clearpix.gif (43 bytes)
clearpix.gif (43 bytes)
Big Daddy Baseball League

www.bigdaddybaseball.com

O F F I C I A L   S I T E   O F   T H E   B I G   D A D D Y   B A S E B A L L   L E A G U E
slant.gif (102 bytes) From the Desk of the Commish

Commish

clearpix.gif (43 bytes)

February 22, 2005

2005 Historical Farm Study

Next month, I will be posting my annual BDBL farm report, which shows how the 24 farm clubs in the BDBL currently stack up against each other in the eyes of the prospect experts.  This month, we compare how each of the 24 BDBL farm clubs have performed historically, using win shares as our measurement.  Without further rambling, here are the results:

#1 Wapakoneta Hippos (673 win shares)
2004 ranking: 1
Notable alumni: Albert Pujols (142), Tim Hudson (106), Christian Guzman (76), Adam Dunn (75), Ricky Ledee (43), Brian Schneider (41), Carl Crawford (40), John Lackey (26), Jason Bay (22), Mike Maroth (22), Luis Ayala (20), Juan Cruz (14), Mike Lincoln (14) and Jae-Wong Seo (12).

In 2001, Albert Pujols was (allegedly) a "20-year-old" youngster coming off a season in which he hit .324/.387/.565 in 395 at-bats in Low-A ball.  That year, he was ranked as the #28 prospect in baseball by Baseball Prospectus, #62 by TeamOne, #18 by John Sickels and #42 by Baseball America.  With the 18th pick in the first round of the '01 draft (12 picks after Toe Nash), Bobby Sylvester selected Pujols.  The rest is not only BDBL history, but BDBL legend.  Through the years, Bobby has had an extraordinary knack for discovering hidden gems on the farm.  Two years ago, he won the prospect lottery yet again when he plucked Jason Bay off the free agent scrap heap in Chapter Two.   If Dunn has a big season in 2005, the Hippos could have three alumni from their farm system with more than 100 career win shares.  That is mighty impressive, given that our league is only six years old.

#2 Villanova Mustangs (652 win shares)
2004 ranking: 6
Notable alumni: Alfonso Soriano (89), David Eckstein (52), Craig Wilson (46), Cesar Izturis (44), Carl Crawford (40), Rob Mackowiak (37), Tony Armas (29), Travis Hafner (29), Brandon Webb (29), Ty Wigginton (29), Chone Figgins (28), Josh Phelps (26), Felipe Lopez (22), Rod Barajas (19), Jason Phillips (19), Wily Mo Pena (16), Kerry Robinson (13), Wilson Delgado (11), Shingo Takatsu (11), Tony Fiore (10).

What the 'Nova farm may have lacked in quality over the years, it more than made up for it through quantity.  A total of twenty former 'Nova farmhands have reached double digits in win shares so far, and that number tops the league.  This franchise's most accomplished alumnus, Soriano, was acquired in exchange for Armando Rios, believe it or not.  He was then traded just days later for Felipe Lopez.  The scary part is that the Mustangs haven't even gotten warmed up yet.  With Casey Kotchman, Andy Marte, Jeremy Reed and Chad Billingsley on the way up, Villanova could top this list by 2007.

#3 Ravenswood Infidels (586 win shares)
2004 ranking: 2
Notable alumni: Vernon Wells (61), Joe Mays (42), Jay Gibbons (39), A.J. Burnett (38), Kaz Sasaki (38), Dannys Baez (34), Mark Ellis (32), Matt Herges (32), Rodrigo Lopez (32), Garrett Stephenson (31), Dustan Mohr (28), Francisco Rodriguez (25), Adam Everett (24), Dontrelle Willis (24), Hee Seop Choi (20), Jerome Williams (15), Jayson Werth (14), Jae-Wong Seo (12), R.A. Dickey (10).

Unfortunately for the Infidels, seven of their top ten alumni (Mays, Gibbons, Sasaki, Baez, Ellis, Herges and Stephenson) aren't likely to produce much more than they have to date, which means this franchise will slide in the ranking over the coming years.  Three of the top four alumni were acquired during the inaugural farm draft in 1999.  And all but two of the top ten were acquired more than four years ago, so Janet Jackson's eternal question -- "What have you done for me lately?" -- seems appropriate.

#4 Corona Confederates (545 win shares)
2004 ranking: 4
Notable alumni: Juan Pierre (79), Mark Buehrle (71), D'Angelo Jimenez (60), Bung-Hole Kim (60), Wade Miller (50), Kip Wells (46), Aaron Rowand (39), Nick Johnson (32), Gil Meche (25), Juan Cruz (14), Jayson Werth (14), Horacio Ramirez (13).

The Confederates franchise holds steady in this race, thanks to continued production from Pierre and Buehrle -- a couple of Chapter Five free agent pick-ups in 2000.  Six of the top eight Confederates farm alumni were acquired all the way back in 1999, and only two players (Werth and Ramirez) acquired since 2002 have posted double digits in win shares so far.  Fear not, however, as an impressive second wave of prospects -- including Delmon Young, Joe Mauer, Ian Stewart, Conor Jackson, Clint Nageotte, Jeff Niemann and Brandon Phillips -- is on its way.

#5 Marlboro Hammerheads (544 win shares)
2004 ranking: 9
Notable alumni: Ichiro Suzuki (111), Milton Bradley (47), Carlos Zambrano (42), Orlando Hudson (41), Casey Blake (30), Joe Crede (29), Adam Eaton (27), Brad Lidge (26), Matt LeCroy (25), Alex Cintron (23), Marlon Byrd (22), Miguel Olivo (16), Dan Reichert (15), Termel Sledge (15), Bobby Crosby (13), Ruben Mateo (13), Aaron Cook (11), Ruin-Elvis Hernandez (11).

The Hammerheads jumped five places in this year's ranking thanks to five 2004 performances from their top five alumni that ranged from solid to outstanding.  I have to admit, two years after the trade that sent the league's best pitcher, Roy Halladay, to my division rival, that trade looks decidedly less lopsided than it did at the time.  Ichiro has now racked up more than 100 win shares in his career, and while Drew Henson has predictably flopped, Hanley (a.k.a. Hensley) Ramirez has apparently blossomed into a top-40 prospect (though I'm still not sold on him.)  Sharky replaced Ramirez on his farm roster with Joel Guzman -- a Chapter One free agent pick-up -- who has also been transformed from a free-swinging tools hound to one of the top prospects in the game.  Between Guzman, Ramirez and Crosby, Marlboro should have been set at the shortstop position for the next decade.  Unfortunately for them, all three were traded.

#6 Akron R˙che (517 win shares)
2004 ranking: 8
Notable alumni: Adam Dunn (75), Ramon Hernandez (73), Mark Mulder (73), Jay Payton (62), Jeff Weaver (60), Mark Prior (36), Jason Marquis (27), Ben Broussard (25), David Riske (22), Rich Harden (18), Cliff Lee (11).

Has anyone in the BDBL done a better job of developing pitchers from his farm system than D.J. Shepard?  Hell, has any MAJOR LEAGUE team done a better job than the Ryche?  Akron has gotten a total of 274 win shares from the pitchers in their farm system, which may or may not be a league record (I'm too lazy to do the work to find out.)  And that number will increase substantially over the next few years as Prior, Harden, Lee and Ryan Madson mature.  In addition to finding pitching gems on the farm, D.J. has also done a remarkable job over the years in discovering hidden gems on the free agent wire, taking fliers on guys like Bronson Arroyo and Oliver Perez.  Whatever the magic formula is for solving the mystery that is pitching, D.J. has figured it out.  Unfortunately, like every good magician, he is keeping that formula a secret.

#7 Salem Cowtippers (517 win shares)
2004 ranking: 10
Notable alumni: Alfonso Soriano (89), Aaron Rowand (39), Mark Teixeira (38), Sean Burroughs (33), Austin Kearns (33), Bobby Kielty (32), Jeff Zimmerman (30), Ben Broussard (25), Matt LeCroy (25), Hee Seop Choi (20), Rich Harden (18), Ken Harvey (15), Kaz Matsui (14), Cliff Lee (11).

It has been a dark era in Salem farm history, as only four players (Broussard, Harden, Matsui and Lee) acquired since 2001 have generated double digits in win shares from the Salem farm.  But hopefully, that will change over the coming years as B.J. Upton, Jeremy Reed, Abe Alvarez, Michael Aubrey, Grady Sizemore, Adam Miller, Kendry Morales, Edwin Jackson and others begin to make contributions to the cause.  Soriano and Burroughs were selections in the inaugural draft.  Soriano was traded that year for -- gulp -- Armando Rios, while Burroughs was released later that year, picked up later that same year, traded in 2001, then reacquired in 2002.  Two of the best trades in Salem history (if not BDBL history) netted Teixeira and Kearns for the Cowtippers.  Teixeira was acquired straight-up for Wes Anderson while T-Rex was still a freshman in college.  And Kearns was acquired straight-up for Doug Creek, who was released just days after that trade.

#8 Southern Cal Slyme (491 win shares)
2004 ranking: 5
Notable alumni: Jimmy Rollins (81), Michael Young (64), Octavio Dotel (62), Randy Wolf (62), D'Angelo Jimenez (60), Jake Peavy (26), Reed Johnson (21), Kaz Ishii (18), Chuck Smith (14), Jose Contreras (12), Matt Kata (11), Chad Tracy (11), Damian Rolls (10), Jason Simontacchi (10), So Taguchi (10).

With the very last pick in the 2000 farm draft, Bob Sylvester selected Jimmy Rollins.  Some of the names taken ahead of Rollins in that draft: Brad Baisley, Corey Thurman, Corey Lee, Scott Downs, Wilfredo Rodriguez, Mario Encarnacion, Andy Pratt and Danys Baez.  Bob selected Michael Young in the seventh round of that same draft, but released him on Cutdown Day the following season.  Dotel, Wolf and Jimenez were each selected in the inaugural 1999 farm draft.  Oddly enough, SoCal's first pick in that draft -- Ryan Anderson -- was the only first-rounder chosen that year who never made it to the big leagues.

#9 South Carolina Sea Cats (455 win shares)
2004 ranking: 7
Notable alumni: Freddy Garcia (77), Billy Koch (58), Jason LaRue (50), Hank Blalock (44), Warren Morris (34), Brian Lawrence (29), Kevin Mench (29), Josh Phelps (26), Brady Clark (25), Jose Reyes (17), Oscar Villareal (11), Justin Duchscherererer (10), Aaron Harang (10).

Garcia, Koch and LaRue are all products of South Carolina's first-ever farm draft.  Blalock was originally drafted by Jim Doyle in 2000, but was released to make room for hot prospect Ramon Castro.  Tony DeCastro scooped him up in the third round of the 2001 draft, which has to be one of the best farm picks ever made in BDBL history.  That year's draft pool was incredibly deep.  In addition to Blalock, it included Albert Pujols, Ichiro Suzuki, Roy Oswalt, Mark Prior, Justin Morneau, Carlos Zambrano, Carl Crawford, Brad Wilkerson, Jerome Williams and Jake Peavy.  I had two picks in the first round of that draft (including the #1 pick) and ended up with Adam Johnson and Brad Cresse.  Needless to say, it is by far the most shameful moment of my fantasy baseball career.

#10 Silicon Valley CyberSox (452 win shares)
2004 ranking: 3
Notable alumni: Barry Zito (79), Adam Kennedy (65), Marcus Giles (60), Brian Daubach (57), Eric Hinske (41), Chris Singleton (38), Russ Branyan (35), Ben Broussard (25), Khalil Greene (21), Rob Bell (18).

The CyberSox fell seven places in the ranking this year, in part because Freddy Garcia was mistakenly included as a CyberSox farmhand in last year's study, and partly due to the disappointing seasons by Zito, Kennedy and Giles.  With Casey Kotchman, Dallas McPherson and Huston Street on the cusp of stardom, and Zito, Kennedy and Giles all due to bounce back in '05, Silicon Valley shouldn't be down for long.  Zito was selected with the fourth pick in the 2000 farm draft.  The three players chosen ahead of him were Luis Rivas, Danys Baez and Andy Pratt.

#11 Kansas Law Dogs (397 win shares)
2004 ranking: 15
Notable alumni: Shea Hillenbrand (47), Carl Crawford (40), Mike Lamb (33), Angel Berroa (28), Johnny Estrada (24), Jeremy Affeldt (21), Juan Rincon (19), Rob Bell (18), Rick Ankiel (17), Corey Bailey (16), Eric Munson (16), Bobby Crosby (13), Horacio Ramirez (13), Aaron Cook (11), Mike MacDougal (10).

It's hard to believe the Law Dogs rank so highly in this study when their top alumnus is Shea Hillenbrand.  Kansas' 1999 draft (orchestrated by BDBL legend Chuck Schaeffer), which included Alex Escobar, John Patterson, Rob Bell and Jackson Melian, was a disaster, resulting in just 28 career win shares to date.  Kansas' 2000 farm draft wasn't much better: Mike Lamb, Kyle Snyder, Junior Guerrero and Ramon Santiago.  And the 2001 draft class netted only one impact player (Carl Crawford.)  So basically, the Law Dogs rank in the middle of this race despite giving everyone a three year head start.  Expect David Wright, Scott Hairston, Bobby Crosby and Dallas McPherson to join the top ten by this time next year.

#12 Allentown Ridgebacks (390 win shares)
2004 ranking: 18
Notable alumni: Roy Oswalt (63), Brad Wilkerson (58), Kip Wells (46), Joe Nathan (35), Rocco Ballssmelly (29), Jake Peavy (26), Brandon Inge (25), Kaz Ishii (18), Jerome Williams (15), Jesus Colome (13), Peter Bergeron (12), Chad Tracy (11).

The 2001 farm draft class was so deep, it would be nearly impossible to emerge from that draft without a high-impact future superstar like Roy Oswalt.  (Then again, see what I wrote under the Sea Cats' summary.)  Not only did Tom DiStefano emerge from that draft with Oswalt, but Brad Wilkerson as well.  And, as he recently mentioned on the board, he picked up the following players in the $100k rounds of the regular free agent draft: Morgan Ensberg, Doug Davis, Joel Piniero, Robert Fick, Russ Johnson and Johan Santana.  It's safe to say that's probably the best draft any BDBL GM has ever had.  Like the Law Dogs franchise, this franchise suffered a horrendous inaugural farm draft in 1999, which hurts this team's ranking in this study.  Under the direction of farm director Steve Spoulos, the then-Antioch Angels used their five picks on Jason Grilli (the #3 pick overall), Peter Bergeron, Orber Moreno, Kevin Bierne and Gino Chiramonte.  And in 2000, under the Chris Kamler administration, this franchise inexplicably selected Corey Thurman, Carlos Mendez, Buddy Yen and Joseph Delgado in the farm draft.  No, I don't know who any of those guys are, either.  Looking at that list gives one a greater appreciation for just how far Tom has turned around this franchise.

#12 New Hope Badgers (390 win shares)
2004 ranking: 12
Notable alumni: Lance Berkman (130), Erubiel Durazo (68), Gary Matthews (43), Doug Davis (37), Jody Gerut (24), Jerome Williams (15), T.J. Tucker (14), Jesus Colome (13), Adam Piatt (11).

This franchise's farm system was neglected for so long, it is amazing that they rank so highly on this list.  Of course, the reason for that ranking is Berkman, this team's first-ever farm selection, who accounts for a third of the total win shares.  Berkman was the 7th player selected in the inaugural farm draft, and he leads all 1999 draftees in career win shares by a wide margin.  Of course, Berkman's trade (for Darren Dreifort) in the winter of 2001 has become BDBL legend.  At the time, Berkman was the 37th-ranked prospect in baseball according to Baseball America, while Dreifort was considered to be a rising young star with the Dodgers.  In retrospect, however, it just may be the most lopsided trade in league history.

#14 Los Altos Undertakers (375 win shares)
2004 ranking: 17
Notable alumni: Scott Williamson (49), Juan Uribe (44), Ben Sheets (43), Odalis Perez (39), Carlos Pena (35), Austin Kearns (33), Ryan Franklin (31), Lyle Overbay (26), Brett Myers (15), Mike Cuddyer (14), Josh Paul (12), Jason Lane (10).

It is somewhat shocking to see the Undertakers ranked this low, isn't it?  Despite his lofty reputation as a farm director, Jeff Paulson has yet to develop a single player from his farm who has accumulated 50 career win shares.  That, however, will undoubtedly change in a hurry.  All six of the top six players developed from the Los Altos farm have been traded.  Williamson was traded in 2001 in exchange for David Weathers and Mike Magnante (who were both traded the following season in exchange for Ken Harvey and Rafael Soriano.)  Uribe was traded in 2002 for Craig Biggio.  Sheets was traded that same season (along with Christian Guzman) for Aaron Sele, Octavio Dotel and Shawon Dunston.  Perez, of course, was involved in this winter's big stars-for-prospects swap with the Cowtippers.  Pena was dealt in 2002 in exchange for two chapters of Jason Schmidt.  And Kearns was traded for Doug Creek.  Of the Los Altos farm alumni with double digits in career win shares, only one (Ryan Franklin) was never traded.  It will be interesting to see if Jeff sticks to his strategy of retaining the current batch of Los Altos prospects.

#15 Cleveland Rocks (366 win shares)
2004 ranking: 14
Notable alumni: Milton Bradley (47), Ramon Ortiz (45), Joe Crede (29), Brandon Webb (29), Carlos Silva (26), Brandon Donnelly (23), Danny Kolb (23), Jeremy Affeldt (21), Tyoshi Shinjo (21), Omar Infante (19), Rick Ankiel (17), Chase Utley (13), Brian Shouse (12), Josh Bard (10), Rafael Betancourt (10).

The Rocks franchise (then known as the California Storm) owned the #1 pick in the inaugural farm draft, which they used to select Rick Ankiel.  Needless to say, that pick didn't pan out too well.  But on the plus side, the Storm were able to trade Ankiel for Moises Alou, who nearly carried them into the playoffs.  For the most part, current GM Mike Stein has preferred to use his farm slots on sure-thing contributors, using 20/20 hindsight to his utmost advantage.  Webb, Donnelly, Shouse, Affeldt, Silva, Kiko Calero and Betancourt are all examples of players who already had Major League service time under their belts when they were acquired by the Rocks.  That low-risk/low-ceiling approach has yet to generate a long-term, impact franchise player (aside from possibly Webb), but it has generated more real active roster value for this franchise than nearly half the other franchises in the BDBL.

#16 Sylmar Padawans (358 win shares)
2004 ranking: 11
Notable alumni: Eric Gagne (69), Shea Hillenbrand (47), Jon Garland (39), Jay Gibbons (39), Jason Jennings (36), Casey Blake (30), Joe Kennedy (30), Damian Moss (18), Willis Roberts (13), Denny Stark (12), Greg Wooten (11).

As you can see, this franchise has concentrated most of its farm resources on pitching, which (as predicted by the TINSTAAPP philosophy) has resulted in a mixed bag of success and failure.  The franchise's biggest success story, of course, is Gagne, who was included as a throw-in in a trade that you may have heard about already.  The biggest hitter developed through the Padawans farm system is Hillenbrand, which is the very definition of damning with faint praise.

#17 Bear Country Jamboree (357 win shares)
2004 ranking: 13
Notable alumni: Carlos Lee (100), Jacque Jones (83), Hideki Matsui (48), Kris Benson (42), Ryan Freel (21), Jason Gryboski (12), Laynce Nix (12), Tom Wilson (10).

In 2002, Matt Clemm traded Hideki Matsui in exchange for two chapters of John Burkett.  He then spent the next several years trying to vote all Japanese players "off the island" in our BDBL Prospects Survivor poll.  Coincidence?  I think not.  Lee, Jones and Benson were all acquired by the legendary Bryan Sakolsky in our inaugural farm draft of 1999, which leaves Matsui as Matt's biggest (and only?) farm success story.

#18 New Milford Blazers (352 win shares)
2004 ranking: 16
Notable alumni: David Eckstein (52), C.C. Sabathia (50), Corey Patterson (43), Brad Penny (40), Sean Burroughs (33), Austin Kearns (33), Luis Rivas (30), Mike Cuddyer (14), Horacio Ramirez (13), Zach Greinke (11), Aki Otsuka (11).

When little David Eckstein is your farm system's pride and joy, you know something has gone terribly wrong.  Despite the fact that Sabathia, Patterson, Penny, Burroughs, Kearns and Cuddyer were all top-10 prospects at one time, none of them have panned out as expected.  By losing so many games over the past six years, the Blazers have had the benefit of having a high draft pick in every farm draft we've held so far.  And so far, they've used those #1 picks to select Luis Rivas (#1 overall in 2000), Mike Gosling (#8 in 2002), Joe Valentine (#2 in 2003) and Aki Otsuka (#5 in 2004).  Of the four, only Otsuka has been (or has any prayer of ever being) an impact player.  Most of New Milford's best prospects have come through shedding superstars through the years of non-contention.  Who says losing doesn't have its benefits?

#19 Chicago Black Sox (344 win shares)
2004 ranking: 20
Notable alumni: Aubrey Huff (61), Mark Prior (36), Josh Beckett (28), Jason Marquis (27), Francisco Rodriguez (25), Victor Martinez (24), Khalil Greene (21), Hee-Seop Choi (20), Rick Ankiel (17), Eric Munson (16), Bobby Crosby (13), Ruben Mateo (13), Jeremy Bonderman (10), Donnie Sadler (10).

What on earth are the mighty Chicago Black Sox doing down here with the lowly Blazers?  Like the Blazers, Black Sox farm club history is filled with top-10 prospects.  And like the Blazers, many of those prospects haven't developed as expected.  In some cases (Prior, Beckett, Ankiel) this is due to injury.  In other cases (Rodriguez, Martinez, Greene, Choi, Crosby, Bonderman), it is simply due to the fact that they haven't had enough time to develop just yet.  And in some cases (Josh Hamilton), there is simply no excuse at all.  There is little doubt that Chicago will skyrocket up this ranking within the next year or two.  In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to see them in the top ten next year.

#20 Atlanta Fire Ants (281 win shares)
2004 ranking: 19
Notable alumni: Adam Kennedy (65), Alex Gonzalez (63), Matt Clement (48), Ted Lilly (35), Omar Infante (19), Wily Mo Pena (16), Casey Fossum (11).

Incredibly, the Fire Ants have not produced a farm player with more than 20 career win shares over the past five years.  Kennedy, Gonzalez, Clement and Lilly were all acquired in 1999.  Pena was acquired in 2000, Fossum was acquired in 2001, and Infante was acquired in 2002.  Of the 2003 acquisitions, only Bo Hart (7 win shares) and Dan Haren (2) have any win shares to their names.  And Jason Frasor (7) is the lone 2004 representative so far.  This is just sad.  And we've still got four more teams to go!

#21 Las Vegas Flamingos (272 win shares)
2004 ranking: 21
Notable alumni: Rafael Furcal (92), Hideki Matsui (48), Guillermo Mota (35), Jake Westbrook (26), Chris Reitsma (24), Chase Utley (13), Tom Wilson (10).

Furcal and Mota were selected by GM John Bochicchio in the inaugural farm draft of 1999.  Matsui was acquired in a 2002 swap in exchange for two chapters of John Burkett.  (Talk about a steal!)  Westbrook was acquired in 2000, then released in 2002.  The rest is hardly worth mentioning, really.  The rest of the Las Vegas alumni list contains names that all seem vaguely familiar, like going to your high school reunion and evoking fond memories simply by recalling a long-forgotten name.  Names like Eric Bedard, Brandon Larson, Brian Reith, Vinny Chulk, Nate Bump, Luke Prokopec, Mario Ramos, Billy Traber, David Walling, and -- of course -- the legendary Toe Nash.  Ah, those were good times.

#22 Nashville Funkadelic (268 win shares)
2004 ranking: 23
Notable alumni: C.C. Sabathia (50), Toby Hall (32), Casey Blake (30), Lew Ford (26), Marlon Byrd (22), Juan Rivera (19), Kaz Ishii (18), Brian Fuentes (15), Tim Redding (13), Aquilino Lopez (10).

In 1999, this franchise (then known as the Massillon Tigerstrikes) filled out their bottom three (of only five) picks with Jamie Brown, a passed pick and Rob Ramsey.  In 2000, their first four farm picks were Corey Lee, Corey Myers, Dan Wheeler and Brian Fuentes.  In 2001, Joe Torres was their lone farm pick.  In 2002, the franchise's new ownership selected Kelly Johnson, Jeff Baker and Ricardo Rodriguez with their three farm picks.  Needless to say, by the time Steve Osborne took over in 2003, this farm club was a mess.  Given that head start, it's not hard to figure out why they rank #22 in this study.

#23 Great Lakes Sphinx (268 win shares)
2004 ranking: 22
Notable alumni: Alfonso Soriano (89), Pat Burrell (78), Mark Teixeira (38), Aaron Cook (11), Justin Morneau (11).

This team's farm alumni list reads like a "Who's Who" of "Who?"  A few names from Great Lakes farm clubs past include Ross Gload, Joey Lawrence, Shane Loux, Ed Rogers, Lance Niekro and Brad Baker.  Some teams seem to enjoy cultivating a farm club to the point of obsession.  Others seem to treat their farms like a nuisance.  This franchise's farm has been so neglected through the years, that they have often passed on participating in the farm draft at all.  And during the inaugural draft, then-GM Tim Zigmund was at such a loss to come up with five names to fill out his farm, he filled the final two spots on his farm roster with Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield.  I kid you not.  Soriano, Burrell and Teixeira were traded for Felipe Lopez, Derrek Lee, Jay Canizaro and Wes Anderson.  Again, I kid you not.  Buckle up, kids, because we've got one more team to go.

#24 Manchester Irish Rebels (142 win shares)
2004 ranking: 24
Notable alumni: Hank Blalock (44), Corey Patterson (43), Miguel Cabrera (34).

That's it.  Just three Manchester farm alumni have amassed more than 8 career win shares over the past six years.  And this team's biggest farm success story to date -- Blalock -- was released!  In fact, I could find only eight Manchester farm alumni that have earned at least ONE win share in their careers (John McDonald, Eric Valent, Olmedo Saenz, Joe Borchard and Scott Kazmir are the others.)  That is truly amazing.  You'd think that just by random luck a team would accidentally stumble upon more talent than that over a six-year span.  I'd be willing to bet that if I handed my 14-month-old a crayon and a copy of Baseball America, he'd be able to spot more talent than this franchise has spotted over the past five years.  (Jim, if you're listening, Jack is for hire.)  On the positive side, at least Irish Rebel fans can look forward to a high ranking in next month's BDBL Farm Report.