Bigger problem: failure to develop our own players, or lack of aggressiveness in the FA market?

[Sports Guy]

You're absolutely right. But think of the years between Posada and Cano.

The Yankees don't look at their system like other teams do. Now, that is a flaw of their org I think. Sooner or later they will need to go back to the well. But their current system virtually ensures they are competitive over 162 game season and makes them a year-in-year-out favorite for the playoffs and ALCS.

Their time will come, but with their resources they can keep doing what they are doing for awhile.

No but if they didn't develop well, they wouldn't be able to buy everything and be competitive.

[Sports Guy]

Which as I stated we don't do enough of. If our development from minors to majors is an issue, why the heck are we hanging onto these guys when they have top value?

But you still need to develop them for that to work..and you still need the depth to do it.

I can't believe you don't see how awful your argument is.

You are saying that developing is more important yet you are hanging onto your precious free agents.

[SilentJames]

Which as I stated we don't do enough of. If our development from minors to majors is an issue, why the heck are we hanging onto these guys when they have top value?

Hmmm I wish we had a Gm who would trade middling minor league arms for veteran position players......

[JTrea81]

And whuile the MiL depth is obviously no sure thing, the starting pitchers you get to come to Baltimore are going to be one of a few things(or a combo of a few things):

1) Not good

2) Overpaid

3) Old

4) Declining

That's not really what i would call depth..at least not depth that you can hang your hat on.

Well that's why you go after the premium talent aggressively. We don't so we don't create depth. Hence our lack of agression in FA being a big problem.

[SilentJames]

No but if they didn't develop well, they wouldn't be able to buy everything and be competitive.

I think they develop fine, but I don't think they are one of the better teams in this regard. The Yankees are what they are. I think some of their prospects get a little overrated from time to time. But thy certainly do a better job at getting those C-C+ prospects to grow into B-B- MLBers.

Cervelli is one that comes to mind.

[JTrea81]

Hmmm I wish we had a Gm who would trade middling minor league arms for veteran position players......

MacPhail did this for the first time last offseason. Why not earlier when a guy like MCab was available?

[MikeAD]

Well that's why you go after the premium talent aggressively. We don't so we don't create depth. Hence our lack of agression in FA being a big problem.

Once again this isn't depth. This is like if you are running a company and you have terrible customer service reps. You bring in the top rep from a competitor and you have a great number one guy, but your crappy options 1-5 are now just crappy options 2-6. Depth is when you have 5-6 Pitchers in the minors so that when your ace or number 2 guy becomes to expensive you can trade him and bring in more talent. Depth is when you have 2-3 outfielders and only 1-2 spots open, and can trade that one guy or both to fill a hole elsewhere.

[SilentJames]

Well that's why you go after the premium talent aggressively. We don't so we don't create depth. Hence our lack of agression in FA being a big problem.

But we lose draft picks and therefore LOSE depth!

[TiredofLosing20]

NO

Unless you find a way to add top level young talent in the minors through free agency, you cannot do this. This is simply absurd.

The the main point: there's many factors here. One, we just don't have a ton of top prospects. Everyone we get ends up being a "can't miss" and even among those we rarely have one that will be a big draw in a trade. This is because we invest poorly in the development portion of the franchise. Its not that we "dont know when to trade the players" its that we just don't have that much talent.

I don't know, you can certainly create depth by adding it at the top. The problem is that for the Orioles it is risky from a financial perspective and most likely isn't sustainable.

The overriding point is simple and obvious to all but 1 person evidently which is that the biggest problem this team has is that it for whatever reason can not draft and/or develop our own players. It is the only way this team can compete on an ongoing basis.

[Sports Guy]

Well that's why you go after the premium talent aggressively. We don't so we don't create depth. Hence our lack of agression in FA being a big problem.

Very little premium pitching comes on the market when they are actually premium and when they do, they get obscene amounts of money and years that only morons are handing out.

[El Gordo]

Yes but we would also be losing draft picks thus thinning out an already thin MiL system. So therefore, there is no net-gain and no depth is created. You just shuffle the names.

Only if the SP were type A. Wang, Garcia, and Bedard e.g., could all put up Guthrie numbers or better, and not lose us any picks.

[Sports Guy]

Only if the SP were type A. Wang, Garcia, and Bedard e.g., could all put up Guthrie numbers or better, and not lose us any picks.

Of course, those guys are either not good or oft injured.

[Enjoy Terror]

No but if they didn't develop well, they wouldn't be able to buy everything and be competitive.

They haven't used their prospects at all for trading. They got Granderson for Coke, Jackson and Kennedy (you could argue they lost this trade) and they traded Melky for Javier Vasquez, he's not even on the Yankees. Swisher was had for nobodies. That's it.

[Sports Guy]

They haven't used their prospects at all for trading. They got Granderson for Coke, Jackson and Kennedy (you could argue they lost this trade) and they traded Melky for Javier Vasquez, he's not even on the Yankees. Swisher was had for nobodies. That's it.

You say they haven't done it at all and then you give examples of them doing it? That's a pretty poor argument, isn't it?

[El Gordo]

Of course, those guys are either not good or oft injured.

They are highrisk/reward, and short term solutions, but they would create depth.