A Message Of Thanks To Darkstone

[Burgh Sports Rule]

Darkstone, I want to extend a message of thanks to you for your calm & reason.

Why is this coming from me to you you ask?

I am also a member Of DK On Pittsburgh Sports site.

I have been getting laughed at & pounded by others in the comment section this past week, because, I dared to point out that the Pirates have a very good minor league system & that for the most part, that Neal Huntington has been a very good GM for the Pirates.

The fact is, the Pirates would have had talent coming up from AAA this yr. They received 3 very bad breaks when Taillon, coming back from TJ surgery, suffered the hernia injury. Thus, costing him another yr & both Nick Kingham & Brandon Cumpton, both went down, due too TJ Surgery.

Also, while admittedly, the AAA roster does not have much in the way of hitting prospects, AA & the lower minors seem to be choc full of budding hitting talent.

The one thing I, myself, would fault Neal Huntington for is that I wish he would move prospects up the ranks a little more quickly.

However, this notion, that seems to be going full steam ahead over there now, that Huntington is a bad GM, has drafted poorly & that our minor league system sucks, I find these opinions completely ridiculous from people.

Many now feel that Hurdle sucks as well & that we are in a downward spiral & that moves must be made or the season is lost.

While, I also feel a few trades need to be made to right the ship. I trust Neal Huntington to make those moves & I feel that we certainly have the minor league system to do it.

Darkstone, again, thanks for pointing out that the Pirates have a good minor league system & that Neal Huntington has done a pretty good job as a GM for the Pirates.

Sadly, Dejan, seems to be falling in line with the rest of his posters over there, thinking that the Pirates system is barren.

Would I like the talent to be moved through the system faster & for more of it to be at the AAA level ready to be called up & to help us?

Yes, of course I would.

That being said however, the Pirates have a very good minor league system & Neal Huntington in my mind, has done a very good job as the Pirates GM in my eyes. One bad road trip from the big club should not lose sight of that.

Thanks Darkstone for bringing some sanity to the conversations over there.

Burgh

 

[Darkstone42]

I never buy into doom and gloom narratives, so even though there are fair complaints about the draft focii, which have left the system thin on the left side of the infield, especially in the upper levels, the idea that we have a weak farm system is absurd. If Walker goes down instead of Mercer and Harrison, we're in a better position to cover that by just calling up Hanson, but that's not how it worked out. Also absurd is the notion that "other" Major League teams can just call up Major League talent in a pinch, especially given the performance of guys like Tommy Pham, 9-year minor leaguer, who the "perfect" Cardinals had to call up.

Most absurd, of course, is the clamoring for Glasnow and Bell.

And holy cow, if the Red Sox hadn't been total idiots and gave up Lackey for Joe Kelly (who everyone could see wasn't going to be a good starting pitcher) and Alan Craig's negative value, the Cards wouldn't even have the depth in the rotation they've enjoyed. They'd still be good, obviously, but not as good.

Hurdle does grate me, though. When Vargas left the game two days ago, Ishikawa should have been thrown in for Rodriguez. It's not like pinch hitters are super necessary in AL games. And there was no reason to leave Morton in there last night after he showed clear signs of losing it, especially against a lefty with a little pop. And why did Cutch need a day off on the third game out of the All-Star break? He makes a lot of questionable decisions.

 

[element1286]

I don't subscribe to that site, but the general tone of doom and gloom the past week has been ridiculous on twitter and Pittsburgh sports talk radio, yes bad examples because they thrive on doom and gloom, but I honestly don't get it.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that keeping hitters in the minors longer has been positive for the Pirates, see McCutchen, Walker, Marte, and to lesser extents Harrison and Mercer. And the guys who were rushed relatively fast, ie Pedro and Polanco have struggled to meet their expectations.

And using the Cardinals as an example, it's not like they rush their players to the majors, and is probably the reason their players are so successful when they get there. Look at Randal Grichuck, Kolten Wong and Matt Adams, each guy had roughly 1000 PA's at AA and AAA, add to that Piscotty who has 1300 PA's between AA and AAA.

Gregory Polanco has had 1300 PA's above rookie league ball, Pedro Alavrez had less than 1000 PA's in the minors total, and that includes the stint when he went down for half a season in 2011.