K.C. Royals - How's that farm system?

[DrungoHazewood]

But a great farm gives you a ton of surplus value. Getting 30-35 WAR at a huge discount from cost-controlled players is exactly one billion times more important than that last 10-15 WAR at around market value in FA.

Sure. But most teams don't have a great farm even though they try, so no matter what you do you're probably going to have to spend that $5M/win on a significant part of the last 20.

[Slappy]

Tampa.

Tampa definitely didn't do it all with homegrown guys. They used all of the strategies available to them. Take their '08 team, the turnaround team that won 97 games. The best hitters, Longoria and Carlos Pena, were home grown and a free agent signing, respectively. Hinske was a free agent from Toronto. Navarro, acquired via trade. The starting staff was largely home grown, but the bullpen was mostly acquired (closer Troy Perceival was 38!).

[sakata_catching]

Did fangraphs or anyone else ever claim that KC was trying to compete with 100% homegrown talent? Isn't fangraphs the same site that savages every trade and FA signing Dayton Moore makes?

I'd still take their homegrown core and farm over just about anyone else's in baseball.

[CA-ORIOLE]

Isn't fangraphs the same site that savages every trade and FA signing Dayton Moore makes?
.

Don't know, but they have pretty good reason to do so in this case.