By asking this question, I don’t want to give the impression that I don’t think the farm system is important.  I do think having a good farm system is important.  I just don’t think it is more important than having a good MLB team.

At the moment, many Cubs fans are suggesting that the team forego signing any high profile free agents for 2012 and instead spend what money is available to build the farm.  Why?  What is the advantage to mailing it in for a year or two just so you can have stronger minor league teams?

Who has the best minor league farm system right now?  The Kansas City Royals.  Does anyone really expect the Royals to be contenders this year?  They have talent in their farm system, but so far, it isn’t translating into wins.

Just wait, you say?  Seems I’ve been hearing that about the Royals for some time.  You see, one of the problems is that prospects sometimes don’t pan out the way people expected.  Sometimes they get hurt.  And in those times that things do go according to plan, prospects get expensive.  And once a player becomes expensive, the Royals and Pirates and A’s of the world trade them away for (wait for it)…more prospects.

Who has the second best farm system in baseball?  Most people think it’s the Yankees.  But wait, the Yankees aren’t built exclusively from within.  In recent years, nobody has spent more on free agents than the Yanks.  In fact, the Yankees seem to use their prospects as trade bait with other teams.  The Yankees end up with proven major league talent and the other team ends up with young players with potential.  Sure, some players – like Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano — make it to the big leagues, but it seem that many more get traded away or never become the big league stars that seemed destined to be.

So what does this prove?  It proves that the focus should first be on the big league team and second on the farm system.  It seems to me that in this instance, the Yankees have gotten it right, the Royals, not so much.

Rany Jazayerli wrote a terrific piece for Grantland where he argued that trading away prospects is the new market inefficiency.  One of the things I liked so much about Rany’s article was the way he viewed the Padres trade of pitcher Mat Latos to the Reds for four prospects.

In case you’re not aware, baseball pundits from across the country panned the trade, saying that the Padres swindled the Reds and that San Diego clearly got the better end of the deal.  I didn’t see it that way.  The Reds gave up some good prospects, but those prospects had not proven themselves at all yet.  Mat Latos, on the other hand, was a young, proven pitcher with four more years of team control.  I thought Cincinnati had gotten the better end of the deal.  Rany apparently felt the same way.  He wrote:

Certainly, not every trade of veterans for prospects is lopsided. On Saturday, the San Diego Padres traded Mat Latos to the Reds for Edinson Volquez, Yonder Alonso, Yasmani Grandal, and Brad Boxberger. Volquez was once traded for Josh Hamilton — which only serves as a reminder of how bad that trade was — but has been mostly hurt and ineffective over the past three years. Boxberger is a future middle reliever. But Alonso is a decent prospect, a major league first baseman who might be a decent hitter for the position. And Grandal is the prize — a switch-hitter who might be one of the best hitting catchers in baseball in three years if he can improve his defense enough to stay behind the plate.

That’s a lot of talent to give up, but frankly, Latos is worth it. Latos has ranked in the top 20 in the majors in both ERA and strikeouts over the past two years, and he just turned 24. The Reds have him under control for the next four years. Potential no. 1 starters don’t hit the trade market very often, and when they do, this is the kind of return they ought to bring.

In recent years, however, they usually haven’t. For that reason, an ambitious team with a deep farm system — the Royals, for instance, or the Nationals — should take advantage of MLB general managers’ prospect fetish to cash in some of their lottery tickets for established players who might help them win in 2012.

Having a great farm system is not the goal.  Having a great MLB team is.  It seems to me that some teams (and their fans) have lost sight of this fact.  The Cubs don’t want to be the Royals; perennial doormats with the best young prospects.  They’re first priority should be to build a strong major league team.  Building a strong farm system should be priority number two.

Let me be clear.  Having a strong farm system is great.  It allows teams to use prospects as trade bait to acquire proven MLB talent, and occasionally it allows a team to bring a player up through the system to contribute at the major league level.  However, having the best farm system should never be the goal of an MLB team front office.  Building a winning MLB team should always be the front office’s number one priority.

One thing Tracy has going for him is his age.  He’s just 29-years old.  Millar does not have the same advantage.  He is 38-years old and definitely in the twilight of his career.  He may be best known as one of the self-proclaimed “idiots” on the Red Sox 2004 World Series championship team, but he was also a pretty good player in those days.  Now, he is coming off two pretty bad years in Baltimore (2008) and Toronto (2009), and is barely clinging to the hope that he can have one or two more seasons in the sun.

Why would the Cubs sign a couple of guys like Tracy and Millar?  They don’t fill any obvious need for the Cubs and they take up payroll space that is already in short supply. 

Let’s deal with the payroll question first.  Both players were signed to minor league contracts, so at least initially, their salary won’t impact the big league payroll.  If he makes the big team, Tracy will earn $900,000 plus incentives.  It’s still a lot of money, but in baseball terms, it’s a pittance.

I’m not certain how much Millar will earn if he makes the big team.  I’ve scoured the Interwebs and couldn’t find the information anywhere.  However, I’m fairly certain that his contract will be similar to Tracy’s.  If Kevin Millar makes the Cubs out of Spring Training, I don’t think it will break the bank.

UPDATE: According to the Chicago Tribune, Kevin Millar’s contract does not contain any guaranteed money.  I believe that means that, although he’ll receive per diem in Spring Training, he will only make the league minimum if he makes the big team.

So, money is really not a concern with these two signings.  Even so, the question remains, why would the Cubs want to waste their time on Chad Tracy and Kevin Millar?

Let’s deal with Tracy first.  Although it’s been a while since he had a good year, it’s important to remember that just a few years ago, Tracy was viewed as a player with a lot of potential.  A budding star.  In 2005, Tracy hit 27 homeruns for the D-backs.  He followed that up with 20 homeruns in 2006.  Tracy just could be a diamond in the rough.  For the Cubs, it’s a low risk/high reward proposition.

Plus, Tracy has shown that he is one of the top left handed pinch hitters in the game.  He could provide some pop off the bench, a quality the Cubs were lacking last year.  I expect Tracy to make the Cubs opening day roster (assuming he stays healthy through Spring Training) as a bench bat and back-up corner infielder.

Millar serves a different purpose.  I think it’s safe to say that Millar’s best baseball days are behind him.  Even so, he can help the Cubs just the same.

Everywhere Millar goes he lightens the mood.  And in case you don’t remember, the mood with the Cubs last year was not very light.  Between the negativity provided compliments of Milton Bradley and the underperformance of the rest of the team, the Cubs locker room was not a fun place to be in 2009.  The Cubs are hoping that Millar’s irreverent personality can improve the clubhouse during Spring Training.

It’s also important to realize that Millar and Ryan Dempster are good friends.  Dempster has emerged as the quasi-leader of this Cubs team.  I think Jim Hendry is hopeful that the good mojo (a technical term) between Dempster and Millar can rub off on the rest of the team.

Millar will also push guys like Micah Hoffpauir and even Chad Tracy to do their best in Spring Training.  I seriously doubt that Millar will make the team.  In fact, I expect that he will enjoy one last Spring Training with his buddy Ryan, and then will walk off into the sunset of retirement.  I don’t think he’ll go to Iowa in hopes that the Cubs will need him at some point in the season.

On the surface, signing two guys that nobody else wants may seem like a mistake, but I think both signings make perfect sense for the Cubs.  Neither guy is going to cost the team much money, and they both serve a very specific and valuable purpose. 

And let’s face it.  If all we have to complain about after the 2010 season is that Hendry signed Chad Tracy and Kevin Millar to minor league contracts, then the 2010 season will turn out to be a whole lot better than what I’m expecting.

**********

Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated has an interesting take on the off season.  He believes that the Cubs failed to spend enough money to improve their team.  Here’s what he says:

Whatever the case, things are improving.  Starlin Castro was recently named to the MLB Top 50 Prospects List.  Having a player on the Top 50 Prospect List is nothing new.  The Cubs had three players in the top 50 as recently as 2007 (Eric Patterson, Felix Pie, Donald Veal).  The big difference now is the depth that the Cubs have in the minor leagues.

The Cubs have several MLB-legit prospects at all levels of their minor league system.  Castro is at the top of the list* and will most likely start the year at Triple A.  Of course, that assumes that the Cubs don’t succumb to the urge to have him start the year in the majors.  He’s only 19 years old and there’s no reason to rush him.  That doesn’t mean the Cubs won’t rush him, but they shouldn’t.  He will benefit from a half-year or more in Triple-A.

Brett Jackson, perhaps the most athletic player in the Cubs minor league system, will likely start the year at Hi-A Daytona.  Although he only played 26 games (112 ABs) in Peoria last year after sprinting through the Arizona League and Rookie League in Boise, don’t be surprised if he does the same thing in Daytona and ends up in Double AA before the end of the year.

The Cubs #3 prospect is Josh Vitters.  He was the #1 prospect in the Cubs organization in 2008 and 2009, but slipped to #3 this year.  Great things are still expected from him, but his defensive ability at third base hasn’t progressed as well as expected.  However, he can still hit and Baseball America predicts that at some point, the Cubs will shift Vitters to the outfield so they can take advantage of his bat without having to suffer through his growing pains at third base.  Although Vitters struggled a bit at Hi-A Daytona last year, there’s a good chance he’ll start the 2010 season in Double A Tennessee. 

Right handed pitcher Andrew Cashner comes in as the #4 prospect for the Cubs.  He pitched well in Double A last year (3-4, 2.60 ERA, 1.19 WHIP) and will likely start 2010 in the starting rotation at Triple A Iowa.  He may see time on the big club in 2010 depending on injuries.  Cashner was a terrific closer in college.  The Cubs have turned him into a starting pitcher, but I could definitely see him in the Cubs bullpen in the next year or two in either a set-up role, or perhaps even closing.

Jay Jackson is another right handed pitcher who will likely start the year in the starting rotation in Triple A.  He has good stuff and I can see him in the Cubs starting rotation in a year or two.  He’s a tremendous all around athlete who can hit (ala Carlos Zambrano).  To me, even though he’s the Cubs #5 prospect, he seems a little bit like a sleeper to me.  He doesn’t get a lot of publicity (certainly not like Castro or Vitters), but he has the stuff to be a successful big league pitcher.

Nineteen-year old Hak-Ju Lee is the Cubs #6 prospect.  The shortstop from South Korea spent 2009 in the Northwest League (Rookie League) where he hit .330/.399/.420 with 2 homeruns and 33 RBI in 68 games.  He’s raw, but has great potential.  Because the Cubs are pretty well stocked at shortstop at the moment (Castro, Darwin Barney, D.J. LeMehieu), there has been some talk of getting Lee some experience at second or in center field.  He has tremendous speed and would probably do well as a center fielder.  However, any position change will probably wait a while.  Lee is expected to start the year as the shortstop for Peoria.

Right behind Lee as the #7 prospect is second baseman Logan Watkins.  The 20-year old was Lee’s double play partner at Boise last year and is expected to move up to Peoria with Lee this year.  Watkins is a terrific athlete.  He was a well-respected quarterback in high school who gave up a baseball scholarship at Wichita State to sign with the Cubs in the 21st round of the 2008 draft.  The Cubs are hoping for big things from Watkins.

The #8 top prospect is Chris Carpenter.  Just like his namesake with St. Louis, the Cubs Carpenter is a right handed pitcher.  He had an unimpressive 2008 in Rookie League Boise, but 2009 was much better.  He started the year at Lo-A Peoria, moved up to Hi-A Daytona, and eventually ended the season at Double A Tennesssee.  2010 should find him starting the year in Tennessee again with a good possibility of spending part of the year in Triple A.

Ryan Flaherty, the Cubs #9 prospect, is an incredibly versatile player.  He played shortstop in college (Vanderbilt) and has also played second and third base since joining the Cubs minor league system.  His future may be as a super-sub (he can play the outfield too) or as a platoon player who thumps righties, but struggles against lefties.  That’s not to say that he will never be a successful every day MLB player.  However, from what I’ve seen, he appears to be underperforming for a former suuplemental first round draft pick.  I know he’s only been in the minors for two years, but I guess I expected bigger things from him.  He will most likely start 2010 at Daytona.

Former LSU shortstop D.J. LeMehieu is the #10 prospect.  Personally, I would have ranked him higher.  I really like this kid.  Although he’s a shortstop now, I predict the Cubs depth at SS will force him to move to a different position as he progresses through the minor leagues.  I think he’ll get the nod as the starting SS in Daytona this year, but may be moved to second base in the near future.  I would love to see LeMehieu at second and Castro at short for the Cubs in a few years.

* The Top Ten Prospects are based on the list compiled by Baseball America.

Other Cubs minor leaguers to watch are catcher Wellington Castillo (will start the year in Double A Tennessee most likely), Darwin Barney (another SS who will likely start the year in Tennessee), 21-year old outfielder Kyler Burke (will likely play in either Peoria or Daytona in 2010), Tyler Colvin (AAA outfielder who could make the big team out of Spring Training), Rebel Ridling (1B who will start the year in either Peoria or Daytona), Brandon Guyer (versatile OF who could start 2010 in either Daytona or Tennessee), and Marquez Smith (3B who will spend 2010 in either AA or AAA).

Although the 2010 version of the Cubs is not overly exciting, the same can not be said about the Cubs minor league teams.  They have some terrific players in the pipeline and whoever is the GM in coming years will have some good young talent to work with.