Is this not the same criticism AA shared prior to the team actually making the playoffs? For years people were wondering why the rotation, bullpen, and infield had little to no depth. When you are top 3-5 in man games lost there is usually a good chance your team isn't making the playoffs (unless you operate like the Dodgers).
Depth had been much better the past few seasons. This year, it took a massive step back.
Would it have been better to move those prospects for help now? I don't really get the argument against patience when the previous regime also started off doing everything in their power to stock up on potential.
It would have been better to move those prospects in a good deal, yes. A bad deal, no.
But again, there are lots of ways to acquire good players and the bottom line is that this group hasn't found really any good players (starter or depth) in any way. Save Happ.
Also just for reference, 13 of the top 30 prospects (according to mlb pipeline) have been acquired within the past two seasons. That includes 6 of the top 10 listed and a couple of guys we can dream on in Bichette and Pearson.
Most of the top guys date from 2015 or prior, and this was clearly tracking to be a quality system with or without anything the new guys have done. I agree that early returns on their drafts are positive as well.
The holes going into the season were in the outfield and DH/1B. Pearce has done well offensively and in the field he hasn't been good. Jose was a logical fit. He hasn't turned out. Morales has been a dud. Starting pitching hasn't been good mainly due to injuries and inconsistency (Lirano and Estrada). Smoak has done very well so Pearce wasn't needed at 1b which is a good thing but that has left him in LF. Additionally, the production from SS and 2B have been brutal mainly due to injuries. I don't see how they logically improve SS and 2b without trading prospects.
To fill the corner outfield/DH spots, they picked up Morales/Pearce/Coghlan and re-signed Bautista. Pearce has been the big 'winner' there at 0.6 WAR. That's not good. Average bats that are slow and old and terrible defensively.
You want to look at good managment? Seattle has nearly 6 WAR this year in the outfield from Jarrod Dyson, Ben Gamel, and Guillermo Heredia - three guys picked up in the last year for nothing at a combined salary of less than $4 million.
Starting pitching they got lucky last year and had ZERO injuries, which you know wouldn't happen again. And when the predictable happened ... the first option up was Mat freaking Latos. Same at catcher where they signed a guy who had a negative WAR last year in Saltalamacchia and then had no options when he was predictably terrible.
Agreed in middle infield that injuries were and issue and it wasn't possible to predict that Barney/Goins would hit this badly.
Nobody is saying they should have traded Guerrero Jr. for a short-term fix. But they could have made shrewd signings or traded depth prospects for quality assets ... and they didn't. And when they're claiming that their goal is to be competitive now, of course they should be judged for that.
I'm not saying it's been ghastly management. But their job is to find good players at good value and so far there have been a lot more misses than hits, and this isn't a well-built team. Hopefully they can do better moving forward and have a better offseason this year than last year.
Going by MLB top 10 prospects 6 of them have been brought in by the current regime. When AA left the team ranked 25th in the league I believe in terms of prospects. Now they are ranked 12th. AA deserves some credit but we shouldn't dismiss what the current regime has done in terms of building up the farm system.
The new guys have been good also, but any management group that made reasonable selections with their #1 picks in 2016 and 2017 would have seen a similar-ish result.
I also disagree that 6 of the top 10 prospects are new regime guys.
My current list would be:
1. Guerrero
2. Bichette
3. Alford
4. Jansen
5. Pearson
6. Warmouth
7. Borucki
8. Reid-Foley
9. Ramirez
10. Hernandez
I know Zeuch was a recent #1 pick but he isn't missing bats in A-ball. So 6 of my top 9 would be old regime guys.
Where would Ramirez fit in with the following, Vlad, Bo, Alford, Jansen, Pearson, Warmoth, Borucki, Zeuch, SRF, Hernandez and I am probably forgetting a few.
I like from what I have seen from Ramirez. He has got better the more he has pitched. He is going to be 27 next year but he is new to pitching. His ceiling is a top bullpen arm. His run he has had has been great but IMO it is a small sample. Those are reasons why I wouldn't rank him in the top 10.
I'd have him ahead of Zeuch and Hernandez for sure.
It's getting to be not a small sample anymore. 30 IP at that level for a reliever is a big chunk of innings, and the level of dominance is just ridiculous. I'm really looking forward to seeing him in September.