The more I’ve been thinking, the more comfortable I become with our ballclub avoiding trades involving our farmhands so that we can preserve our drafted talent develop some continuity in our system. Over time, a system of promotion and rewards can be better established, where our guys can envision a path to the major leagues as a Met.

I like what the Yankees have done with Hughes, Kennedy, Chamberlain and Coke. Take your best arms from the minors and bring them along in varying roles at the major league level. Let them work their way into the rotation. It beats the heck out of bringing in second class mercenaries to fill perceived roles. Let someone with talent from our system fill the limited roles.

One of the benefits of proceeding in this way is that we now know that Parnell is better suited as a reliever than as a starter. Hopefully, the Met organization can get a clear picture of the value of its own talent on the farm through an internal method of promotion. Its impossible to know what you really have at the major league level if your major and minor league rosters are turning over every year.

Ii recall that Davey Johnson and Bobby Valentine managed the Mets AAA Tides to division titles, which was indicative of a healthy minor league system as well as a testament to their managerial skill.