Familiarity Breeds Contempt

I'm trying to remain positive, I really am, it just seems to be getting harder to do by the day. Yesterday's Chicago Sun-Times had an article by Gordon Wittenmyer that pissed me off but for once... it wasn't because of Wittenmyer. Here is the Cubs take on why it's so important to build a good farm system and how theirs is starting to bear some fruit.

It finally might mean producing enough position players to establish a big-league core of regulars talented enough to contend. A core raised in the system, familiar with each other and able not only to lessen the need for big-money free agents every offseason, but also to help ease the transition of those who are brought in from the outside.

I'm sure familiarity is great and all but I'm not sure how that really promotes winning. You know what is better than familiarity? Talent. I think I'd rather have talented players who are unfamiliar with one another.

With few exceptions, championship teams are built from within. And no team since the earliest days of free agency in the 1970s has been able to sustain success for more than a year or two at a time without a core of homegrown players, including a core of position players.

I would say the Yankees are doing pretty well by bringing in A-Rod, Teixeira, Sabathia, Burnett, Matsui, etc. I wonder how long it took them to become familiar with one another?

''Four to six. I use that,'' said Cubs bench coach Alan Trammell, who played on perennial contenders with the Detroit Tigers that were built around him, Lou Whitaker, Lance Parrish, Jack Morris, Dan Petry and other homegrown players. ''That's ideally what you'd like to have.''

Will somebody please tell the Yankees they're doing it wrong?

The value of homegrown position players shows up in their stature as every-day players, where team leaders usually come from. Get a group of talented players who came up together and know one another's personalities, flaws and strengths, and trust doesn't require a transition period. A culture is formed, and those who enter from the outside more easily fold into it than if almost all the regulars are from somewhere else.

Again, at the risk of being redundant, PLEASE JUST GIVE ME SOME GOOD GODDAMNED PLAYERS! I don't care if they all come from different planets and get their powers from the yellow fucking sun or if they are called up from Iowa. Makes no difference to me. Let's just keep in mind that the object here is to win, not to hold hands and sing Kumbaya.

And just as important looking ahead, the Ricketts family has spent hours in meetings with the executives running their new ballclub and are on board with the philosophy and direction already under way. ''Our commitment -- and what Tom Ricketts I think is extremely comfortable with -- is: 'Let's spend more money on scouting and player development and get out of the free-agent business for the most part,''' Bush said.

Get out of the free-agent business for the most part? What. The. Fuck? How the hell are you going to charge me $100 a ticket and then tell me you're not going to spend money? I'm tired of the excuses of why a big market team wants to act like a small market team. I'm not a Royals fan, quit fucking treating me like I'm one!