How the Mariners Farm System Went From #30 to #3 in Under Three Years

[Can_of_corn]

https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/mariners/in-2018-the-mariners-farm-system-ranked-dead-last-now-its-no-3-heres-how-they-did-it/?amp=1&__twitter_impression=true

Yea, I'm posting this to support various positions I hold.  It's still a decent read.

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, Can_of_corn said:

https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/mariners/in-2018-the-mariners-farm-system-ranked-dead-last-now-its-no-3-heres-how-they-did-it/?amp=1&__twitter_impression=true

Yea, I'm posting this to support various positions I hold.  It's still a decent read.

What positions does it support?    Seems like a pretty garden variety article to me.     

[Can_of_corn]

3 minutes ago, Frobby said:

What positions does it support?    Seems like a pretty garden variety article to me.     

1- That it doesn't have to take 4+ years to build a farm system

2- That the O's rather pedestrian raise in the rankings isn't that impressive.

Yes I know rankings are not the be all end all but I've not been that impressed with the progress I've seen given the draft position, trades for prospects and the advertised strengths of our GM.

[Moose Milligan]

How long has Elias been here?

[Can_of_corn]

4 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

How long has Elias been here?

Nov 2018.

[Moose Milligan]

2 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Nov 2018.

Has Elias had trade chips like Robinson Cano and 57 save Edwin Diaz?

[Can_of_corn]

8 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Has Elias had trade chips like Robinson Cano and 57 save Edwin Diaz?

Cano, with his contract, was not a great chip.

Did the Mariners pick 1-1 and 1-2?

 

[Moose Milligan]

31 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Cano, with his contract, was not a great chip.

Did the Mariners pick 1-1 and 1-2?

 

Let me rephrase:

Did the Orioles have a player like Cano or Diaz and a perennial sucker in a trade partner like the Mets?

To your point about 1-1 and 1-2, is your main gripe about draft picks?

[Can_of_corn]

3 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Let me rephrase:

Did the Orioles have a player like Cano or Diaz and a perennial sucker in a trade partner like the Mets?

To your point about 1-1 and 1-2, is your main gripe about draft picks?

Nope, they did however have a whole bunch of guys traded by the prior group, which is stock Elias does get to work with. 

My main gripe is I think progress should be faster than it is.  The current ranking is pretty much based on him having eight first round draft picks still eligible.

[Moose Milligan]

1 minute ago, Can_of_corn said:

Nope, they did however have a whole bunch of guys traded by the prior group, which is stock Elias does get to work with. 

My main gripe is I think progress should be faster than it is.  The current ranking is pretty much based on him having eight first round draft picks still eligible.

You know as well as I do that the prior group whiffed pretty hard on those trades.  Diaz and Kremer are the best gets and they're certainly not blue chip prospects.

Your gripe can chill because you also know as well as I do that 2020 was supposed to be a big season for our prospects to hopefully grow and advance and they didn't get that opportunity.  

[Can_of_corn]

3 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

You know as well as I do that the prior group whiffed pretty hard on those trades.  Diaz and Kremer are the best gets and they're certainly not blue chip prospects.

Your gripe can chill because you also know as well as I do that 2020 was supposed to be a big season for our prospects to hopefully grow and advance and they didn't get that opportunity.  

I thought that was 2019?

[Moose Milligan]

Just now, Can_of_corn said:

I thought that was 2019?

Pretty sure every year during a rebuild is important, hippie.

I understand your gripe but who's to say we're not a top 10 system this time next year?

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, Moose Milligan said:

Pretty sure every year during a rebuild is important, hippie.

I understand your gripe but who's to say we're not a top 10 system this time next year?

I would hope they could leap the hurdle of top 10.  Who might they promote from the current group?  Mountcastle...maybe? 

Do you think this team can maintain success at the major league level with the a farm system that averages tenth best?

I've said before this team has a narrow thin margin for error.  I don't think tenth best gets it done in this division.

 

[Moose Milligan]

38 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I would hope they could leap the hurdle of top 10.  Who might they promote from the current group?  Mountcastle...maybe? 

Do you think this team can maintain success at the major league level with the a farm system that averages tenth best?

I've said before this team has a narrow thin margin for error.  I don't think tenth best gets it done in this division.

 

I think they can but you are correct, it's a thin margin of error.  Tampa's done it, been doing it for years.  It can be done, it's just really hard.  But even if we have a top 10 system, I'm not really convinced.  IIRC, the years when we had "The Cavalry", we were a top 10 system and look how well that worked out for us.  

[Frobby]

I think it’s really hard to compare Seattle and Baltimore unless you really do a deep dig.    Dipoto has been on the job there since the day after the 2015 season ended.   He inherited a team that went 76-86.   He tried to compete for the first few years, and now is on a rebuilding path.     Their “dead last” ranking was before the 2018 season was played, and they still had some talent on the major league team, as evidenced by their 89-73 record that year.    They also had a solid Latin American program — their top prospects list has several Latin American players in the upper tiers (e.g. two in the BA top 100 who were signed before Elias was even on the job in Baltimore).  Elias, meanwhile, started in November 2018, and inherited a 47-115 team that already had traded away almost all of its useful major league assets, and which had almost no Latin American presence to speak of.     

So, I don’t consider the situations to be comparable.    That said, the jury’s still out on Elias.    And the lack of a minor league season this year makes it impossible to gauge how much progress our minor leaguer system would have made since last year.