Which MLB franchise has the worst outlook?

[markinca]

I'm going to just ignore the Phillies here because they're a LOL-bad dumpster fire, and will continue to be a dumpster fire for the foreseeable future.

So other than them, which team(s) do you think have the worst, say, 5-year outlook? For me, I'd probably say the Padres - they gave away a lot of their prospects this offseason and got in return veterans who aren't even good. That team is horrendous right now and they don't got much coming up through the pipeline.

[VandyCards]

Padres by a long shot. Maybe the braves, Milwaukee and phillies too, if their fire sales don't go well.

[Haze28]

I have to agree with the Phillies and the Padres will be right there with them if they decide to have a fire sale at the trade deadline. They have a very solid team but no chemistry at all.

[Cornerstore]

5 Years - Phillies, Padres are obvious choices. While I'm intrigued what Sale, Samarjda Quintana and Rodon can do but besides that I am not a fan of the white soxs active roster/farm. The Diamondbacks to me while they are doing well this year I don't like the management/moves they have recently done. The brewers farm system is Meh but with a good overhaul over next few weeks with trades that could change. Those would be my bottom 5 IMO

[abbottbowden28]

Padres and Phillies. I think the Brewers will be an average team for the next few years at least.

[Hollywood42]

I think the Tigers are on a steady decline with no real help coming from the minors. Sure, they have Miggy for a few more years, and Price is a stud, but after that?

[VandyCards]

Orioles system is pretty bare too.

[Bob Loblaw]

We'll be fine in 4 years. So much money for free agents...3 years of great draft picks. No worries about the 2019 Phillies.

[rrd111]

Phillies Rock Bottom will most likely be next year after which they will slowly start to get better.

If the Reds decide to sell off and don't get a ton in Return I don't know how much help there is for them in the minors either. They have a couple of decent prospects but is their system overall strong right now? Winker, Stephenson and??

[awz50]

We'll be fine in 4 years. So much money for free agents...3 years of great draft picks. No worries about the 2019 Phillies.

Yeah 4 years....long 4 years

[JMarchand1981]

The red sox are supposed to have a strong farm system. I hope that strength is more guys like Xander and less like typical 4A guys like Jackie Bradley.

[jason122883]

Between bad drafting, and terrible trades. The Mariners have next to nothing in their system. A few should be good players who are underperforming right now, and nothing outside of that

[abbottbowden28]

How many losses do you guys think the Phillies will have next season?

[NickM]

We'll be fine in 4 years. So much money for free agents...3 years of great draft picks. No worries about the 2019 Phillies.

You won't be fine in 4 years unless Amaro is fired this year.

[PejaD]

Rays.
- mediocre team this year that will likely miss the playoffs and not bad enough to get a top pick
- farm system is not the worst, but unlikely has any all-stars in the making
- poor attendance and likely to be looking for a new home

[Ottomatic]

It's trendy to knock the Phillies, but Amaro will be gone. (even though he hasn't been bad during the rebuild years). They have a top 10 system right now, plus what they get from Hamels, Papelbon, and Revere. They have a ton of money coming off the books within two years, and they just signed a new TV deal. They are not even close to being the right answer to this question, I'll go Brewers, Padres and Tigers. These teams are where the Phils were before they started building the farm except without the same financial capabilities the Phils now have. The Phillies already had 4 down years, they were the answer to this question mid 2012, and they'll probably be awful next year, but starting 2017 they'll be competent.

[enbambam6986]

It's trendy to knock the Phillies, but Amaro will be gone. (even though he hasn't been bad during the rebuild years). They have a top 10 system right now, plus what they get from Hamels, Papelbon, and Revere. They have a ton of money coming off the books within two years, and they just signed a new TV deal. They are not even close to being the right answer to this question, I'll go Brewers, Padres and Tigers. These teams are where the Phils were before they started building the farm except without the same financial capabilities the Phils now have. The Phillies already had 4 down years, they were the answer to this question mid 2012, and they'll probably be awful next year, but starting 2017 they'll be competent.

Top 10? They barely make the top 5 in the NL East

[slugger3469]

I think the Tigers are on a steady decline with no real help coming from the minors. Sure, they have Miggy for a few more years, and Price is a stud, but after that?

There's literally zero real help coming from the minors. The Tigers are DONE this year, so the best thing Dombrowski can do is swallow his freaking pride and be a seller come 7/31.

Price is gone, and the compensatory pick wont come close to replacing what they could get via trade. Cespedes is probably gone. Soria would draw interest from contenders to stiffen up their bullpen. There's pieces to trade that could help restock the farm.

The run the Tigers were on was nice while it lasted, but the window is shut with no sight of it reopening for years. Dombrowski built the team, and also ruined it too. Short sighted deals that killed the farm system will hurt the Tigers for years.

[BostonNut]

What GM in their right mind would give up B or even C prospects for those guys??? Maybe Hamels....but I would want my GM fired it he did....

It's trendy to knock the Phillies, but Amaro will be gone. (even though he hasn't been bad during the rebuild years). They have a top 10 system right now, plus what they get from Hamels, Papelbon, and Revere. They have a ton of money coming off the books within two years, and they just signed a new TV deal. They are not even close to being the right answer to this question, I'll go Brewers, Padres and Tigers. These teams are where the Phils were before they started building the farm except without the same financial capabilities the Phils now have. The Phillies already had 4 down years, they were the answer to this question mid 2012, and they'll probably be awful next year, but starting 2017 they'll be competent.

[base set]

There's literally zero real help coming from the minors. The Tigers are DONE this year, so the best thing Dombrowski can do is swallow his freaking pride and be a seller come 7/31.

Price is gone, and the compensatory pick wont come close to replacing what they could get via trade. Cespedes is probably gone. Soria would draw interest from contenders to stiffen up their bullpen. There's pieces to trade that could help restock the farm.

The run the Tigers were on was nice while it lasted, but the window is shut with no sight of it reopening for years. Dombrowski built the team, and also ruined it too. Short sighted deals that killed the farm system will hurt the Tigers for years.

Yeah, Gose (came from the farm via trade), Iglesias (ditto), and JD Martinez just totally suck. Winning the division for four years straight sucked too. Ruin, misery, and hate everywhere.

"Dumbrowski" takes a lot of vitriol from the fans (so many seem to "enjoy" sports by hating everything) but he does have a boss after all, a boss who is willing to spend big and gamble in the process. That sure sucks too, not like that steady Tampa Bay club.

The Tigers need some pitching ... but currently have the 8th youngest 25-man.

Maybe in the age of Analytics, .500 baseball is the new normal. They say the game is not played "on paper"; instead it seems to be played on the spreadsheet now.

[NeedChapmans]

Detroit, Philadelphia, San Diego are all in tier one. Miami, CHW, Cincinnati and Colorado are in tier two.

These seven are going to be bad for a good while. Even though Colorado / Philadelphia have a healthy amount of bats in the minors (and at the majors), their pitching is so awful that it's almost beyond repair without starting from scratch.

[base set]

Detroit, Philadelphia, San Diego are all in tier one. Miami, CHW, Cincinnati and Colorado are in tier two.

These seven are going to be bad for a good while. Even though Colorado / Philadelphia have a healthy amount of bats in the minors (and at the majors), their pitching is so awful that it's almost beyond repair without starting from scratch.

Hi NC, I would appreciate your take on an idea I heard recently. The thought was that the old style of making the starter/reliever decision - let the starter go until tired enough that things start to visibly slip - is being replaced by generally (with exceptions for match-ups, game situation, etc.) replacing the starter when the opposing line-up comes up for the 3rd time, when they now have 2 ABs in the game and a better idea of that game's starter and thus their best chance of success.

The announcers I listen to the most haven't really picked up on this yet, but yesterday they were commenting on how Buck Showalter is now very reluctant to let many starters go past 5 innings.

I don't know where to look but I would think if that basic idea is the case, it would be reflected in an innings/starter stat for each team and across the 2 leagues in general.

Any thoughts?

[Skipscards]

The answer to this question is the Cubs. Always the Cubs. Why? Because they're the Cubs. Duh. When Orval Overall was the pitcher standing on the mound the last time you won the World Series... your outlook is automatically the worst.

[Wolves4Life]

The answer to this question is the Cubs. Always the Cubs. Why? Because they're the Cubs. Duh. When Orval Overall was the pitcher standing on the mound the last time you won the World Series... your outlook is automatically the worst.

Most ridiculous post ever.

[Bosox34]

We'll be fine in 4 years. So much money for free agents...3 years of great draft picks. No worries about the 2019 Phillies.




There should always be worry when your GM is Ruin Tomorrow Jr

[BostonNut]

I'm really surprised Boston has not been mentioned.

1.) The pitching is downright awful....God awful....terrible, stink-fest, I'd rather watch Daisuke pitch every night awful.

2.) Horrid contracts to vets. (Sandoval, Ramirez, Porcello, Pedroia to an extent.)

3.) Boston prospects are hyped up to the nth degree. Actually the nthteenth degree.

4.) The front office can never stick to a long term plan. One year it's handing out mega contracts to big names. The next year it's finding clubhouse guys. The next year it's not paying for any pitching over 30 years of age.

I don't think the Red Sox are in the worst shape of all teams...but they deserve to be mentioned.

(Awaiting the attack of the Pink Hats.)

[majestik101]

Padres are in real bad shape. Recently went to my first Padres game in years, and was stunned how awful this team is with no indication that things will get better any time soon. Their home stadium's nice though, but it was about half empty.

[Bosox34]

I'm really surprised Boston has not been mentioned.

1.) The pitching is downright awful....God awful....terrible, stink-fest, I'd rather watch Daisuke pitch every night awful.

2.) Horrid contracts to vets. (Sandoval, Ramirez, Porcello, Pedroia to an extent.)

3.) Boston prospects are hyped up to the nth degree. Actually the nthteenth degree.

4.) The front office can never stick to a long term plan. One year it's handing out mega contracts to big names. The next year it's finding clubhouse guys. The next year it's not paying for any pitching over 30 years of age.

I don't think the Red Sox are in the worst shape of all teams...but they deserve to be mentioned.

(Awaiting the attack of the Pink Hats.)



I agree but think some of the prospects in the Sox system are deserving of the hype. It'll be interesting to see what happens.


I think the Yankees also deserve to be mentioned. Terrible front office/a lot of subpar prospects/increasing age of Gardner/Teixiera/Arod/McCann/Tanaka/Sabbathia will keep this team away from a WS. They aren't the worst but the future looks bleak

[TarjetasBéisbol]

I'm really surprised Boston has not been mentioned.

See post #11.

Tigers are taking a hit but with the 86 year old owner Mike Ilitch having a win now attitude I think he will continue to go for it all until he passes.

[BostonNut]

See post #11.

Tigers are taking a hit but with the 86 year old owner Mike Ilitch having a win now attitude I think he will continue to go for it all until he passes.

:facepalm: I'll learn to read one of these days...

[forjlf]

These look like the worst:

Miami
Milwaukee
San Diego
Colorado

I don't understand what the plan is in Colorado. They have a bunch of good hitters - both current and prospect, but never seem to get even average pitching. Even if they played in a pitcher's park this would be so.

I also think teams like Boston, Cleveland, and Chicago Cubs are too lopsided one way (bad/great pitching with bad/great offense) to seriously contend for the foreseeable future.

[Metsfan1121]

It's threads like these that make me miss metsplaya123

[Cornerstore]

It's threads like these that make me miss metsplaya123

kind of like how giveaway threads make me miss haiku

[Skipscards]

Most ridiculous post ever.

Thanks. I've been striving to reach the top. To know I've reached the pinnacle is extremely gratifying.