ed duque, listen to Uncle Murray

El duque, my friend, you have gone over the edge.

You are messing with nature, dude, and that never pans out.

Here's the natural order of things:

Every year, the serfs wind up with losing records. That means they get high draft picks. That means it costs the serfs more to draft better players. That means they have to sink more money into player development. That means they have less money available to retain their players once they are in the majors. That means those players move on to teams like the Yankees.

If the Yankees should ever stop cherry-picking the best players from the serfs, the serfs might actually, one day, have enough money to keep a few of their star players. That means bad things for the Yankees, because, let's face it, developing players from within rarely works. And when it does, it works for a season at best.

How many teams that have "developed" their own have actually succeeded beyond grabbing a wild-card spot one season and falling flat the next?

Listen, the Yankees are a carnivore. The world needs carnivores. Stop trying to make a tiger eat veggies! Do you know about Australia? Wanna be like Australia where feral cats and rotund rats scamper around unchecked? Where dingos eat babies?! (Well, I guess dingos are carnivores, but YOU GET MY POINT!) Ever heard of Grant Balfour and Glenn Williams? Didn't think so. They're "prospects" from Australia who were in the Twins' system. If you want to be like Australia, buddy, maybe you should think about moving there and be an Australian who wears funny shorts and floppy hats and drinks warm Fosters while dodging CATS AND RATS!

Listen to your Uncle Murray: The Yankees should have moved on Santana to keep nature in balance.

Pinko.