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| Friar Gully: Padres Wise to Draft Pitching in 2010 |
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| Voice of the Fan - Visitors Pass | |||
| Written by Scott Gulbransen | |||
| Monday, 07 June 2010 20:01 | |||
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Over the past few seasons, over and over again I hear misguided Padres fans complaining about low payroll and the team’s inability to sign A-list free agents. In reality, the franchise’s futility has not been due to the lack of free agents or keeping great high-priced players like Jake Peavy. Instead, the Padres can trace back their lack of success in recent memory to the inability to draft competently and to develop those players in their minor league system. As I pen this missive, the first day of the Major League Baseball draft has come to an end. The Padres drafted ninth and made a great pick - Karsten Whitson, from Chipley High School in Florida, was widely considered the second-best high school pitching prospect in the 2010 amateur draft. Whitson is no Matt Bush. Today, by committing their pick to a top player, the Padres have started the Moorad/Hoyer on the right foot. Despite the desperate need for a good bat on the Major League squad, the Padres need to develop pitching depth in the organization. Also, they lack “power” pitchers like Whitson who can hit the upper 90s with their fast ball. The addition of Whitson, should they be able to sign him, is a great way to show the Friar faithful that Moorad and Hoyer are serious about building the team’s minor league system. Despite the almost universal praise of the Padres first round pick, still some myopic Padres fans have decried the pick. Pick your message board and you can see so-called baseball fans critcizing the pick because it wasn’t offensively-minded. Those with that opinion obviously don’t know baseball and can’t see past the Padres immediate 40-man roster and it’s shortcomings. In the modern era, the perfect example of a smaller market - or in their case a mid-size market - who did it right is the Atlanta Braves of the 1990s and early 2000s. Yes, at one time Ted Turner spent a ton of money to keep his core team together. But what baseball fans forget is that early braves team was built on a deep farm system of young arms. When you stock your minor leagues with great pitching prospects, it allows you to do so much. Not only are you developing your future pitching staff, but when you do need to trade for a bat, you have the depth and every team can always use more pitching. For some reason the model established by the Braves, and in someways what the Padres did today, is lost on some Padres fans. I chalk it up to baseball ignorance. It’s time for some Padres fans to learn more about how you build a winning roster and the importance of the minor league development. Being a smaller market team, the Padres must build from within. They can’t spend millions of dollars on high-priced free agents to make runs at a title. Success is going to be found down on the farm and through smart, strategic and committed drafts. That started today with their smart pick of Whitson and must continue year in, year out. The future of the franchise is on developing a pipeline with rich talent. I just hope Padres fans get it. Follow FriarGully, aka Scott Gulbransen, on Twitter @sdgully. You can find him in Section 134 on Wednesdays and Sundays. Just be aware he’s allergic to Cubs and Dodgers fans.
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