South Platte said:
I'm so freaking pissed at this team.
We have to draw a line in the sand on this whole developing pitching talent in our farm system thing that we've ignored for 50 years. One of you baseball gurus explain how this works. Did Brent Strom have any say in how the Astros farm system developed pitchers? Who is the next Brent Strom? Why can't we identify and sign/draft talent? Who is responsible for this and why do they suck at their job? Still chuckle at "DVD".
International talent. We never have any of these guys contribute to our MLB roster. At one point we had Mazara, Odor, and Profar. It seems we've gone the free agency/trade route and given up on finding international talent aside from Walcott. Carter and Langford seem to be excellent draft picks with long MLB careers ahead of them.
Leiter, Rocker, Walcott. Rosario? Is that the end of our list?
There is a lot going on in your post.
I think there is a disconnect between our Scouting... our Development... and our Coaching, for Ps. I could be completely wrong. Historically, I think we've scouted and drafted players based on best pitcher. Then, we plug that pitcher into our system. In some regimes, that meant teaching specific pitches universally. I think Maddux is a great in-game manager, but you aren't giving instruction on developing pitches in-game. He manages emotions and expectations. He isn't teaching new pitches making adjustments. He has almost no visibility into the bullpen during the season.
I think CY + Maddux went out and got Gray and gave him a strategy for what they thought he could be. Gray had the same ideas and felt the Rangers coming to him with the same approach was a good fit. That, I think is how it should roll. CY+Maddux set an expectation and should work with our Scouting team to find pitchers that fit organizationally.
From what I understand, Leiter was the best pitcher available, but it was known he didn't have the type of command you want from a #1. As he has gone up in the org, the Rangers haven't addressed it, and when he gets to MLB in a game, Maddux isn't going to fix it.
Int'l?! Preller and Int'l Pool money. We loaded up on Int'l players and MLB implemented Int'l Pool money and Int'l Draft clearing houses to ensure everything was legit and even. Preller got in trouble for "questionable" birth certificates and paying influencer (coaches) for players. You can't do that anymore.
Personally, DR players are a high-risk for PEDs and that will always be a problem.