August 23, 2006

FARM SYSTEM A MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT FOR JAYS

      Typically, contending clubs have the resources to promote young players from their farm clubs to assist them with their title pursuits; on the flip side the Toronto Blue Jays, this year, were not able to find anyone in their system capable of producing at the major league level.  Minnesota was able to find a stud pitcher in Francisco Liriano.  The Angels brought up Jared Weaver, Joe Saunders, and Howie Kendrick.  The Rangers fitted Ian Kinsler into their line-up, the Tigers used Joel Zumaya and Zach Minor to strengthen their pitching staff, the Red Sox have Jonathan Papelbon and, to a lesser extent, Jon Lester, and even the Yankees have someone, Melky Cabrera.  The Jays had three weeks of Casey Janssen this year and nothing else.  So much for that solid farm system the Jays were reputed to have.

      So what’s the problem?  Why is it that Dustin McGowan and Francisco Rosario, two pitchers with phenomenal arms and overpowering fastballs, still can’t find the plate and thus can’t find major league success?   Why is Aaron Hill the only player presently performing at a major league level that has been produced by their farm system in the last couple of years?   What’s happening or, more to the point, what’s not happening down there?   Why have the two first round draft choices from 2004 and 2005, David Purcey and Ricky Romero respectively, been unable to succeed at even the AA level?  Is it teaching?  I know that the Jays, and more specifically GM JP Ricciardi, would refute any notion that their young players aren’t being taught properly, but the fact remains that each and every club in the major leagues, outside of New York, needs their young players to contribute at the major league level.  Injuries, slumps, demotions etc, happen to every club and it is those clubs that can plug in an efficient youngster—the way the White Sox added Bobby Jenks last season—that will win in the end.  If not, then the club will just spin its wheels—and that is exactly what has happened to the Jays this year.

       It is curious and puzzling when watching McGowan and Rosario and knowing they have the stuff to be major league pitchers.  Either their mental make-up precludes them from being aggressive—every major league hitter can hit a 3-1 fastball no matter how fast it’s thrown—or their pitching mechanics aren’t stable enough for them to successfully repeat the motion.   Either way that’s teaching, and they obviously aren’t getting enough.

       When JP was first brought in as Jays GM he said he wanted to build the pitching depth in the organization.  He, however, chose middle infielders with the first picks in his first two drafts—Russ Adams in 2002 and Hill in 2003.  The only pitchers that have progressed from those two drafts are Dave Bush from 2002 –traded to Milwaukee in the Lyle Overbay trade, ostensibly because JP didn’t believe Bush could win in the AL East even though that’s where the Jays were when he made the selection—and from 2003 Josh Banks—stalled at AAA—and Shaun Marcum—with the Jays simply because he is the best of an average lot.  First round choice Zach Jackson—2004—was also included in the Overbay trade and, surprisingly, he is up with the Brewers while the others that remained within the Jays system still languish in the minor leagues.  It seems that getting out of the Jay system was best for both Bush and Jackson, as they have had a modicum of success in the majors this season.

       Where does this leave the Jays?  Unless McGowan, Banks and Rosario suddenly get it then the club will be forced to do what it did last season--go out into the free agent market and overpay for a pitcher.  However, this philosophy can only work for a while and certainly won’t get you a championship.  The organization needs its young pitchers to succeed.  The question is—how do they do that? 

       Maybe the organization should look at bringing in some quality teachers and not continue with their cocky—we know what we’re doing—attitude.  The results prove, on the contrary, that they actually don’t know what they’re doing.  They should hire some people who do.