And yeah, my first response was over-the-top snarky, but all I’m trying to say is ‘hey, you don’t have to be so worried about this organization’s ability to develop players, particularly based on the two examples you used, who actually are (or in Atkins’ case, were) pretty useful players.’

part of this is to get discussions going. Not everyone will agree….or some will point out a hole in your thinking. Happens to me all the time.

Sometimes I do it with the hole in the logic just to get the discussion going.

I’m not entirely sure who has failed, or what the definition of “fail” is.

Typically a “successful” prospect is one who reaches and can swing in the majors. Too many views of what a “good” prospect is are being jaded by Tim Lincecum and Evan Longoria, and the like.

Barmes is actually a great example of a prospect panning out. He was never really hailed to be an elite bat, but rather an elite glove with some pop. He’s gonna play in the majors for 5 more years just because he’s a stud at SS/2B, and I’m sure you can get on board that.

Farms will produce superstars and mediocre roleplayers. Atkins has been a disappointment, but remember his ‘06 was awesome. The fact that he’s considered a major league bat who is floundering right now by most of baseball suggests that he was a farmhand that was successful, you know what I mean?

I’m concerned about the farm, too, but it’s more based on the fact that it seems to be more staggered, in the sense that Help is on the way! In 2 years…and then MORE help! ….wait….And then some more!

We don’t have a pile of superstars waiting to come up, because most of them HAVE come up, and are still with us or in Oakland (oof). It kind of comes back to the idea of a team full of 6’s and 7’s is better than a team with 2 10’s and 7 4’s.

Don’t sweat it too hard. Remember it’s the internet, it’s not real, and while it’s frustrating, who cares? Just keep commenting, and if people get all snarky, someone will eventually get your back, and you can feed off of that.

you claimed the Rockies were underachieving (up until about 10 games ago) and 10 games or so ago all the fancy statistics and fundamental core numbers agreed with you.

And I agree with you too – it’s almost easier to be a fan of an outright bad team/organization (IE Astros) than it is to be a fan of a team like the Rockies that seem to be loaded with potential but plagued by some sort of weird, nebulous self-doubt (at least through Hurdle’s tenure)…

Don’t worry about me, I just get incredibly defensive incredibly easy. Yes, I know I used poor examples, and I’m sorry about that. I never meant any of that to say that I thought that the Rockies had a poor farm.

RMN, I never said the Rockies had a “failed farm” anywhere. I said my faith wavers a bit. But that’s just me being a lousy and uninformed fan, not a claim that the team has a bad farm. And while I know it’s “just the internet”, I still want to at least be well enough informed that I’m not laughed out of the room at the next BBQ. I just get frustrated that I never seem to be. I’d make a joke here comparing myself to a prospect who never panned out, but I’ll leave that to you guys to fill in the blanks (since if I did it myself I’d probably use the wrong player :P ).

PR always seems to have the most intelligent baseball discussion on the planet, and so for those of us that don’t instantly “get” it, it’s a bit intimidating feeling like the one in the room wearing the dunce cap.

Anyway, sorry again for all of that – didn’t mean to start everyone’s Friday off with awkward comments and backtracking. I just get overdefensive a lot.

Just be like me and inject witty asides, without actually trying to say anything, with the occasional piece of troll-bait tossed out there. Works for me.

because they ‘might not’ make it. Especially premium talents like Fowler, Gonzalez, and Stewart – those are 4 and 5 star prospects, and position prospects (who have a higher success rate than pitching prospects in the first place). If you get scared of letting young guys get better at the big league level, then you end up doing really stupid things.

I’d never call a pitching prospect untouchable in a deal, but top-tier position prospects are worth holding on to and trying to develop. Imagine if we had given up on Iannetta after he didn’t hit in 2006? That would have been pretty stupid, wouldn’t it?

What is the need for the Rockies getting a front line starter? We made the playoffs in 2007 without a front line starter (though Francis was pretty good), and I’m going to go out and say it.

Ubaldo Jiminez is the Rockies Front Line Starter and I would put him up against just about any other ace a team has.

With a mindset like that.

we have to take these risks. We can’t just acquire all the best all the time.

Although I’d still do terrible, terrible things to get HanRam

assuming either CarGo or Fowler were in this trade