Quote:
Originally Posted by Prison Bitch
I think most of us gave up on this when "The greatest system of all time!" turned out to be an epic bust. Like all things Royals. I think it's the first time that BB America's top system didn't make the playoffs within 2-3 years (can't remember the time frame) of winning the top honor. I think we have to make the playoffs this year or else their streak is snapped.
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I understand people getting less excited about prospects. The 2011 system was devastated by the complete collapse of Mike Montgomery and the injury to John Lamb (which is more bad luck than anything else...). They're still going to end up getting top 5 production out of it, long-term, in my opinion (as that system netted Hosmer, Perez, Duffy, Greg Holland, Aaron Crow, Kelvin Herrera, James Shields).
But it's a far cry from what many thought it could have been/should have been. The collapse of the top two pitching prospects is what really did it in... if either of Lamb or Montgomery makes it, I don't think that grouping is looked at as a failure (maybe still a slight disappointment, but not a failure).
One of the differences here is that we've already seen Yordano Ventura pitch at an extremely high level in the major leagues. And he has already posted tremendous success at AAA, which is more than any of the pitchers on the 2011 list could say.
And ultimately, the farm system is ALWAYS going to be important to the Royals, because they must re-stock talent - and especially pitching talent - from within, and because they must have young talent that can be moved in trades at times.