The gang over at Fangraphs continued their rankings of each team's organizational structure, and also provided an update on arguably the most intriguing prospect in Japan…
- The Indians are 13th in Fangraphs' rankings. Dave Cameron says "despite the backlash against the Indians front office for the lack of results, this is still one of the best run organizations in the game." Cameron's prediction of big things in the future for the Tribe is backed up by Bryan Smith's rundown of Cleveland's minor league system, focusing on GM Mark Shapiro's recent shrewd deals for prospects.
- While the Dodgers are just a rung below in the #14 spot, Cameron is not impressed with the franchise thanks to the ongoing divorce and ownership dispute between Frank and Jamie McCourt. Cameron describes the McCourts "as people you don’t want owning your team." Marc Hulet's look at L.A.'s future prospects is similarly downbeat, though Hulet notes that many of the Dodgers' most recent blue-chip prospects are currently delivering at the major league level.
- Patrick Newman breaks down the incredible numbers of Yu Darvish and calls him the "real deal," noting that Darvish has had three seasons better than Daisuke Matsuzaka's best efforts in NPB. While Darvish may be capable of pitching in the majors, however, Newman says that "Darvish has been outspoken about not wanting to make the leap to MLB." Newman mentions rumors that the half-Iranian Darvish may not want to play in the United States due to a possible backlash over his ethnicity, though Newman has never seen Darvish ever specifically comment on this issue.
I’d be surprised if Jamie McCourt knows anything about the Dodgers and how much the organization means to Baseball and the fans in Los Angeles. She is really making it hard for them because she just wants to be able to say, “I own the Dodgers”. Simple as this, the 29 other Owners in Baseball are long time Baseball fans who obviously have the money but have the devotion to the game of Baseball.
Yu Darvish really pitched well in the WBC way back when. I don’t think he will get “backlash” because of his ethnicity. Haven’t we the Baseball fans come to respect everyone despite their ethnicity? I think so.
you think Frank knows anything about them either? He is worse than Jaime. At least Jaime is willing to sit there and shutup, Frank has to get involved in everything…
The Dodgers will be better off when we get rid of both of them
Can’t really get rid of them. I think Frank knows more. I do think he knows a lot about them.
I am very confident this divorce will cause the sell of the team. Either because the judge decides the team is split 50-50 or the money Frank has to pay Jaime, plus the 20M in lawyer fees, is too much and he needs to use the Dodgers as a source of getting money to pay for everything…
Frank knows nothing about baseball. He wanted to buy the Sawx and when he couldnt, went on to the Dodgers. To him, the Dodgers are a very expensive toy that he has no idea how to play with
im praying that Jay-Z gets in on the deal and moves the dodgers back to Brooklyn
no way in hell that happens. 1, the NY teams dont want it. The Yankees wanted to get the Mets to move, not add another team. 2, LA wont let it happen. The Dodgers are a HUGE draw and bring a lot of money to the city. No way they are moved to NY, ever…
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Yankees wanted the Mets to move !?!?
when was this ???
I remember the Yankees threatening to go to Jersey…I dont remember them
wanting the Mets run out of town.
Mind u, I said I wished they would come to Brooklyn…I never said it was
definitly going to happen…
( anything to get the Wilpons to sell the Mets is a good idea )
There were a couple of times that I have heard. The one I was talking about was like 5 or 6 years ago and Steinbrenner was talking about how much revenue the Yanks could have if there were the only NYC team. He hinted that he would like to see them out of NY…
Regarding my last post, I didnt mean for it to sound like I was criticizing you. I just see no way it would happen when neither city, nor MLB, would want it to happen..
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There were a couple of times that I have heard. The one I was talking about was like 5 or 6 years ago and Steinbrenner was talking about how much revenue the Yanks could have if there were the only NYC team. He hinted that he would like to see them out of NY…
Regarding my last post, I didnt mean for it to sound like I was criticizing you. I just see no way it would happen when neither city, nor MLB, would want it to happen..
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Here we go again. No story about the Dodgers can lead with anything but the McCourt divorce. Oh, and by-the-way, they have a lot of fine young ballplayers.
Absolutley.
Honeslty, we are talking about a Major League Baseball Team and this team is centered around billions of dollars. This divorice is ruining the Dodgers organization.
I think all the talk, talk, talk about this soap opera is doing more damage to the organization than the thing itself. It’s not like they had the fire sale some predicted, not even close to it. The divorce just seems to be more interesting than baseball, even to baseball fans — which I find depressing. Other than that, I don’t see that any actual damage has been done.
I’ll bet you anything that this divorice lead to lack of spending. Which will eventually cost the Dodgers the post-season.
Welcome to MLB baseball, now you guys know how it feels to play against teams that can spend money, while we the blue jays can’t, thank you
“The divorce just seems to be more interesting than baseball”
I think you’re right, for now. Once the season starts we will be focused on baseball and no one will bring up the divorce unless something bad happens to the Dodgers (whether it has something to do with the divorce or not). News = sensationalism
If the Dodgers don’t win the World Series, every sports writer and every blogger in America will instantly blame it on the divorce. If they do win the World Series, every sports writer and every blogger in America will say it was a miracle that happened despite the divorce. Either way, the storyline will be the same — and it won’t be about baseball. I’d put serious money on it.
‘Marc Hulet’s look at L.A.’s future prospects is similarly downbeat, though Hulet notes that many of the Dodgers’ most recent blue-chip prospects are currently delivering at the major league level.’
This is why I hate having national writers write about the Dodgers. They do not follow the team and know very little about the major league team, let alone the minor league part of the system. Where do you want me to start with top prospects?
Here, for one, we have two top 50 guys in Withrow and Gordon. Then we have two others, Santana and Bell, who are top 20 guys, but have been dealt because our owner is a moron. Then we have guys like Gould, Miller, E. Martin, Elbert, etc who have VERY high potential.
For bats, after Gordon, we should have two power bats in Bell and Santana, but I digress. We have a 20 year old who struggled in AA, Andrew Lambo, who has serious potential. To counter that, we have a guy who has all the tools and looks to have put it together last season in Trayvon Robinson. Hey, guess what, our top hitting prospects are places we will need them soon… LF and SS. We have a lot of MiIF depth in DeWitt, DeJesus, and Hu can also play there. I expect DeWitt to eventually go back to 3b, unless Pedro Baez has a serious comeback…
This system has some of the best pitching in the minors and should be a top 3 system if not for McCourt being a cheap SOB. Even so, it is a top 15 system and with one good draft from Logan White, it will skyrocket back to the top
What is Yu Darvish worried about? Theres plenty of Muslims living in the US, I am a muslim myself.
I believe he isnt worried about living here, but rather the possibility of being heckled by fans because of the views of some Muslim people..
I think there is nothing for him to worry about if he does come over, but that is my guess
Yeah he’ll be fine. How many people do you think are even going to know that he is half iranian?
honestly, i didnt..
I didn’t know he was Iranian either until we just found out.
Right, and will they even care? He could be half Eskimo, half cyborg and people in his home market would still love to have him.
Being from another country, the US is the last place in the world I would want to move if I were a minority, even just Japanese. Racism is alive and well there and with everyone having guns and all of the murders, it’s downright scary.
yea, because everyone is gonna looking for some Yu Darvish! Yes, some places are racist. But this isnt the 1940s..
What a narrow-minded view. Newsflash buddy, we’re not the only nation that deals with racism, but I’d say we’ve done a damn fine job handling our issues. When’s the last time a player got threatened because of his race?
…are u serious?
umm…last year…in Chicago…
Latroy Hawkins
Jacque Jones
Milton Bradley
Derrick Lee
have all confirmed that they have heard racial taunts from the crowd
Boston has been known for being racist……I’ve heard racial taunts at Fenway directed at Sheffield during a Yankees/Red Sox game
there was an article written about that on ESPN
espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/4289/black-ath…
here is another one from Bonds a few years ago on Boston
boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2004/06…
If this were football Darvish would be ok…maybe even basketball…but baseball …
so… in conclusion.. dont go to Boston haha
so… in conclusion.. dont go to Boston haha
I think part of the potential racism worry could be the way jeter has been treated in NY. sure he is beloved by many, but he has had to deal with a lot of racists because of his mixed heritage. when i saw darvish at the wbc, i was surprised to see how handsome and unique he looked. thats a crazy mix. looks like he has real good stuff. hope he plays one day in the MLB
I think part of the potential racism worry could be the way jeter has been treated in NY. sure he is beloved by many, but he has had to deal with a lot of racists because of his mixed heritage. when i saw darvish at the wbc, i was surprised to see how handsome and unique he looked. thats a crazy mix. looks like he has real good stuff. hope he plays one day in the MLB