You're right, the Yankees don't tank seasons. They are the exception and not the rule. The Cardinals haven't had to tank because they did have a few flukes as having arguably the best hitter (besides Cabrera now) and best catcher come through the system. They are the exception, and one that teams want to emulate. They did howeve remain very stagnant throughout the late 80's and through most of the 90's, so it does happen to them too.
The Yankees? Impossible because only a select few have the ability to spend like they do. As many know, I am a proponent to using free agents and the farm cohesively, but one is not here yet (or at least not enough).
That said, lets keep that word "system" fresh throughout the post. The aforementioned teams have had Jeter, Posada, Rivera, Petitte, Cano, Gardner and others come through the ranks. The Cardinals had Pujols, Craig, Molina, Rosenthall, Wacha, Wainright (via trade), Motte, Haren, Miller, Lynn, Kelly, Taveras, Wong, Jay, and the list goes on and on. Lets also not forget that the Cardinals traded away some of their system to net Edmonds, Rolen, Holiday, and Mulder.
And if you look at other teams around the league, the Giants with their guys (Cain, Posey, Lincecum, Bumgardner, Panda, Crawford, Vogelsong), A's, Nationals( Harper, Strasburg, Zimmerman's, Desmond, Rendon), (players to acquire Gio Gonzalez), Brewers (Fielder, Braun, Gallardo, Weeks, Hart, Hardy, Segura, Lucroy) , Braves, Pirates, Royals. The Phillies championship team had 8 of the 9 starters come via the system.
I could go on and on, and most around here feel that the Cubs are going to put free agents around the farm kids (whichever ones pan out) when the time comes, as opposed to not committing to players within the last three years because the farm is so close to bearing it's fruit. Not everyone is going to pan out, but it makes more sense to completely gut the team and start fresh. Throwing a ton of money against the wall to see if it sticks is not smart business sense.
The best way (not guaranteed) is to play the odds of reaping good teams because you have in-house guys at the parent level which you can control and keep cheaply and/or lock up. You have in-house guys you can trade to net what you needs are as the Cardinals did in the early 2000's, and because the kids are cheap, it gives you the financial flexibility to target the good players if/when they become available. If other teams can do it, why should the Cubs be immune to doing it?
All teams have good quality players that came up through the ranks. The Cubs best in the last 10 years or so have been Shark and Archer (who were traded), Rizzo, Castro, Marshall, and Russell. Not too good.
Yeah, it was definitely time to work on improving that "System" thing.
The object should be making the team the most attractive destination for players outside the system to want to come and play for (see the Cardinals). And if you take a stroll down memory lane, you will see that key components to the Cubs best years and teams were heavily influenced by kids who came up through the ranks, or kids in the "system" (Joe Carter, Bobby Hill, Choi) that were used to get exceptional players in return.
I feel the days of tanking personally are over, and since the farm is ever so close, they have Manny in AAA, McLeod signing an extension, and they have freed up even more with Soriano, Villy, Shark, Hammel, Veras, Fujikawa, Barney, Schierholz, and now have payroll flexibility, I fully believe brighter times are on the horizon.
I am anxious to see the kids join Rizzo and Castro in giving them the boost they need, and then hopefully, we will be putting all of this rant behind us in the very near future, and we can start focusing on which select free agents to acquire, and how we are taking most series versus other teams, rather than hoping we can take 1 out of every 3 now, and how we hate it that we are drafting # 29 or #30 in the draft. :beerbang:
