Quote: Originally Posted By sportsboy010 on 4/02/2010
Quote: Originally Posted By gjello10 on 4/02/2010
Quote: Originally Posted By sportsboy010 on 4/01/2010
The Rays have by far the best system. Their scouting has been nothing short of incredible which other "tankers" such as the Pirates, Royals, etc. cannot say.
In real life there is much more fuzziness among prospects as opposed to in HBD. In HBD there are many more sure things making it more rewarding to tank for seasons...
Sorry. The Rays have the second best system. They have the top-rated system because the Rangers last season graduated Feliz/Holland (both top-10 prospects in all of baseball) as well as Julio Borbon and Taylor Teagarden (both top-100 prospects) to the Majors. Despite these graduations, they still rank as the #2 farm in baseball. Factor in last season's Rookies and it isn't close. But the Rays do have a fantastic system and personel department.
Now you're just being biased. The Rays is SO far ahead of the rangers. Holland is/was not a top 10 prospect and Teagarden is pretty far away from that as well. Maybe they were top 10 in the Rangers system? Feliz is a definite stud and I am a big Borbon fan but nevertheless does not compare to the Rays. Teagarden was supposed to be a solid catcher as of last season and he couldn't have been much worse. Holland is solid and Texas does have some solid young pitchers but still, once again, it does not compare to the rays. Look at who the Rays graduated...David Price, who was the number 1 prospect in baseball not to mention recent "graduate" Wade Davis. They still have Jeremy Hellickson and Desmond Jennings (the 2nd coming of Carl Crawford) waiting and will probably be up at the 1st slip by an of or pitcher. They also still have Tim Beckham who is 1 of the top position prospects in all of baseball as well. They also have Reid Brignac blocked by current players and Fernando Perez who will probably end up in the outfield within the next couple years as well. I know who the Rangers have and Ramirez is supposed to be a very good catcher but to compare them to the Rays is just absurd
Just wrong. First, I forgot to add another pair of rooks from last season: Elvis Andrus and Tommy Hunter. So last seasons rooks were Feliz/Hunter/Andrus/Holland/Borbon/Teagarden. So, sure, Tea was disappointing at the plate (but excellent behind it). The other 5, as a group, were awfully good. Besides, I said Tea was a top-100 prospect. He came off in the 85-110 range for most prospect lists a year ago.
Pitching is the key. No doubt, the Rays have better pos players in their system. But Feliz is everything you've heard. Martin Perez is even better. Holland was absolutely a top-10 prospect last season in most scouts' books. I'm far less sold on him than the previous 2, but others love him. And the book on 2 new additions is sparkling. Tanner Scheppers (a Sandwich pick in last year's draft due to injury issues) will be starting at AA or AAA and at least 2 cactus league scouts were heard to remark this spring that he has a top-5 curve in baseball to go with 98 MPH heat. And Dominican RP Alexei Ogando, a 26-y-o who has spent the past 4 seasons in the DR with visa issues, is bringing 96-98 MPH heat and inducing a ton of bad contact. Expect Ogando in Arlington by July. And here's the thing, behing these guys, there are about 12-15 more
very legitimate ML pitching prospects, including about 5 more with TORP upside, and a couple of potential closers.
Now, positionally, the cupbard is much more bare. But SH 1B Justin Smoak is thought to have the highest at-the-plate upside in all of MiLB. I'm not sold on Max Ramirez as a satisfactory defensive Catcher, but he's got a bat. But they really augmented that last season with the best crop of 16-y-o latin talent in baseball, led by top SS prospect Jurickson Profar and C Jorge Alfaro, who blew a number of scouts' minds with his raw power on the back fields this spring.
Rays are good. All respect. But be frightened, cause this staff will be as good as the one Atlanta had in the mid-90s in a few years.