[34TheTruth34]

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I don't really understand your post. We have more than a few prospects. They play in a league which really isn't all that competitive (this year atleast). Do you know much about the M's or follow their team and/or farm system?

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I'm all the way across the country, so I don't follow them or their farm system closely. I'm a Red Sox fan, so I really only see them a couple of times a year.

What I see from an outsiders prospective is a team who has made horrific and costly free agent signings: $114 million for Beltre and Sexson at the start of the '05 season and then $37 million more for Jarrod Washburn at the start of this season. Giving Matt Lawton a contract was equally as ridiculous, but at least he wasn't expensive. What are they going to do about all these contracts?

Furthermore, they draft worse than the Buffalo Bills. They took Nomar's little brother Michael Garciaparra like 36 rounds too early. Also, there's talk that the kid they drafted 6th overall in the most recent draft had a bad elbow. If this turns out to be true and they didn't know it, that's gotta be pretty embarassing.

I agree with you that they have some young talented minor league prospects that could make a huge impact on the major league level. I used to be a big baseball card collector/dealer, so I've been hearing the names Clint Nageotte, Travis Blackley, and Chris Snelling for quite some time now.

But I don't understand the recent trades. I thought Choo was going to be a big part of their plans. Also, if you're expecting that Jeremy Reed will be the CF of the future, I think you may be severly dissappointed. He can't hit. I know he's on Sportscenter every night making diving catches; but a lot of scouts are of the opinion that he is forced to make these amazing diving catches is because he takes horrible paths to fly balls. (This is one of the reasons why I heard the offseason deal with the Red Sox for Reed fell through).

I know the AL West is having a down year, but the 3 other teams are all much better than Seattle IMHO. Then again, I've seen the other teams more frequently than Seattle this year.

If I'm way off on any of these points, feel free to correct me. I will defer to your opinions if you watch them play every day and know the team and farm system inside and out. These are just the opinions I get looking at them from afar. And the present and future, despite a lot of minor league talent, doesn't seem all that bright to me.



p.s. Thanks for Heathcliff Slocumb for Jason Varitek and Derek Lowe [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]