Rocky mentioned this in the Game Thread, I thought it deserved it's own.

[Michael K.]

They got 4 top 100 bats on the farm

Michael Arroyo, 2B/OF – #45
Felnin Celesten, SS – #50
Lazaro Montes, OF – #56
Jonny Farmelo, OF – #73

I get that you have some kind of really strange love affair with the Farm System, but let's not pretend those are can't miss prospects. Julio was supposed to be a Silver Slugging MVP candidate right now, playing next to perennial All Stars Kelenic and Kyle Lewis!

Ben Davis, C - No. 10 prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America ahead of the 1996 season.

Jeremy Reed, OF - Before his September 2004 call-up by the Seattle Mariners, Jeremy Reed was ranked as Baseball America's No. 25 overall prospect in baseball heading into the 2004 season while in the Chicago White Sox organization. He was also rated the No. 5 prospect in the International League and the No. 6 prospect in the Pacific Coast League during the 2004 minor league split before being traded to Seattle

Jesus Montero, C - Seattle Mariners Opening Day roster in 2012 (following his trade from the New York Yankees), Jesús Montero was ranked as the 6th-best prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America and the Mariners' No. 1 prospect. In previous years with the Yankees, he peaked even higher at No. 3 overall heading into 2011.

Justin Smoke, 1B - Seattle Mariners in July 2010, Justin Smoak was widely regarded as a consensus top-25 overall prospect. He was ranked No. 13 overall by Baseball America and No. 9 overall by MLB.com on their top prospect lists entering the 2010 season.

Mike Zunino, C - Before his June 11, 2013 MLB call-up, Mike Zunino was the No. 1 prospect in the Seattle Mariners organization. In overall national prospect rankings, he was listed at No. 17 by Baseball America and No. 23 by MLB.com

Yeah, I can understand why you have a boner over four guys ranked between 45 and 75!

[DanielVogelbach]

They got 4 top 100 bats on the farm

Michael Arroyo, 2B/OF – #45
Felnin Celesten, SS – #50
Lazaro Montes, OF – #56
Jonny Farmelo, OF – #73

I get that you have some kind of really strange love affair with the Farm System, but let's not pretend those are can't miss prospects. Julio was supposed to be a Silver Slugging MVP candidate right now, playing next to perennial All Stars Kelenic and Kyle Lewis!

Ben Davis, C - No. 10 prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America ahead of the 1996 season.

Jeremy Reed, OF - Before his September 2004 call-up by the Seattle Mariners, Jeremy Reed was ranked as Baseball America's No. 25 overall prospect in baseball heading into the 2004 season while in the Chicago White Sox organization. He was also rated the No. 5 prospect in the International League and the No. 6 prospect in the Pacific Coast League during the 2004 minor league split before being traded to Seattle

Jesus Montero, C - Seattle Mariners Opening Day roster in 2012 (following his trade from the New York Yankees), Jesús Montero was ranked as the 6th-best prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America and the Mariners' No. 1 prospect. In previous years with the Yankees, he peaked even higher at No. 3 overall heading into 2011.

Justin Smoke, 1B - Seattle Mariners in July 2010, Justin Smoak was widely regarded as a consensus top-25 overall prospect. He was ranked No. 13 overall by Baseball America and No. 9 overall by MLB.com on their top prospect lists entering the 2010 season.

Mike Zunino, C - Before his June 11, 2013 MLB call-up, Mike Zunino was the No. 1 prospect in the Seattle Mariners organization. In overall national prospect rankings, he was listed at No. 17 by Baseball America and No. 23 by MLB.com

Yeah, I can understand why you have a boner over four guys ranked between 45 and 75!

So, you agree that it's not "drained", right? You do realize you're serving up another straw man special here, right?

At what point did I say they were can't-miss prospects? I've said the exact opposite, which is that it's a numbers game. That's why you want to keep it stocked. I don't really know how much of it is pure luck or how much of it is impacted by the instruction they get at he lower levels, but the fact remains that if you're a small or mid-market team, your only hope is to develop young players. There is no other way to win.

[DanielVogelbach]

Second place doesn't matter.

First place doesn't matter either.

In the grand scheme of things, absolutely true.

In a game where winning the World Series is the goal (other than profits), not so true.

Yeah it really depends on how you define "matters". But, in general you don't need to win championships to create fan interest. You just need to be competitive. In some ways I even think winning it all can reduce interest. Coming close and falling short will absolutely have you selling tickets for the next campaign. And, that's why I point out the Mariners 90 win seasons. The 116 win season is an even better example. Sure, you can call the season a disappointment after the fact, but during the entire 6 months of regular season the fans are into it. That's why that "matters" when grading the franchise. They failed to win in the post-season, but they succeeded in providing so-called "meaningful" games all season long. You can say you don't care if they win 70 or 90 if they don't win the WS, but that's all after the fact. Of course you care about that in the middle of August and September, because that's what determines if you're excited about the team or completely tuned out.

[bpj]

First place doesn't matter either.

In the grand scheme of things, absolutely true.

In a game where winning the World Series is the goal (other than profits), not so true.

Yeah it really depends on how you define "matters". But, in general you don't need to win championships to create fan interest. You just need to be competitive. In some ways I even think winning it all can reduce interest. Coming close and falling short will absolutely have you selling tickets for the next campaign. And, that's why I point out the Mariners 90 win seasons. The 116 win season is an even better example. Sure, you can call the season a disappointment after the fact, but during the entire 6 months of regular season the fans are into it. That's why that "matters" when grading the franchise. They failed to win in the post-season, but they succeeded in providing so-called "meaningful" games all season long. You can say you don't care if they win 70 or 90 if they don't win the WS, but that's all after the fact. Of course you care about that in the middle of August and September, because that's what determines if you're excited about the team or completely tuned out.

You said you stopped watching. Lost interest.

How's their strategy working?

All the things boring about the team.... those are Dipoto's fault.

[DanielVogelbach]

You said you stopped watching. Lost interest.

How's their strategy working?

All the things boring about the team.... those are Dipoto's fault.

I didn't watch any regular season games last year either. I don't watch that much sports anymore.

I think you're massively exaggerating the negative impact of anything Jerry's done. You're the stereotypical disgruntled fan. They exist in every fanbase.

[bpj]

You said you stopped watching. Lost interest.

How's their strategy working?

All the things boring about the team.... those are Dipoto's fault.

I didn't watch any regular season games last year either. I don't watch that much sports anymore.

I think you're massively exaggerating the negative impact of anything Jerry's done. You're the stereotypical disgruntled fan. They exist in every fanbase.

You're massively underestimating the % of his available payroll he's wasted every single year.

You're also massively underestimating how terrible he is.

You seem to be alone on Jerry Island at this point. Enjoy wallowing in it 8 games under .500.

[DanielVogelbach]

You're massively underestimating the % of his available payroll he's wasted every single year.

You're also massively underestimating how terrible he is.

You seem to be alone on Jerry Island at this point. Enjoy wallowing in it 8 games under .500.

Yeah alone in a pool of stereotypical sports fans, lol. I posted an AI breakdown that's about as objective as you're gonna get. I'm the one dosing the reality pills here.

[bpj]

You're massively underestimating the % of his available payroll he's wasted every single year.

You're also massively underestimating how terrible he is.

You seem to be alone on Jerry Island at this point. Enjoy wallowing in it 8 games under .500.

Yeah alone in a pool of stereotypical sports fans, lol. I posted an AI breakdown that's about as objective as you're gonna get. I'm the one dosing the reality pills here.

You're the one defending the guy that's led us to more playoff appearances than THREE teams in the last ten years with his current team sitting 8 games under .500.