Let’s relish the current state of the farm system
Recent developments have left the Cardinals’ with a sprawling collection of prospects that’s the envy of most every other team in baseball
Rebuilds typically inflict pain on two levels. The first is the process of bidding adieu to beloved veteran contributors who are traded away or permitted to depart via free agency as part of the teardown. The second is the losing that takes place as a consequence of parting with those veterans, installing younger and unproved talents, and generally paring back payroll. On the other side, rebuilds – provided they’re undertaken with competence or something close to it – yield a couple of positives to counterbalance each of those negatives. The first is the strengthening of the club’s young talent base and, more especially, the farm system. The second is when the on-field results improve thanks to the proper development of those young homegrown talents.
For the Cardinals, the first checkpoint on either side of our rebuild coin – it’s an investment-grade bullion coin of precious metal – has largely been satisfied. Gone are the club’s leading four trade candidates (although JoJo Romero and eventually Lars Nootbaar will likely follow at some point) and in place are broadly impressive prospect returns in those trades. As for the farm system, it was hardly barren before the rebuild took full hold, and now it’s objectively one of the best in baseball. Let’s talk about that, shall we?
