Generally when people refer to the "talent" in the lower minors we are referring to toolsy later round picks and Latin American signings. I don't think we are devoid of talent down there, but on the other hand I think we have unreasonable expectations for some of these players right away. I would not expect the A ball teams to be over .500. But the other side is I also don't necessarily see their talent as above average compared to other organizations.
Hopefully they will improve. The Jersey Shore offense could be pretty good. The young arms in Clearwater have promise but are mostly nowhere near ready. As always we need to hit on our top picks (Abel and Painter) to even be close to an average system. I guess I just don't have great expectations for toolsy 6th round picks. Nice to have them. Eventually we'll develop some of them. We really have not seen much of Barber's picks yet either.
The system is definitely a work in progress. Whether they are 24th or 26th does not matter too much. They are clearly not 15th at this point though.
