This is more a comment on your Royals Review article today, and I can see how it will be better for the Royals to be more transactional - but I am also a little nervous about trading any of our top prospects, along the lines of "A fool and his money are soon parted." In terms of being the fool, we sure seemed to give up some of our top prospects to get Cueto and Zobrist, which helped create the valley after. I can agree that if we really had to give up that much, that a World Series title is worth it. On the other hand, I do not see any other clubs offering up any of their top prospects for our guys now. I can understand that it may be because we do not have a Cueto or Zobrist on our club - but, then again, I could see Whit being as good as Zobrist. And I would be (and was) in favor of trading him for a top prospect as, like Zobrist, he is getting closer to the end than to the prime of his career. BUT - I do not see anyone trading Tatis, or Acuna - OR anyone else that can be a plus part of their championship lineup. It seems to me that first you plug in all our best pieces to make up your best championship lineup - and then, perhaps, trade spare parts to fill any holes you still have. But, in our case, if we are looking for above average, championship pieces, then, until they prove otherwise, I keep MJ and Pratto. Any any young starters, until enough have proven themselves, both as starters and depth. Same with relievers. If I still have a hole in CF - then I keep Taylor - very good with the glove, below average with the bat - as the sole hole on the team - or spend some money, not trade a top prospect, to get someone even better. As I look back at this, I am sounding very anti-transactional - but only to the extent of not letting go of top prospects that we are blessed to already have in our system.
So to your points, I don't think trading for Cueto and Zobrist was what created the valley. They traded one player who ended up being worth anything in the big leagues. Manaea would be great to have on this team right now and in the past few years, but the other guys they moved ended up being nothingburgers.
Teams aren't offering top prospects (that we know of) for Royals players because Royals players that have been available aren't very good. The only players the Royals have had over the years that teams would have traded big time prospects for were Lorenzo Cain, Alex Gordon and Salvador Perez (at various times). Outside of Cain at the 2016 deadline before he got hurt, they weren't even available, so that's why you're not seeing anything on that.
And as for trading prospects, my opinion is that the point of the farm system is to supplement the big league roster both through promotions and through trades. Sometimes you have to trade certain guys to fill other holes on the roster. The key is not so much to trade players who don't succeed but rather when choosing which to keep to make sure the guys who are kept do produce. Sometimes trades hurt.
I meant to add to the point about the big 2015 trades not depleting the system that the real culprit was either bad drafting or bad development or maybe both, though with the development system revamped, it sure seems like guys are actually progressing which makes me believe development was the bigger issue all along.
Good points. I guess what I am saying is that successful teams seem to be transactional, but not with their top young prospects. Trading Evan Longoria in his prime, at highest value, when you see that he can be adequately replaced, could be a good move - but not trading Tatis or Acuna, Jr., or Bobby Witt now. to fill some hole. Your top young prospects, the ones you really think can be part of your championship core (Witt, MJ, Pratto, etc., you hold onto - as do the other clubs) - you keep those. And then free agent sign, or trade, around the edges. Now, theoretically, if you had two MJ's, you might trade one for an MJ version of a top prospect CF - but not otherwise. You just do not trade your top young prospects - as even the playoff teams seem to mostly refuse to do (excepting the Royals giving up Manea for Zobrist?) even when they are bolstering their core to make a run at the World Series. I seem to read frequently that those teams "refused to trade any of their top prospects" kind of thing.
Teams will absolutely trade their top prospects for more than a rental. The issue is that teams aren’t trading much more than rentals at the deadline generally. But look what the Blue Jays gave up for Berrios. Austin Martin is a very highly rated prospect. The Dodgers gave up Keibert Ruiz for Scherzer and Turner. And you don’t have to look too far to see the White Sox moved years of team control to get back guys like Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech and Eloy Jimenez. Teams trade top prospects when they get something back worth trading a top prospect.
I missed the game live today and just watched a little bit ago. The way Salvy is taking a beating behind the plate has got worried about him making it through a full season as he keeps getting older. We need his bat and leadership in the lineup most days. It seems to me we need to start next year with Melendez and him splitting catching duties on 50/50 or 60/40 pace. I know he wouldn't like it and they could split DH duties. My fear is concussions or worse if they keep catching him so much. I also wish they were playing Isbel and Oliveras and sit O'Hearn and DFA Dyson. I am growing sick and tired from watching those 2 play almost every day.
This is more a comment on your Royals Review article today, and I can see how it will be better for the Royals to be more transactional - but I am also a little nervous about trading any of our top prospects, along the lines of "A fool and his money are soon parted." In terms of being the fool, we sure seemed to give up some of our top prospects to get Cueto and Zobrist, which helped create the valley after. I can agree that if we really had to give up that much, that a World Series title is worth it. On the other hand, I do not see any other clubs offering up any of their top prospects for our guys now. I can understand that it may be because we do not have a Cueto or Zobrist on our club - but, then again, I could see Whit being as good as Zobrist. And I would be (and was) in favor of trading him for a top prospect as, like Zobrist, he is getting closer to the end than to the prime of his career. BUT - I do not see anyone trading Tatis, or Acuna - OR anyone else that can be a plus part of their championship lineup. It seems to me that first you plug in all our best pieces to make up your best championship lineup - and then, perhaps, trade spare parts to fill any holes you still have. But, in our case, if we are looking for above average, championship pieces, then, until they prove otherwise, I keep MJ and Pratto. Any any young starters, until enough have proven themselves, both as starters and depth. Same with relievers. If I still have a hole in CF - then I keep Taylor - very good with the glove, below average with the bat - as the sole hole on the team - or spend some money, not trade a top prospect, to get someone even better. As I look back at this, I am sounding very anti-transactional - but only to the extent of not letting go of top prospects that we are blessed to already have in our system.
So to your points, I don't think trading for Cueto and Zobrist was what created the valley. They traded one player who ended up being worth anything in the big leagues. Manaea would be great to have on this team right now and in the past few years, but the other guys they moved ended up being nothingburgers.
Teams aren't offering top prospects (that we know of) for Royals players because Royals players that have been available aren't very good. The only players the Royals have had over the years that teams would have traded big time prospects for were Lorenzo Cain, Alex Gordon and Salvador Perez (at various times). Outside of Cain at the 2016 deadline before he got hurt, they weren't even available, so that's why you're not seeing anything on that.
And as for trading prospects, my opinion is that the point of the farm system is to supplement the big league roster both through promotions and through trades. Sometimes you have to trade certain guys to fill other holes on the roster. The key is not so much to trade players who don't succeed but rather when choosing which to keep to make sure the guys who are kept do produce. Sometimes trades hurt.
I meant to add to the point about the big 2015 trades not depleting the system that the real culprit was either bad drafting or bad development or maybe both, though with the development system revamped, it sure seems like guys are actually progressing which makes me believe development was the bigger issue all along.
Good points. I guess what I am saying is that successful teams seem to be transactional, but not with their top young prospects. Trading Evan Longoria in his prime, at highest value, when you see that he can be adequately replaced, could be a good move - but not trading Tatis or Acuna, Jr., or Bobby Witt now. to fill some hole. Your top young prospects, the ones you really think can be part of your championship core (Witt, MJ, Pratto, etc., you hold onto - as do the other clubs) - you keep those. And then free agent sign, or trade, around the edges. Now, theoretically, if you had two MJ's, you might trade one for an MJ version of a top prospect CF - but not otherwise. You just do not trade your top young prospects - as even the playoff teams seem to mostly refuse to do (excepting the Royals giving up Manea for Zobrist?) even when they are bolstering their core to make a run at the World Series. I seem to read frequently that those teams "refused to trade any of their top prospects" kind of thing.
Teams will absolutely trade their top prospects for more than a rental. The issue is that teams aren’t trading much more than rentals at the deadline generally. But look what the Blue Jays gave up for Berrios. Austin Martin is a very highly rated prospect. The Dodgers gave up Keibert Ruiz for Scherzer and Turner. And you don’t have to look too far to see the White Sox moved years of team control to get back guys like Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech and Eloy Jimenez. Teams trade top prospects when they get something back worth trading a top prospect.
I missed the game live today and just watched a little bit ago. The way Salvy is taking a beating behind the plate has got worried about him making it through a full season as he keeps getting older. We need his bat and leadership in the lineup most days. It seems to me we need to start next year with Melendez and him splitting catching duties on 50/50 or 60/40 pace. I know he wouldn't like it and they could split DH duties. My fear is concussions or worse if they keep catching him so much. I also wish they were playing Isbel and Oliveras and sit O'Hearn and DFA Dyson. I am growing sick and tired from watching those 2 play almost every day.