NC Product Alec Zumwalt Moves up to Double A!

Congrats Alec! All your hard work is paying off!:applause:

 

Braves, thanks for the explanation. But it looks like the lowly Pirates got killed with 4 of the top 5 picks coming from their system. The Pirates may have a great farm system but they haven't been a contender in years. The rule should be that the bottom ten teams can only take players from the top ten teams, in order to be fair.

 

I agree small-market teams are forced to struggle to keep the others in sight but it isn't always the system's fault.
Interestingly, the Pirates had 3 spots vacant on their 40-man roster. So they could have protected 3 of the 5 they lost if they had felt so inclined. As the last couple of years have proven with the Angels and Marlins, the largest payroll doesn't guarantee a trophy. Many of the players who played key roles for the last two World Series Champs were home-grown and not considered studs prior to their performances. So sometimes management of what teams already have rather than awarding them with more entitlements is more important to a team's success.
It's also interesting how the Braves are being forced by their relatively new owner, AOL/Time-Warner, to cut expenses. They have recently dealt Jason Marquis and future stud, Adam Wainwright. Wainwright was thought to be untouchable before the trade for JD Drew and few would be surprised if he is pitching in Busch Stadium sometime in 2004. They also failed to pick up anyone in the Rule 5 draft to help with their bullpen woes. If a rumored trade between Boston and St. Louis, which would exchange Marquis for reliever Scott Williamson goes though, you wonder why the Braves didn't do that. But that's speculation.

Pro ball is definitely a business and next to impossible to predict.