Well, we surely did give up some big pieces to form our current roster, that is for sure. Is our farm "gutted?" That remains to be seen. Isan Diaz, Monte Harrison, Gilbert Lara, Kodi Medeiros, Demi Orimoloye, Jorge Lopez, Brett Phillips, Jean Carmona, and Luis Ortiz. There are a bunch of top prospects in that group. Those aren't a bunch of names that didn't hurt... I just hope that the end result was worth it. While the ultimate goal is a World Series, a sub-goal (I guess) is making the playoffs. This team did that this year, and has the makings of being a contender for the next 3-4 years. I agree that giving up some of those guys did make a dent in the farm system, but the goal of having a strong farm isn't always to graduate all those guys to the MLB club either. Developing your minor leaguers also increases their value to other big league clubs, enabling you to trade some off for immediate MLB help, or to fill a hole on a title contender. I'd say Stearns effectively used the farm system to fill holes both ways this year.