Nats have 26th best farm system according to SI

[doubler]

Ouch...I know its SI, but still...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/12/01/farm.systems/index.html?eref=twitter_feed

[HalfSmokes]

For the personal ranking presented here, the emphasis is on star power.

26. Nationals: They have the best prospect in the game in No. 1 draft pick Stephen Strasburg, plus solid talents in catcher Derek Norris, right-hander Drew Storen and shortstop Danny Espinosa. Beyond that, though, the Nats have very little help, especially at the upper levels, which is a pity considering the state of the big-league roster.

?

[Lintyfresh85]

Yeah... that's basically how I see the minors as well.

Some bright spots... but overall, crap.

[doubler]

Yeah... that's basically how I see the minors as well.

Some bright spots... but overall, crap.

Yeah, I think that sums it up well...

Its a shame we couldnt get more out of the draft our first few years of existence...

[KnorrForYourMoney]

Yeah... that's basically how I see the minors as well.

Some bright spots... but overall, crap.

I disagree.  This is probably a middle-of-the-pack minor league system.  I'd take this more seriously if it came from BA or BPro, or even the dreaded Klaw.  SI is trash.

[doubler]

I disagree.  This is probably a middle-of-the-pack minor league system.  I'd take this more seriously if it came from BA or BPro, or even the dreaded Klaw.  SI is trash.

Well, the thing is, our good prospects seem to be very good, but our other prospects seem to be very mediocre. So where that ranks amongst the other clubs I have no idea?

I do agree SI is trash, just thought I would put this out there for everyone to see and discuss.

[NFA Brian]

I disagree.  This is probably a middle-of-the-pack minor league system.  I'd take this more seriously if it came from BA or BPro, or even the dreaded Klaw.  SI is trash.

It was written by John Manuel of Baseball America

[The Chief]

ZING!

[blue911]

We had to trade for a 38 year old career minor leaguer to finish the season. 26th may be too high.

[The Chief]

I know everybody hates bad press, but I'm not really inclined to strongly disagree with the assessment.  You might make an argument for slightly better than 26th, but I definitely don't see any reason to say we're better than the bottom 1/3.  Then again I've never been a fan of a team with a real farm, so I lack perspective

[Lintyfresh85]

I'd say 26 is being generous.

[epic_phalanx]

A strong minor league system is a pipeline of fresh players to the big league club. Kasten and crew barely even had pipes when they came into control in 06, so while you'd like to have more to show for the rebuilding effort at this point, what's important is that they continue to spend money and develop talent properly.

[sportsfan882]

freaking laughable.

It was written by John Manuel of Baseball America

who cares? the Nats system is far from the worst like these fools like to trumpet.

John Manuel doesn't know crap.

Could the farm system be better? Sure, but there is a lot of talent here at all levels.

[PatsNats28]

i'd rank us like 16th or 17th.

[Lintyfresh85]

freaking laughable.
who cares? the Nats system is far from the worst like these fools like to trumpet.

John Manuel doesn't know crap.

Could the farm system be better? Sure, but there is a lot of talent here at all levels.

Once again you are confusing your opinion with fact.

Fact: There hasn't been one National that has been developed from the organization outside of Ryan Zimmerman and John Lannan that can be considered a solid MLB player.

Opinion: [sf] Every person in baseball that continues to trash our system is stupid/moron/whatever low IQ word of the day you are using today. [/sf]

Also, until people actually start paying you for your baseball opinion you have no room to call anyone crap. Manuel knows more about baseball than you, and he always will.

Truth is, as much as you'd like to believe the Nats are awesome in your fantasy world... they really suck... and its going to take Rizzo a couple years to make this thing respectable.

[PANatsFan]

We had to trade for a 38 year old career minor leaguer to finish the season. 26th may be too high.

Hey, 15 years ago, that guy could hit!

[KnorrForYourMoney]

Once again you are confusing your opinion with fact.

Fact: There hasn't been one National that has been developed from the organization outside of Ryan Zimmerman and John Lannan that can be considered a solid MLB player.

Opinion: [sf] Every person in baseball that continues to trash our system is stupid/moron/whatever low IQ word of the day you are using today. [/sf]

Also, until people actually start paying you for your baseball opinion you have no room to call anyone crap. Manuel knows more about baseball than you, and he always will.

Truth is, as much as you'd like to believe the Nats are awesome in your fantasy world... they really suck... and its going to take Rizzo a couple years to make this thing respectable.

So why are you even a fan of this team?

Eh, maybe this team really does have the 26th ranked farm system.  I see an improvement from last year, tbh.  I guess the rest of the league got that much better in the same time period.

I don't get why they say the Nats have very little aside from those stars, though.  What about Marrero, Meyers, Morris, Atwood, or Mandel?  None of those guys are terribly overwhelming, but they've done nothing but perform over the past year.  This is a problem I kind of have with these prospect evaluations.  So little of it is based on results.  They always like to trumpet tools and potential.  What about guys putting up solid peripherals in the minors?  That doesn't seem to weigh too heavily.

Like I said, I won't dispute the ranking - just putting that out there.  I don't have enough familiarity with the rest of the league's prospects.

[blue911]

Every move Mike Rizzo has made in the past two months has been to strengthen the organization in recognizing,signing and developing talent. These were the positions that fled the Expos and never were replaced under Bowden.

[R-Zim#11]

Every move Mike Rizzo has made in the past two months has been to strengthen the organization in recognizing,signing and developing talent. These were the positions that fled the Expos and never were replaced under Bowden.

This!

It's quite evident the pile of crap Bowden left this team by their horrendous start. Rizzo did a great job of patching together a less-then-atrocious bullpen with very little to work with.

We have a couple of guys this year that I am really looking forward to watching develop. Also, we finally have a legitimate presence in the Dominican.

[Lintyfresh85]

Every move Mike Rizzo has made in the past two months has been to strengthen the organization in recognizing,signing and developing talent. These were the positions that fled the Expos and never were replaced under Bowden.

Thank you! I totally agree. Rizzo is the right man to rebuild this organization. He just needs time.

[PANatsFan]

KnorrForYourMoney is the 26th best poster on WNFF

[Lintyfresh85]

So why are you even a fan of this team?

Eh, maybe this team really does have the 26th ranked farm system.  I see an improvement from last year, tbh.  I guess the rest of the league got that much better in the same time period.

I don't get why they say the Nats have very little aside from those stars, though.  What about Marrero, Meyers, Morris, Atwood, or Mandel?  None of those guys are terribly overwhelming, but they've done nothing but perform over the past year.  This is a problem I kind of have with these prospect evaluations.  So little of it is based on results.  They always like to trumpet tools and potential.  What about guys putting up solid peripherals in the minors?  That doesn't seem to weigh too heavily.

Like I said, I won't dispute the ranking - just putting that out there.  I don't have enough familiarity with the rest of the league's prospects.

I'm a fan of the team because I like them?

Just because I'm negative on a farm system that has not produced many results doesn't mean I don't like the team.

I just feel like I'm being realistic about the situation.

[sportsfan882]

So why are you even a fan of this team?

Eh, maybe this team really does have the 26th ranked farm system.  I see an improvement from last year, tbh.  I guess the rest of the league got that much better in the same time period.

I don't get why they say the Nats have very little aside from those stars, though.  What about Marrero, Meyers, Morris, Atwood, or Mandel?  None of those guys are terribly overwhelming, but they've done nothing but perform over the past year.  This is a problem I kind of have with these prospect evaluations.  So little of it is based on results.  They always like to trumpet tools and potential.  What about guys putting up solid peripherals in the minors?  That doesn't seem to weigh too heavily.

Like I said, I won't dispute the ranking - just putting that out there.  I don't have enough familiarity with the rest of the league's prospects.

thank you Knorr. there is a ton of depth here.

Look at just the starters: Arnesen, Atilano, Atwood, Balester, Martis, Detwiler, Mandel, Meyers, Milone, Thompson, Jaime, Frias, Peacock, Demny, McGeary, Lehman, Morris, and more that I can't think of at the moment.

How in the freak was our system rated #9th a few years ago and this system ranked #26th? This system in the present is eons better than that 9th ranked system of a few years ago.

I could kind of understand us being ranked ~15th or so due to not having a significant amount of huge names although that is changing quickly. But 26th is just completely ignorant and way off base.

[blue911]

I could kind of understand us being ranked ~15th or so due to not having a significant amount of huge names although that is changing quickly. But 26th is just completely ignorant and way off base.

Did you even read the story?

[Lintyfresh85]

Did you even read the story?

I think you can answer your own question there.