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"One of the greatest fears is the Yankees and Red Sox not only being worried about big leaguers, but about young players, too," Detroit general manager Dave Dombrowski, who constructed model farm systems as an executive in Montreal and Florida before taking over the Tigers in 2002, said this spring. "I've wondered for years when they were going to start doing that.
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"They can do things in free agency that other teams can't do, and they can do things with their farm systems that other clubs can't do. It's the system, and they're using it now to their full advantage."
Key word: Now.
"Boston has one of the best farm systems in baseball, and the Yankees are the same now," first-year Pittsburgh president Frank Coonelly said. "If you look back, historically, the Yankees didn't become great again until the mid-90s when their core guys were Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada -- guys they developed."
Added Cleveland GM Mark Shapiro, whose club was beaten by Boston in last fall's American League Championship Series: "If they're smart, that's probably the nightmare dilemma for every mid-to-small market team. And the reality is that Boston has been smart with its farm system for the past five years, and New York, probably, for the last two.
"If those two clubs take their high resources and then exploit them by building farm systems, it forces the rest of us to look at other ways to bridge the gap."
One way Detroit is attempting to bridge the gap came last summer, when the Tigers drafted right-handed pitcher Rick Porcello and then signed him to a deal in excess of $7 million. Porcello fell to No. 27 overall because of what were considered exorbitant demands by his agent, Scott Boras.
To combat rising draft bonuses, baseball has developed a slotting system in which signing bonuses are "suggested" to clubs. The slotting system was developed largely by Coonelly, when he worked in the commissioner's office as baseball's chief labor counsel, and Sandy Alderson, who also worked in the commissioner's office before assuming San Diego's presidency.
The Tigers privately were scolded by commissioner Bud Selig for exceeding the "suggested" slotting amount but, internally, they viewed the decision as a no-brainer. As Dombrowski noted, the Yankees and Red Sox are not only drafting intelligently, but they're aggressive in the Latin America and Asia player markets as well.
"I have no doubt they would have done the same thing," Dombrowski said of the high cost to sign Porcello, a 6-5, 19-year-old who was one of the most highly touted prospects as a New Jersey schoolboy last spring. "It comes down to the fact that we're trying to beat them.
"To let them keep having the best guys, it just makes it harder and harder to compete."
Especially now, when the Red Sox, who have won two World Series in the past four seasons, are hording their best prospects and have the resources to spend $20 million a year on Manny Ramirez, $14 million in '08 on J.D. Drew and $12.5 million on David Ortiz.
Pedroia last year exceeded the expectations of most scouts and entrenched himself as a key leadoff man while winning the AL Rookie of the Year award. Ellsbury, Boston's center fielder in Tuesday's season-opener in Japan, has all the makings of a future star. And Buchholz appears set to open the season as the Red Sox's fifth starter, although he did not have a good spring (he surrendered at least two runs in each of his four outings and, because of pitch-count restrictions, never went beyond the fourth inning).
The Red Sox have such a talented mix of youth and veterans that the normally aggressive Epstein made no significant moves to re-shape his team as it sets out for its third World Series title in five seasons.
"We have a lot of real young players whose time is coming, if not now," Epstein said. "Internally, we're stable."
The Yankees' foundation, too, has become significantly stronger as GM Brian Cashman has gained more autonomy.
In Chamberlain (the 41st pick overall in the 2006 draft), Hughes (first-round pick in 2004) and Kennedy (first-round pick -- 23rd overall -- in '06), the Yankees have their brightest home-grown prospects since the Jeter-Rivera-Posada wave of the mid-'90s. And you'll soon be hearing the names of outfielder Austin Jackson and pitchers
Chamberlain will start this season where he ended last -- in a setup role -- while Hughes and Kennedy are expected to grow into playing significant roles this season.
"A perfect example was last year," Posada says. "You saw how Hughes pitched in the playoff games (two appearances in the first round against Cleveland last fall, allowing just one run in 5 2/3 innings). You saw Joba go through the insects in Cleveland. And Ian Kennedy was left behind, but he was calling all of us to get us going.
"You get a sense of how competitive they are. That's why they're here."
In both Boston and New York -- and unfortunately for the other 28 clubs -- there are more where those came from. Baseball America ranks Boston's farm system as the second strongest in the game in 2008, and the Yankees' fifth.
