Branden McCarthy takes on Luke Hochevar in a battle of "prospect power". Well, this year, McCarthy seems to be winning that battle, with a 3.05 ERA over Hochevar's 5.48.
But this series is very interesting to me from another perspective. This is a series with a team that has been absolutely putrid for so long, and with a GM widely thought of as incompetent. And yet, the Royals are poised for a successful stretch of years, with top prospects popping out the wazoo. Contrast that to Our A's, who dealt with several years of sub par records, struggling to get to .500 this year, and to find our farm system still decimated and among the lower half. Life is not fair, but perhaps there is more to look into for that.
The Royals have stunk. Stunk so much that they've gotten very, very high picks. Meanwhile, the A's have stunk, but not quite enough, usually ending up between 10 and 15 on the drafting list. This is probably the biggest indication on how each team refills their farm system, and the A's, even if they do need to do a better job at drafting, are also unable to get those almost-sure-fire superstars that the Royals and Nationals got to receive.
So I pose the question, should the A's, if they are going to be bad in a year, dive down to the bottom to get that top prospect (see: Seattle) or should they try to win, even if it costs them down the road?
Game starts at 4PM PST, 6PM Central.
Poll
In a losing year, should the A's aim for a higher draft pick or a better record?
This poll is closed
-
29%
Higher Draft Pick, even if we lose more games.
(42 votes) -
70%
Win more games, even at cost of a worst draft pick.
(102 votes)
