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12/16/16

Richard Herr - So Whaddya Think 6

The Farm System
 “So Whaddya think?”
“Whaddya mean, what do I think?”
“Whaddya think about the Mets’ farm system?”
“Can’t tell.”
“Why can’t you tell?”
“Because nobody can tell until they see the guys play in the majors.”
“They’ve got scouting reports. All sorts of ratings are made about farm systems.”
“Those are nothing but popularity polls.”
“These guys are experts...”
“Popularity polls.”
“Whaddya mean?”
“Look at what happened when Omar was GM. His farm system was rated all the way from not-that-hot on up to meh. Nobody ever felt his farm system was that good.”
“Was it?”
“Let me recite to you a list of young gentlemen who ascended to the major leagues from Omar’s farm system. Harvey, deGrom, Matz, Familia, Niese, Parnell, Robles, McHugh, Ynoa, Lagares, Flores, Tejada, Murphy, Duda, and Davis. Let me throw iin a bonus pick: Dickey, who wasn’t drafted, but did get added to the minors.”
“Some of those guys aren’t around anymore.”
“Picky, picky, picky. Injuries and illness did take their toll, but these guys all put in some legitimate time in the bigs.”
“Okay, I’ll give you that.”
“You are so kind. But the fact of the matter is that Omar didn’t win any popularity polls for his system with the great thinkers of the game. However, he turned out a helluva bunch of guys.”
“Okay.”
“Now let’s turn our attention to Sandy’s minors, to which roses have been thrown by the same geniuses who shrugged off Omar. First off, let me say this, in many cases it’s too early to tell. There’s a bunch of young dudes developing their skills who may turn out to be splendid players.”
“It’s kind of you to admit that.”
“If anything, I am the soul of generosity. So let’s take a look at the shining lights of Sandy’s development system. You got Conforto, Nimmo, Cecchini, Gsellman, Lugo, Rivera, Rosiario, Plawecki, and Verrett. Let me also highlight Sandy’s roaring success: Fulmer. We will miss him, but he brought a helluva return.”
“For once I find myself agreeing with you.”
“That’s not a big or outstanding list, but everybody’s saying Sandy’s system is much better than Omar’s.”
“Your point is?”
“That these genius prognosticators are more prone to emotional reactions to who’s up and who’s down than being able to judge the potential in a minor-league system.”
“So what about Sandy’s draft choices?”
“I would like to continue talking about those young gentlemen, but my voice box is so parched it has become infested with a whole bunch of dust bunnies. I might be able to force out a few words if my glass got replenished.”
“You do an awful lot to promote fermentation in this country.”
“I can only try.”


Whenever Richard Herr isn’t solving all the Mets’ problems, he spends his time writing humorous science fiction novels.


You can see his books at https://www.amazon.com/Richard-Herr/e/B00J5XBKX4.

6 comments:

  1. Impressive use of humor to highlight a false narrative that has been so easily accepted.

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  2. Let's look at one specific area of the Mets minor league system... the international kids that were signed -

    First group is Sandy -

    2015-16:
    Andres Gimenez, Gregory Guerrero, Shervyen Newton

    2014-15:
    Jhoander Chourio, Edgardo Fermin, Tulio Garcia, Edwin German, Daniel Guzman, Kenny Hernandez, Hansel Moreno, Lednier Ricardo, Yoel Romero

    2013-14:
    Cecilio Aybar, Luis Carpio, Ricardo Cespedes, Yeffry De Aza, Anthony Derocie, Harol Gonzalez, Jose M. Medina, Marbin Montijo, Oliver Pascual, Dionis Paulino, Ali Sanchez, Luis Silva

    2012-13:
    Eucebio Arias, Franklin Correa, Luis Crisostomo, Gregorix Estevez, Merandy Gonzalez, Ronald Guedez, Santo Marte, Jose C. Medina, Miguel Patino, Darwin Ramos, Walter Rasquin, Scarlyn Reyes, Amed Rosario, Adonis Uceta, Enmanuel Zabala

    2011-12:
    Adrian Almeida, Luis Carreno, Nabil Crismatt, Nicolas Debora, Jose Garcia, Yoan Gonzalez, Jose Maria, Juan Marte, Jose Martinez, Marcos Molina, John Mora, Dionis Rodriguez, Hengelbert Rojas, Jhoan Urena, Gregory Valencia

    And then there was Omar -

    2010-11:
    Gaby Almonte, Kevin Canelon, Leon Canelon, Oswald Caraballo, Cristian Chivilli, Victor Cruzado, Maikis De La Cruz, Jose Encarnacion, Jose Figuera, Audry German, Manuel Hilario, Vicente Lupo, Alvin Maracaro, Luis Mateo, Rafael Montero, Victor Moscote, Luis Ortega, Eris Peguero, Pedro Perez, Natanael Ramos, Alfredo Reyes, Jorge Rivero, J.C. Rodriguez, Waldo Rodriguez, Elvis Sanchez, Kent Tsujimoto

    2009-10:
    Adrian Abreu, Octavio Acosta, Alberto Baldonado, Michael Bernal, Jose Celas, Anthony Chavez, Ramon Estevez, Gabriel Feliz, Juan Carlos Gamboa, Julian Hilario, Rainy Lara, Miguel Leal, Alex Machillanda, Ariel Mercedes, Yoryi Nuez, Persio Reyes, Ruben Reyes, Lenny Rosario, Yeixon Ruiz, Domingo Tapia, Juan Urbina, Kevin Weijgertse, Gabrial Ynoa

    2008-09:
    Martires Arias, Sneider Batista, Luis Cessa, Yucary De La Cruz, Thomas De Wolf, Miller Diaz, Dawrin Frias, Carlos J. Gomez, Gilbert Gomez, Isaac Monrroy, Estarlin Morel, Jimber Mueses, Flabio Ortega, Andres E. Perez, Eudy Pina, Luis Rengel, Hansel Robles, Aderlin Rodriguez, Alex Sanchez, Randoll Santana, Carlos Vazquez, Edioglis Villasmil, Ernesto Yanez

    2007-08:
    Yohan Almonte, Hector Alvarez, Marcos Camarena, Albert Cordero, Angel Cuan, Jeurys Familia, Wilmer Flores, Gonzalez Germen, Kai Gronauer, Jefry Marte, Adam O'Neill, Dimas Ponce, Cesar Puello, Miguel Tejada, Ismael Tijerina, Jhonathan Torres, Wilfredo Tovar, Amauris Valdez, Marinus Vernooij

    2006-07:
    Eduardo Aldama, Jose Bierd, Maikel Cleto, Julio Concepcion, Jeyckol De Leon, Tony Feliz, Lachlan Hodge, Jenrry Mejia, Nestor Moreno, Francisco Pena, Ramiro Peralta, Armando Rodriguez, Luis Rojas, Breiner Soto, Samuel Taveras, Ruben Tejada, Jordany Valdespin, Santiago Valdez, Ray Van Gurp, Pedro Zapata

    2005-06:
    Michel Abreu, Imbewer Alvarez, Raul Batis, Julio Bello, Matais Carrillo, Rafael Fernandez, Deolis Guerra, Juan Lagares, Fernando Martinez, Pedro E. Martinez, Pedro P. Martinez, Ruben Martinez, Samuel Martinez, Luis Nieves, Jorge Rodriguez, Marcos Tabata, Juan Torres, Orlando Tovar, Greg Veloz

    2004-05:
    Ezequiel Carrera, Patrick Maat, Oscar Melendez, Thomas Paredes, Richard Pena, Julio Polanco, Elvin Ramirez, Raul Reyes, Wendy Rosa, Stefan Welch, Gabriel Zavala

    You can make your own conclusions here but I believe that Omar did a much better job here.

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  3. wow Mack... That is a great Post...
    How do you even find that information (I am not worthy)...

    I never knew we signed as many as we did... What I do get upset about is I usually hear about the top 30 International prospects annually and who signs them... We are rarely involved with them... when we should always be involved in every manner to build a ball club... Draft, international kids , international Free agents, Trades, and Free agency...

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  4. Eddie -

    It was compiled by Mets blogger Chris Walendin

    A great site - http://tpgmets.blogspot.com/

    Omar signed many more players each year that Sandy did.

    Also, Sandy fired the ENTIRE Mets international scouting department when he came in and things got off to a real bad start for him internationally

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  5. Why did Sandy fire all those guys, Mack? Cost reduction? I agree that international participation is key to future success.

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  6. He fired them because he's Sandy Alderson.

    There also was a lot of bad shit going on with Omar's posse down in the minors. The powers to be in camp treated the whites and blacks like shit.

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