FOR A TEAM STEAPED IN SUCH A HAILSTORM OF CRITICISM OVER POOR DEVELOPMENT FROM ’04-PRESENT, IT’S REMARKABLE AS TO HOW MUCH MLB PRODUCTION WE’RE GETTING FROM THOSE WE’VE CULTIVATED IF CHOOSING POTENTIAL MLB LEVEL TALENT IS SUPPOSED TO BE A TALENT IN ITSELF. THE DEPTH OF THAT VISIONARY TALENT NEEDED IS MUCH,MUCH LESS WHEN DEALING IN FIRST ROUNDERS & SO MUCH MORE WHEN FOCUSING LATER. I BELIEVE, OMAR’S TALENT IDENTIFICATION SCHEME TO OFFSET LOST FIRST-ROUNDERS WHILE RESTRICTED FROM EXCEEDING SLOTS HAS BEEN OVERLY CASTIGATED. NO, THERE AREN’T MANY PROJECTED ALL-STARS OR HOFers AS WITH OTHER CLUBS; HOWEVER THERE ARE A SUPRISING NUMBER OF THOSE THAT HAVE SURVIVED THE VARIOUS SEPARATING LEVELS TO RESULT IN A “CONTRIBUTING” LEVEL MLB TALENT ALBEIT SPECIALIZED IN NATURE 1,2,3,4 TOOLS THE MERE FACT THAT SO MANY HAVE SURVIVED CERTAINLY EXCEEDS BY FAR, THIS TERAM’S HISTORICAL RECORD SINCE FRANK RETIRED & DOUBLEDAY LOST INTEREST.

The NYY pretty much only had Posada and Cano from the inhouse but they also had the farm to get O’Neil, Tino, A Rod, Swisher, Granderson.

The Cardinals have really only had Pujols but the farm got them Holliday, Edmonds, Rolen, McGwire.

Other than Granderson the Tigers haven’t developed a 3-4-5 hitter since Gibson.

Rangers still have their team incubating in the minors and have some OFers who will be true 3-4-5 hitters but right now no. They haven’t developed their own.

Keep Pelfrey, he won’t get 7-8 M. He’ll get about 5. He’s healthy and durable and has three times pitched well for a half a season at a time. With free agency coming for him in two years he should be really motivated and at least he’s a guy who can give you 6+ every night out and sometimes more. That gives someone in the pen a night off. If he does get off to a good start, could bring something attractive around the deadline. Look what the Pirates got for Benson or the Rays for Zambranno. You never know your luck but if you dump him for nothing you have no chance and whoever you do get is at the least going to be a bigger risk than Pelfrey to wind up on the DL.

’62′s right. We have complained endlessly about all the guys we’ve had to bring in here through the years because of a lack of in house options and depth. Now that we have a chance to provide some of those solutions for ourselves for 6-10 years at a clip, it’s not the right time to start dealing those guys away. Be patient or we’ll just continue to be in the same position every single year.

The key is to ADD to what we have coming up, not subtract from what we have.

The best way to obtain your 3-4-5 hitters is to get them through the draft or international free agency, then you’ll have them here for for a while and you can ADD a guy through a trade if need be but you just cannot count on a Carlos Beltran being a free agent every single year. The whole key for the 3-4-5 hitters are to have all three together for four – five years.

Only twice since 1998 have we really addressed position players through the draft. 2001 we drafted Wright (1s) , Turay (2) and Rangsdale (3). 2008 we drafted Davis (1) Havens (1), Rodriguez (2), and Nieuenhauss (3) Coincidentally both years we got a position player and who knows with Havens and Kirk. Maybe we’ll get another.

The other 12 years we selected a total of just FIVE position players with a 1st, 2nd or 3rd round draft choice and signed just one IFA who made it up here (Reyes) and he wasn’t a 3-4-5 type hitter and either were any of the five draftees. (Milledge, Coles, Tyner, Shields and Forsythe) If your not drafting them and your not signing them in international free agency your leaving obtaining them to methods that require you to give up a #1 or #2 pick or prospects and the guys you get that way have a much shorter shelf life. That makes it much more difficult to have all three at the same time.

Of the IFA’s coming up through the system only Flores (playing 3B for Marguarita in the VWL) and Aderlain Rodriguez profile as potential 3-4-5 hitters and Aderlain has shown zero in the way of anything other than power. Lagares (still killing it and with 2 HR’s in the AFL and Marte 2 HR’s as well and .300 BA) can’t be ruled out but really profile more like 2′s and 6′s as does Puello. Fern is more of an example of why you need MORE draftees or IFA’s, not less of them. Fern cost 1.4 M to sign. Chump change for a big market team. Cab fare. Great thought process, didn’t pan out (but who knows, may still) Vaughn (4th, 2010) could be but he’s as much suspect as prospect right now.

It’s one thing if your developing a million pitchers the way we’ve been drafting and can deal off your excess but that hasn’t been the case. When we have drafted hitters in the first round we’ve been pretty successful. We just haven’t done anywhere near enough of that and we haven’t signed anywhere near enough kids overseas who project to be 3′s, 4′s and 5′s either.

The true 3,4,5 hitter who doesn’t give back some of his production on the other end is found internationally or in rounds 1, 2 and 3 and while everyone can point to exceptions most of the time the exception would be the HS kid drafted later and paid a lot more to come out early than a college player would have gotten in the same slot.

As for Duda (college player 7th round) his development so far has been great. His defense is another matter entirely but it looks like his bat will make up for that. That’s terrific but just imagine if Duda was your 6th or 7th hitter instead of hopefully being your 4th or 5th? Then you’d really have something.

1)Reyes resigning, never happening he will get Crawford money somewhere.

2)BJ Upton does not fit the mold of Alderson a career .257 hitter is not going to make the plan for this club.

3) Three and four will not happen, you will get nothing in return for Davis who is coming off a serious season ending injury.

4)Your point on Molina is good, but Alderson will probably go with Thole as the starter and get a guy ala Paulino to spot start.

5)Your number six is backwards, Trade Pelfrey and keep Bay, you may get something for Pelf.

THIS IS THE TIME TO WAIT, NOT GROW IMPATIENT. FOR YEARS WE’VE HEARD & READ CONDEMNATIONS OF THIS TEAM’S LACK OF DEPTH & MISERABLE FARM SYSTEM, JUST AS WE’RE NEARING THE END OF THE DROUGHT CAUSED BY PHILLIPS’ FARM DISREGARD THERE ARE THOSE LOOKING TO WHEEL & DEAL THE PRODUCE FOR IMMEDIATE IMPACT OVER LONGTERM STRENGTH

ALEX, OUR PATHS PART ON THE SUBJECT OF WARTHEN, ANY COACH IS LIKELY TO MAKE A NEGLIGIBLE DIFFERENCE AND IT DOESN’T COMPUTE THAT A COACH MAY HAVE PREVENTED THOSE FLUKE PITCHING INJURIES TO OBLIQUES,HAMMYS; NOT ELBOWS,SHOULDERS AS SANTANA WAS AN INJURY SERIES WAITING TO HAPPEN OBVIOUSLY, LIKE PEDRO, SLENDER, RATHER SHORT BY TODAY’S STANDARDS. BTW, ALEX BY ALL REPORTS NEARLY EVERY PITCHER ON STAFF PREFERS THAT WARTHEN STAYS PUT. THAT, MY FRIEND IS TRULY THE ONKLY STANDARD THAT COUNTS AS YOU SEEM TO BE EXPECTING FREATER RESULTS THAN THE PHYSICAL TALENT GIVEN CAN COVER.

I’m all for trading Ike if we can get our mits on a proven power hitter like Prince or Pujols. That’s how you gain instant credibility while solidifying the middle of your order. There’s nothing wrong with breaking the bank for STAR players. It’s when you sign someone else’s NON-STAR (Jason Bay for example) is when you get in trouble. There’s no guarantee Ike turns himself into a superstar hitter that carries your team like some of the guys who were here. It’s VERY difficult to grow a true #3-4-5 hitter. If you can acquire one via trade or free agency, you go do it. Mike Piazza, Jon Olerud, Carlos Delgado, and Carlos Beltran don’t grow on trees, fellas. Ike might develop, but then again, there’s a chance he might not. Same can be said for Lucas Duda. At least with Wright, he’s proven he can produce with superior talent protecting him. I’m not ready to say Ike and Duda are superior talents. Are you?

As for Jason Bay – I don’t tihnk there is any team that is ready to take on his contract without the Mets eating a big chunk of it, so I fear we are stuck with that albatross for another few years.