Are you allowed to post any more than that for readers who don’t have an insider account?

But I think the more accurately described criticism is really that since the new CBA doesn’t allow for paying a premium to sign high-end talent with the new slotting system and penalties for going over (at least, not to the extent that has been possible for the Jays in the past), free agency is more important going forward.

Isn’t that really the criticism, such as it is?

Perhaps 2012 MLB is poor with regards to farm systems. I do not think the farm system will contribute to the 2012 Jays . Alvarez and Lawrie were huge additions last year, but is that to be anticipated this year? We traded Nestor Molina, our best prospect, for a closer???

2013 we might have some further expectations with starters and Gose. d’Arnaud might outplay Arencibia this year, but our we to hope that Drabek/Cecil/McGowen has figured it out? Crap to me. Glad we have an above average closer- we were statistically above average last year.

Keith Law has him ranked 6th on his top 100 list

one of the things that “experts” like law forget when they adopt a supercilious attitude towards fans that may have actually looked at the new cba and interpolated its impact on the jays’ recent strategies is that the jays’ #1 position (which is subjective to begin with) is likely to fade as they remain a middling team with no “comeptitive balance” draft picks in the future.

when did i claim to be objectively right? what you’re arguing is that your facts are somehow better than my facts.
1) it’s well known that law was anti-scouting. jonah hill’s character is a composite of law and others like him, “experts” in name only. his simpering rant on the moneyball film elicited honest criticism. perhaps the film cut too close to the quick…? if you return to lewis’ original missive, i think you’ll find that law was quite opinionated at the time on subjects (read: scouting) about which he knew little, and likely still does not (since…well, you know…he was never a player)
2)Law was one of the people in the room when the decision went down. he’s talked about it. he was there, and that’s why he knows it was JPR’s call against almost everyone else in the room. it’s not like he was some nobody if he was in the war room on draft day. he was by that time the “special assistant to the GM”.
3)the drafting was always “iffy” – JPR told scouts to never go to a high school game ever. from day one. look at the list of top prospects this year. guys drafted 2 years ago are still 1-3 years away from debuting. that AA has cobbled together a team that includes guys from that period from other teams like MOrrow, rasmus, and escobar is quite a feat imo. if anything, taking snider in 2006 was the first time JPR did anything right, and coincidently (perhaps) that was less than a week after law was handed his walking papers. it doesn’t seem unreasonable to suspect that his dismissal and the new draft strategy were less coincidental than you or i might guess.
4)it’s a factual argument, you just don’t like the facts that i present. of course, at some level it is ‘subjective’ or “opinion” – ultimately all facts are social constructions, that doesn’t mean they’re just “made up” or not based on real, or mere opinions. really, this is how ALL SCIENCE works, iirc.
5) what credentials does keith law possess? how is he an “expert”? what measures do you have to indicate he is a successful talent evaluator or scout? in the factual column, there is: he was fired from his only job with a pro-team. at this point he is a journalist, like wilner, perhaps more versed in applying metrics, but a journalist nonetheless. what proof does he have that he’s good at his job? that if it were up to him and wilner bautista probably would have been DFA’d in the 2009 offseason to make room for randy ruiz? that he woudln’t have handed bautista a contract last offseason because he was a statistical abberation? he’s just a guy. he’s a notorious prick, and i’m sick of the cult surrounding his opinions.

these lists might as well be “top 10 albums of 2012” before you hear the new songs. it’s great to get excited about this stuff, but making a list is just a way to sell copy…it rarely has any correlation to any sort of meaningful projection. show me a projection system that can predict accurately a large sample of high school pitchers and their development curve. show me a half decent defensive metric that takes into account the other fielders playing, or the pitch-by-pitch positioning…obviously some facts are better than others, obviously analysis by lay-people is much more advanced than 20 years ago, but there is such a long long long way to go, and those that simply enjoy the game, or who understand that simple fact that: better players cost more money, and help win. that’s why, for example, teams like the yankees both do all the stuff the jays have been doing AND run the highest payroll every single year. calling out people that think the jays might want to start doing what the yankees and red sox do, seems silly since their MO is otherwise to “join them” in the draft/IFA/trade world…maybe they’ll eventually beat them, but it won’t be because they’re smarter, more sly, or out-scout them, it will be because a) they get lucky with some guys becoming extremely good, b) they continue to pay to retain the most talented players.

the point isn’t to be “objectively right” – but to a) make choices/decisions and b) take responsibility for them. writing a blog or whatever is a good way to have opinions that no one ever holds you to account for. if you’re entertained by klaw, that’s great. he isn’t a moron, but he’s a jerk, and that is enough to evoke the troll in me.

“that doesn’t mean they’re just "made up", *not ‘real’, or mere opinions. really, this is how ALL SCIENCE works, iirc.