Always made a good point in that the beginning of that sample were a bunch of guys not drafted by Omar and it stands to reason that they would be Rushed a little quicker because we were playing for something at that time.

Including the 2009 season is also a bit unfair as it doesn’t take into account the injuries that required rushing some minor leaguer to come in to replace an injured player.

We all pretty much agree the farm Omar inherited was just awful so can you really blame the lack of a 20 game winner on the fact that Omar rushed them?

Yes he rushed Mejia last year. Why did he do that? Maybe because he and Manuel were fighting for their jobs and were forced to do things a secure GM and Manager would not normally do? Add injuries needing to be replaced and the situation the stats are trying to convey are skewed where for many of those teams the situation was just normal.

The Delgados, Beltrans and Reyes (not to mention the pitchers) have put a lot of stress on our minors to bring up players who simply aren’t ready.

That whole 2007 draft was the worst one in the history of MLB 1-6. Kunz, Vineyard who cashed the check and quit after 30 IP, Moviel, Rustisch, Niessen, Cline. All pitchers, All busts, maybe we get a LOOGY out of it. You can do that from the waiver wire.

The idea that an infielder could be your everyday left fielder as THE PLAN is ridiculous, Anyone that has ever played baseball can tell you that infield and outfield are so night and day different from each other that you don’t just “learn on the job.”

Plenty of teams expecting to be in the playoffs will put a bookmark at a position until their prospect is ready. Atlanta got Troy Glaus AND Derrick Lee to avoid rushing Freddie Freeman last year. This year Freeman 2nd round #14 2007 will take over.

Planning ahead of time for future needs afford you time to find a guy AHEAD of time. A prospect from some other system you trade for 2 years before. A rule 5, non tender, career minor leaguer, anyone because if you want to win baseball games you need to get the BEST YEARS of the players on your team. Not their TOO EARLY or TOO LATE YEARS.

Having so many needs every year because of poor drafting in prior years leads to rushing the few prospects we ever half develop. Work not done in prior years cannot be undone by making more mistakes later.

Other than Milwaukee (because of trades for pitching) We are the only team in MLB without a top 100 prospect on Baseball America’s just published list that came from the draft.

We have continously drafted less talented, lower ceiling prospects in order to comply with Bud Selig’s slotting “recommendations” even though almost nobody else does. For a “big market” Team this is asinine. This “philosophy” is probably behind our decision to give away a #1 pick for Moises Alou and two # 1 picks for Chris Carter. Even one of our top prospects Matt Harvey was drafted well above where he was expected to go because his stock had DROPPED. Therefore he would be easier to sign. Signability instead of talent is the guiding principle of our draft strategy.

That and the fact that our payroll is always up against the ceiling with frequently injured and under performing expensive players creates the neccesity to round out the roster with other teams rejects and ill prepared prospects making league minimum.

and changing this culture IMO is a huge, huge part of what Sandy and his boys are looking to do. Much bigger emphasis on MiL training and player development.

this seems to get overlooked with much of the ranting about him being a saberhead, and not having done enough for the 25 man already.

outside of maybe some IFAs, these guys all have many, many years of top level competition and coaching under their belts. the top guys (that end up getting drafted) have played year round for most of their lives. AAU ball, tournements, HS, college, clinics.

while time in the minors is valuable for improving your skills against higher levels of competition, they should have the basics (that you learn in little league) well down by the time they are in the system. And if they are a little weak on a few fundies, how long does it really take to work on them when you hit rookie ball?

The time line is also skewed a bit based on who they draft. The Mets seem to have taken a lot more college guys (especially pitchers) who effectively had 3 years in the minors already. Some teams (TB) take way more HS guys, which normally will mean more time in the minors.

You mentioned Ike. He played 3 years at ASU, a top college program. PLus cape cod league, etc (I think that one). You don’t think those 3 years didn’t count as much toward his development as playing a season in Kingsport would for a HS kid?

An interesting overlay to this would be average age at debut. Wonder how much that changes things?

also hard to tell if this trend means guys will struggle longer before becoming successful, or that they will never get there at all?

Let’s just hope they let Mejia learn to be a starter 1st with some success down at AAA before they bring him up based on 10 Spring Training starts.