I'm not sure that people understand what a good minor league system is all about. Case in point: Art Thiel, a well-known local columnist. He told me in a personal e-mail (paraphrasing): "The Yanks are the worst team in the MLB at talent development." I cannot understand how one can come to this conclusion. I also don't understand how people can have blind, optimistic faith in the Mariners player development, seeing as how there's virtually no precedent of it succeeding.

Good player development is not about winning in the minor leagues, it's not about having big-name talent on your minor league teams (B.J. Upton, Adam Jones), it's not even about calling up players. Good player development is about results. It's about having resources, and doing something with them.

I would argue that, even if the Yankees had not called up a single player from their minor league system over the past ten years, they'd still qualify as one of the best talent developers in baseball. Why? Because they do something with their talent!

' We need an outfielder because Matsui and Sheffield are indefinitely injured? Alright, package up a few prospects and get Bobby Abreu.'

If they actually are bad at developing talent, but the other teams in the league perceive their prospects as being elite and hand them established players for their minor leaguers, that makes them an even better organization. But this isn't even the worst part. The worst part is that the Yankees do develop their own talent.

At the beginning of last year, everyone happily declared that the Yankees minor leagues were completely devoid of talent. They had nothing. They might as well have had little leaguers playing ... according to all baseball pundits at the time ...

'What? Our team is nearly crippled by injuries? Alright, call up a few necessary pieces from the minors ... Wang and Cano are their names? Fine.'

In his short career, Wang is 21-9 with a 3.77 ERA. Cano isn' t too shabby either, batting .306 in that same time. These are two of the guys who were part of a minor league system that possessed no prospects whatsoever.

Even putting aside the developments like Jeter, Rivera, Posada, etc. That accomplishment, last year, of bringing up those two guys in the middle of the season and having them make major contributions makes the Yankees so damn respectable that I hate them so much more. I'm really, really, really jealous.

Why is this a reason that the Mariners are horrible? It's pretty obvious, the Mariners simply aren't capable of anything remotely resembling this.

This is an organization that has had loads and loads of talent in the past ten years. What has come of it? Uh ... well, let's see ...

- Felix Hernandez! Who's ... underachieving ... and his hero is Freddy Garcia, who has the body language of a petulant 5-year-old, and whose World-Series-winning team is trying to dump him ...

- Rafael Soriano! Who ... can't stay healthy ...

- Carlos Guillen! No ... he was an Astros development, and spent almost no time in the M's minors, and got traded away for nothing to the Tigers where he's become an All-Star ...

- Scott Podsednik! Oh, right, the M's thought he was worthless and dumped him ...

- Pitching! Guys like Clint Nageotte, Travis Blackley, Ryan Anderson, Dennis Stark, ... oh, sorry, those guys WERE top prospects ...

- Wait, Joel Pineiro is still around! Oh yeah ... his ERA has gotten worse each of the last four years ...

Okay, honestly, what have been the fruits of their recent efforts? Jose Lopez, who's pretty good; Yuniesky Betancourt; F-Her, of course; and the trading of Shin-Soo Choo for Ben Broussard. This doesn't look that bad, but we have to remember that Ken Cloude, Joel Pineiro and Jose Cruz looked pretty good too. This organization has shown absolutely no aptitude to develop players who actually play well for more than a couple of years.

Afterthought

The Yankees acquire Abreu and Lidle for the cost of ... none of their elite prospects (who weren't supposed to exist). The Mariners trade away Choo, one of their best prospects, and get Ben Broussard, a middling designated hitter. How does this work? Is this simply a product of the Yankees 'mystique'? Is that why the Yankees can make all of these bizarre, lopsided deals while the Mariners tread water (at best)? Or is this further evidence of Seattle ineptitude. Probably a combination.

Another Thought

Someone on local radio said that if the Cardinals called and offered Albert Pujols for Ichiro Suzuki, we wouldn't be able to do it simply because of our Japanese owner. This is absolutely true, sad, and reason no. 32 why the Mariners organization is an abortion and you should never attend Safeco Field while this regime remains in control.