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.