The best players on this team.....

[mtangelsfan]

Are home grown.

 

Can we stop signing big name free agents and stick to a great minor league system while supplementing with the once in a while FA signing?

 

 

[Stradling]

JUST STOP IT?!?!?

[vlad27]

Agreed

[EDinTUSTIN]

Good idea, but right now it is too late for that. We are going to have to bide our time.

[bloodbrother]

Are home grown.

 

Can we stop signing big name free agents and stick to a great minor league system while supplementing with the once in a while FA signing?

 

Yes please.

[Glen]

JUST STOP IT?!?!?

 

 

 

Did AO hack your account?

[nate]

Biggest problem was trading away so many home grown guys.

[mtangelsfan]

I do remember how upset so many fans would get at Stoneman when he wouldn't pull the trigger on the big trade or FA signing.

[Docwaukee]

I think there should be a nice mix between home grown players and trading guys to supplement the big club for a missing that could push you over.

 

trading players from a limited farm system is a bad idea. 

 

I have no problem signing free agents to supplement as well.  I think the theory that a superstar signing will at least get you some sort of production has been blown up. 

[Halos of Anaheim]

We need to learn from our mistakes with Skaggs, Corbin and Segura. No more trading prospects for rentals and aging players. This means no trading Cowart, the last guy we have that may resemble one of those 3.

[Tyler]

They also made the decision to trade Hellweg and Segura for what now appears to be a two month rental, (which is just bad luck, because I probably would have done the same thing for Greinke). - Eddie Bane

[Angel Oracle]

Nice mix = Cardinals

I know, my new crusade

[Willy J.]

Nice mix = Cardinals

I know, my new crusade

 

It's a good crusade.

[Blarg]

Cardinalswin.com awaits your registration.

[Tyler]

Cardinalsactuallywin.com*

[Angel Oracle]

It's more successful than what Arte has done.

[Docwaukee]

I think people should go back and take a look at what the St. Louis farm system has produced up until very recently.  Compare that to the home grown players on the halos.

 

Yes, the current state of the farm system for St. Louis is night and day compared to the halos yet it's not just home grown talent that has helped then win. 

 

The extreme distaste that is developing on this place for FA acquisitions is silly.  Free agent signings are a big part of the game as are appropriate trades.  The base is obviously the farm system yet the other things are important as well. 

 

To get limited production from two superstar acquisitions for the first quarter of each of the last two seasons in the first year of each of those contracts shouldn't happen.  It leaves a bad taste, but it's as much an anomaly as it is annoying. 

 

The farm will continue to build, but I look forward to JD and company righting the ship with the existing pieces as opposed to starting over. 

[mtangelsfan]

If you look at most successful franchises, a majority of their players are home grown.  I'm not saying never sign a FA, but our focus should be on our minor league system.  Also, if you are going to make that trade for a big name, I would suggest not trading away the last remaining top prospects in a certain area.  Like we did with Haren.

[Angel Oracle]

Agreed that not all Cardinals are home grown. But the acquisitions they do bring in aren't for obscene amounts. The ONLY one that could fall in that category the past several years is Holliday.

And next to Hamilton, he's a total steal.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

I do remember how upset so many fans would get at Stoneman when he wouldn't pull the trigger on the big trade or FA signing.

 

Like anything else, moderation is the key. The free agent signings that are the best, by and large, are the complimentary piece type, not guys to build your team around.

[Tyler]

Build dynasties through drafting and trades.

[gurn67]

Like anything else, moderation is the key. The free agent signings that are the best, by and large, are the complimentary piece type, not guys to build your team around.

I think Stoneman's philosophy was to be competitive each year and make sure you stay competitive for the next 5 years. How many times does the team with the best record win the World Series? It's the team that gets hot at the right time. Also, I think Arte needs to understand that we are now in the post-steroids, post-HGH era. Guys are not going to have their best seasons in their late 30's while their juicing to get that last huge retirement contract. Pre-steroid era, the best five year span for a Major League player statistically was always 28-32. I think things are going back to that, so signing guys at the tail end of that age range, or past it, to long-term deals is franchise suicide.

[tomsred]

I think Stoneman's philosophy was to be competitive each year and make sure you stay competitive for the next 5 years. How many times does the team with the best record win the World Series? It's the team that gets hot at the right time. Also, I think Arte needs to understand that we are now in the post-steroids, post-HGH era. Guys are not going to have their best seasons in their late 30's while their juicing to get that last huge retirement contract. Pre-steroid era, the best five year span for a Major League player statistically was always 28-32. I think things are going back to that, so signing guys at the tail end of that age range, or past it, to long-term deals is franchise suicide.

I agree with you.  However, if you posted this at the time of the Pujols signing how many fans would have agreed that the signing was franchise suicide, and would be willing to ask that Arte not do it.  Probably darn few.

[AZMike]

I agree with you.  However, if you posted this at the time of the Pujols signing how many fans would have agreed that the signing was franchise suicide, and would be willing to ask that Arte not do it.  Probably darn few.

A huge number of fans felt like having Pujols would be great for 3-4 year but the cost it would take to get him would be crippling beyond that. Turns out the Pujols we're getting now is declining about 3 year ahead of the schedule many were expecting.

[The Angels]

The problem isn't that we gave out big contracts to free agents. The problem is we gave big contracts to the WRONG free agents. Both Pujols and Hamilton were probably going to start declining no matter where they ended up. If DiPoto signs Fielder and Greinke instead, this topic doesn't exist. Look at the Detroit Tigers - the bulk of their key players were acquired via free agency (Fielder) or trading away highly touted prospects to acquire proven major league players (Miggy, Sanchez, ect.). Take away those guys and their lineup is pitiful.

The failures of this team are more related to player analysis than they are to the organization philosophy of buying expensive free agents. It's basically hit or miss either way you approach it. Remember the mid-2000's when we had to live through failure after failure of highly touted, "in-house" prospects like Wood, Mathis, Kotchman, and McPherson? All of those guys could have been used to acquire impact major leaguers who would have helped us get over that hump toward a second WS title. At one point, they probably would have been enough to net us a guy like Miguel Cabrera. Most Angel fans were asking just the opposite of what we want now - to sign FAs and use unproven prospects to acquire sure things at the major league level. Also, Vlad Guerrero, the heart and soul of what was probably the most consistent Angels team in franchise history, was an expensive FA signing (don't forget guys like Torii and Colon either).