Off Topic
An Open Commitment to YS9 Fans
Dear Fans,
Well, that was fun. If you’ve been reading along, you know the YS9 scouting construct has been dropping a trail of articles about the state of the YS9 farm system. I’ll do my best to sum it up here with an overall perspective and some thoughts on where we go next.
First, let’s look at the way I and the team have summarized all the data we’ve published so far. This is a highly complex table that lists positions, how we think of our short term need, how we look as far as impact players, and how we feel about our overall depth.
This looks a lot like:
| Position | Need | Top Prospect | Depth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catcher | 4-5 Years | F | C |
| First Base | LHB? | A | B |
| Second Base | 2+ Years | C | C+ |
| Third Base | LHB? | B | C+ |
| Shortstop | 2-4 Years | B- | C |
| Left Field | RHB 1 Year? | C | C- |
| Center Field | LHB? | A- | C+ |
| Right Field | 3-5 Years | B | D |
| Designated Hitter | NA | NA | |
| --- | |||
| Starting Pitcher | 1 Now | A | B- |
| Bulllpen | 5 Years | A | B+ |
You can see we’ve been a little hard on ourselves, grading positions (like, say, catcher) as if we’re certain Bruce McKinley will be starting in Yellow Springs this year, and will stick. In other situations we’ve taken a counter-position—for example, center field, where we won’t be certain Arvin Duggan is ready until March has played itself out.
When it comes to top players, we do pretty well in most places, though some are a looooong way from yielding. The two kids we dumped money on at 1st base, for example. Who the heck, knows, right? And further good news is that we’ve got a lot of pitchers we genuinely like. Not too many sure-fire stars, but a whole lot of arms we think kind find some space to play for us in Yellow Springs. We'll be holding our annual get-together with out minor league coaches during spring training, and you can be sure we'll be working with each of the coaches to ensure they are given every tool they need to develop the talent in our YS9 family today.
What we see, though is that depth—long a staple of the Nine—is starting to get a bit … um … shallow. There is a very real chance that the Nine farm system could slip pretty far down the ranks this year.
Don’t get too worried, though. This lack of depth is natural and even planned for, because what you’re seeing out there on the field is the result of the last five to ten seasons of building the system. Like a cloud, that system is now in the process of dropping the last of its happy little prospects onto Utopia Field and hopefully a lot of wins will be growing for years to come.
Never fear, though.
My executive team and I have been working every day to regroup and plan for the next wave of rebuilding the farm system. It will take us a little time, of course. But you can count on us to make it happen.
Best,
Ron Collins
GM, Yellow Springs Nine
P.S. Don’t forget that season tickets are available at online sites near you!