When the odds of any minor leaguer getting to the big leagues is incredibly, incredibly low, getting to the big leagues alone is a huge thing... Yes, having a positive WAR would be ideal... Teams don't have 25 players who are above the 'mediocre' line.

Now you are conflating this with individual outcomes. Sure, it was unlikely at points for Boshers to make MLB, but teams come up with Boshers-level replacement performances all the time.

 

Reminds me of past debates that argued the Twins pulled off a scouting/development win by getting Tonkin in a late round and seeing him reach MLB. Sure, Tonkin individually beat some odds as a late round pick to reach MLB, but teams have occasional late round picks reach MLB, it's not a particularly meaningful occurrence on a team level.

 

Not that there is anything wrong with Boshers or Tonkin or the team using them, but you can't really use their modest performances to date as evidence of the Twins acumen. It's really just part of the baseline for MLB orgs.

 

Not sure I understand the correlation between Wander Javier and signing indy league free agents. 

  So few other IFA prospects signed because Javier slurped up the pool. Probably no correlation to indy signings, although I think I noticed one or more taking up, er, occupying GCL roster spots?

Edited August 10, 20179 yr by birdwatcher

 

We're all looking forward to a day when they're not desperately seeking these guys out mid-season to fill up a rotation as an emergency tactic. That takes some of the fun out of these guys' stories.

 

I'm a bit uneasy about all the mid-season add-ons of older indy "prospects" in the low minors. The number of these signings  seems to be much higher than during any season of Ryan's tenure, doesn't it? Are they making up for the Wander Javier year of few IFA signings? Are they replacing last year's crop of late-round choices, or this year's? What's the deal here?

 

I won't hold my breath waiting for a beat writer to ask Brad Steil that question...

Any signings that year would still be 18 year olds in the rookie leagues.  That would not impact the upper minors.  It would be better to blame the 13-14 drafts for not producing anything quite yeat. Besides Hildenberger