The Cubs continue with the fundamental inability to produce quality positional talent. Geovany Soto and Ryan Theriot can both be classifed as definite surprises because neither was well thought of until they had a burst through moment. And overall suspicious opinion of Theriot are well documented.

Tim Wilken needs to get it in gear. Soon. And Oneri Flieta and his minor league staff need to be held accountable for better instruction and mentoring on the science and art of hitting, pitching, fielding, etc.

I think the key point of this article is that Law is NOT assessing the recent ability for a farm system to produce MLB caliber players. He is assessing the prospects currently in the farm system. As you read this, you’ll see that he immediately discounts anyone who has broken into the majors already. That said, even though the Cubs have had some home grown talent become productive on the major league level (Theriot, Fontenot, Soto, Shark, Marmol, etc), none of these players are taken into account for Law’s rankings.

Not ‘home grown’, but he still played in our minor league system, which is the basis for comparison in Law’s rankings.

Tim Wilken. The system was decent, as it produced some pitching. It seems very depleted now.

our new owners, when and IF we get them, will understand this and put some more money back into the minors. Everybody talks about how the Sox have had winning teams both through their system and free agency, and that is it the way to go with the Cubs, but putting into practical existence is a different story.
I am a little lost as to why the trib wants to buy pricey free agents, but not build from within as well.
Regrdless, I hope things will change in the future.

Law basically told you that he thought mid years of 2000 yielded very little and specifically mentioned 2005 which he said there may not be one major leaguer from the whole draft. 2003/2004 were very weak also. If you look at all the lists, 2003 to 2005 have very few players on them and even fewer in the major leagues. Given those numbers and the loss of draft choices you cant expect much.

“Sure, Colvin over Snider is looking like a big mistake. But that’s more about Snider than Colvin.”

How is that “more about Snider than Colvin”? It’s both. Yes, Snider looks like a great prospect, but it’s also a failure because Colvin will likely never be a regular in the majors, if he even makes it as a 4th of’er. So it is about Colvin also. If Snider was better than Colvin, but both were starters in the majors, it would be more about Snider. Wilkin was highly thought of when Hendry nabbed him, but drafting Colvin was a really bad move (if that indeed was a draft pick of Tim Wilkin’s).

The farm system is the direct responsibility of the GM. That’s why whenever I hear how great Jim Hendry is I always consider the poor shape the system is in when evaluating the job he has done. At the major league level, he has been given resources to work with in terms of $$, but his scouting and development has been a failure. Why have guys like Rich Hill failed to develop? I know he’s been injured, but there have been other examples of pitchers like that. And why have “can’t mis” kids like Jermoe Walton, Corey Patterson and Felix Pie keep coming and going? For the most part, OBP wasn’t stressed at the minor league level until recently, which again is a problem.