SEATTLE -- Jerry Dipoto is well aware that Baseball America recently ranked the Mariners' farm system as the worst in the Major Leagues. But while Seattle's third-year general manager acknowledges that trades, injuries and promotions to the Major League roster have slimmed Seattle's prospect list, he offers sharp rebuttal to any notion that the club's development system hasn't been robust and productive.
Dipoto frequently notes that the Mariners have gone from one of the oldest rosters in the Majors to one of the youngest over the past two years, largely by trading prospects for young, cost-effective Major League players.