They are 1-3 more breakouts from a quick jolt of re-excitement about the system, imo
Basically, if the top 3 continue to produce then you get ceiling-type performances from a few of:
- Romero
- Yorke
- Wikelman
- Cespedes
- Bleis
- YorDaddy
- Perales
- Anderson
- Zanatello
- Blaze
…then I think the conversation changes. And that’s not even accounting for all the high-floor guys who could turn into something, like Hickey, Meidroth, new draftee Riemer (a legit sleeper to watch coming off injury), all those Bloom college pitcher draftees and the new guys acquired this offseason.
I also wonder if some pubs may be unfairly downgrading the system based on perhaps a perception that GMs around the league haven’t valued our prospects in trade, but that is pure conjecture and nobody knows what we have or haven’t offered.
The ceiling outside our top 3 has undoubtedly been dinged by two things: distance from the majors, and injury-aided throwaway seasons from Romero and especially Bleis who was stalking the top 50 before last season.