Dodgers farm system producing talent and titles
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By far, the main purpose of the farm system is to produce future major leaguers.
It’s not to win weekly player awards, or contribute to the Topps minor league organization of the year or even to win league titles.
It’s to produce future members of the Los Angeles Dodgers. To teach, develop and polish raw skills into productive major leaguers. Homegrown talent is better than that which is traded for or signed to free-agent contracts. It is way cheaper, which helps all the way down the line. Plus, it adds a sense of organizational continuity.
That said, there has to be a tip of the cap to double-A Chattanooga and Class-A Rancho Cucamonga for capturing division crowns in the second half.
Particularly noteworthy are the Chattanooga Lookouts, who had their top two starters –- Rubby De La Rosa and Nathan Eovaldi –- plucked from their ranks to help the Dodgers. Yet after going 35-35 in the first half, they are 42-27 in the second.
The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, in their first year of affiliation with the Dodgers, have set a single-season record with 79 victories. They complete their regular season Monday.
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-- Steve Dilbeck