw the Diamondbacks pay for a title, but the epic collapse of that team shows that such victories are of a short duration. The Yankees continued to add free agents and they continued to fail. Jason Giambi and A-Rod are prime examples.
2002 had the Angles win led by almost all home grown guys. Troy Glaus, Darin Erstad, and Benjy Molina were all Angle prospects. 2003 was the Flordia Marlins that did get Free Agent Ivan Rodreguiz and much credit has been given to this because he did play well in the playoffs. But that Marlin team was homegrown. Luis Castillo, Juan Pierre, Brad Penny, Dontrelle Willis, and Josh Beckett were home grown Marlins. Derrick Lee and Mike Lowell had each played less than 50 games with another team when they were aquired by the Marlins in various trades. Those trades for minor leaguers that Dejan seems to hate so much.
The Boston Red Sox of 2004 were powered by steroids. But also led by Jason Varitek and Nomar Garciparra who were homegrown (until Nomar was traded). They Ortiz who was probably the real power of the team was acquired in a team building trade that Dejan detests from Minnesota. Add in a few more homegrown guys like Youkilis, Papelbon, and Dice-K and the Red Sox win again in 07. The White Sox broke the curse next with pitching including Buehrle, Garland, and Contreras – all homegrown. As were Joe Crede and Juan Uribe. The next year they were favored to repeat because they went out and signed a big name Free Agent in Jim Thome. They finished third in their own division. 2006 saw the culmination of the St. Louis Cardinals rebuilding efforts which centered on Albert Pujols. The Cardinals had ridden that homegrown horse as well as Jason Marquis and Matt Morris to a World Series loss in 04. They had lost in the NLCS after adding homegrown Yadlir Molina to the mix. Anthony Reyes and Adam Wainwright helped push the Cardinals over the top. The Philies won last year with homegrown guys like Cole Hamels, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Jimmie Rollins. They signed big name free agents in the off season and traded for Cliff Lee mid season and it looks bad for them right now.

The point is this: you must build an organization before you can win the World Series.

The Pirates cannot afford to neglect their minor league system as it is still in bad shape. It is no longer humiliating, but that is no reason to abandon the effort now. The Pirates have great pitching prospects, but outside of Alvarez and Tabata there are no bats on the horizon. You have to go down to Single A to get hitting prospects. That is a bad thing. Long term success is the goal, not a one time trip and then a complete collapse. The Pirates did it in the 90s with a solid minor league system. That is the way back to the top.

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