Instant Gratification or Long-term Success?
By J. "Angelsjunky" Northrop
I'm going to pause with my ongoing series on The Angels: Past, Present and Future to offer a perspective on the currently most pressing issue of Angeldom: Miguel Cabrera and more so, what this means to the Angels, now and in the future.
I will gladly admit my bias in terms of baseball philosophy: Primary emphasis on player development, minimal free agency and trades--only to fill specific needs or weaknesses but almost never at the expense of the future. It just seems obvious to me: If you have to pick, choose "the foreset" over the "tree", the instant gratification of the big bat with big numbers. Is it not better to have a healthy and full farm system to draw from rather than one depleted through trades for high-priced, aging players? Are not the franchises that are the most successful over long periods of time the ones that focus on player development? And have we not...
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