Dragons moving up; team making little progress

[redsof72]

I will have to go with Katz on this one. Scouts and fans refer to the five tools as hitting for average, power, defense, arm strength, and speed, but I think the most important tool is learning to "win." Games are decided because of performances at critical times when the pressure is on. You learn how to succeed in those situations from being in them. You don't win because of a guy's OPS, you win because he comes through with a key hit or key pitch when the game is on the line. Some players are "winners." They are at their best when it is most important. That is a tool that has to be developed just like any other tool, and I think it is the most important tool.

The Dayton situation is not good right now. You are not developing the prospects on that team when you have them in a demorailized, depressed situation when they are going out every night and getting their brains beat in. Good organizations put their prospects in an environment where they can develop all their skills, not one where they hate coming to the ballpark every day.

As for the fans, are you kidding? When 9,000 people went crazy in April when Todd Frazier hit a walk-off home run, do you think they gave a hoot about whether Frazier was ever going to play for the Reds? They were cheering a win, just like high school fans cheer and college fans cheer and, yes, major league fans cheer.

Bottom line, when fans come through the gates, they are not there to see a practice or an instructional league game. They are there to see a competitive effort and hopefully, a win from their team.

[dougdirt]

I will have to go with Katz on this one. Scouts and fans refer to the five tools as hitting for average, power, defense, arm strength, and speed, but I think the most important tool is learning to "win." Games are decided because of performances at critical times when the pressure is on. You learn how to succeed in those situations from being in them. You don't win because of a guy's OPS, you win because he comes through with a key hit or key pitch when the game is on the line. Some players are "winners." They are at their best when it is most important. That is a tool that has to be developed just like any other tool, and I think it is the most important tool.

You are not in positions to win unless you have good players. I don't think being 'clutch' is a skill you can learn. Good players tend to get hits and bad players don't. Odds of there being a bad hitter that is a better hitter in 'clutch' situations isn't very good. Odds of finding a good hitter that is good in 'clutch' situations is a lot more likely.

The Dayton situation is not good right now. You are not developing the prospects on that team when you have them in a demorailized, depressed situation when they are going out every night and getting their brains beat in. Good organizations put their prospects in an environment where they can develop all their skills, not one where they hate coming to the ballpark every day.

Except thats not really happening in Dayton. These guys don't hate coming to the park every day. You want teams to win, but you can win with a bunch of AAA lifers down in AA, but its not going to develop them into big leaguers. You develop players by having them learn to play the game and improve their skills.

Bottom line, when fans come through the gates, they are not there to see a practice or an instructional league game. They are there to see a competitive effort and hopefully, a win from their team.

And they get that every night. Not a single player is stepping onto the field to not compete. Sure, fans want to see a win but when you are a minor league baseball fan its important to know what they are there for and that is to provide players for the major league team, not to win championships in A ball.

[redhawk61]

I will have to go with Katz on this one. Scouts and fans refer to the five tools as hitting for average, power, defense, arm strength, and speed, but I think the most important tool is learning to "win." Games are decided because of performances at critical times when the pressure is on. You learn how to succeed in those situations from being in them. You don't win because of a guy's OPS, you win because he comes through with a key hit or key pitch when the game is on the line. Some players are "winners." They are at their best when it is most important. That is a tool that has to be developed just like any other tool, and I think it is the most important tool.

The Dayton situation is not good right now. You are not developing the prospects on that team when you have them in a demorailized, depressed situation when they are going out every night and getting their brains beat in. Good organizations put their prospects in an environment where they can develop all their skills, not one where they hate coming to the ballpark every day.

As for the fans, are you kidding? When 9,000 people went crazy in April when Todd Frazier hit a walk-off home run, do you think they gave a hoot about whether Frazier was ever going to play for the Reds? They were cheering a win, just like high school fans cheer and college fans cheer and, yes, major league fans cheer.

Bottom line, when fans come through the gates, they are not there to see a practice or an instructional league game. They are there to see a competitive effort and hopefully, a win from their team.

67-72

That was the record of the Dragons in 2006

You know who played all year on that team?


Jay Bruce and he still seems like a guy who knows how to win.

others on that team

Johnny Cueto
Travis Wood
Paul Janish

The fans MIGHT care but all the players care about is improving so they can move up and make it to the Bigs

And most Dragons fans are Reds fans and understand. All Minor league teams know that winning is out of their control. That is why there is such a large emphasis on fan experience. The events in between innings, the give aways, the friendly atmosphere, and all the other fun activities are why people go to minor league games. They go b/c it is a good fun time for their family, not b/c they hope the Dragons win the MWL championship.

Sure there might be those who care about the Dragons winning championships, though not many, as the majority just go for the experience. One who would care would be a guy from the Dayton paper who covers the Dragons exclusively, I mean what is he supposed to report on. All he knows would be to report on winning and loosing, and thats why he is upset