M's Farm Report | Competitive focus is teams' priority

When it comes to their farm system, the Mariners want it all.

They want to move players quickly through the organization, while at the same time keeping the minor-league affiliates competitive.

The Mariners are achieving the first part, but their minor-league teams have been suffering in the standings. All four of their full-season minor-league clubs have losing records for the year.

It has been particularly bad at Class A Wisconsin, which finished the first half of its season 22-46.

Class AA West Tenn was 31-39 in its first half, and high-level Class A High Desert was also 31-39 in the first half. Class AAA Tacoma is 31-46, the worst record of all Class AAA teams.

"Our priority is the major-league team, and developing players to get to the major leagues in a timely manner," said Greg Hunter, the Mariners' director of minor-league and scouting operations. "But having our teams competitive and getting players to develop a winning attitude is a part of that development. You don't want the players to develop a losing attitude.

"A good gauge is .500. You want your clubs to be somewhere around there, whether it's a few games above or below. Our minor-league operators don't like to hear it, but you don't want to win so much that you foster an attitude of overconfidence."

There's little chance of that happening at Wisconsin. The Mariners put many of their top young prospects on the team, including pitchers picked in Rounds 2 through 5 of last year's draft. For many, the move to Wisconsin proved too soon.

"We knew going in that it could be a situation where they could be one of the worst teams in the first half, and one of the best teams in the second half," Hunter said. "Some of the players we moved up quickly to Wisconsin [have gone a step back to] Everett, and we have some more players in the 22- to 24-year-old range who will help Wisconsin be more competitive."

Hunter said the minor-league affiliates "are always encouraging us to have good teams." Although Wisconsin has struggled the past year and a half, Hunter points out the team was champion in both halves in 2005 and reached the Midwest League championship series.

Tacoma, although manned with several top prospects, has struggled a lot. Hunter said that's partly because of the movement of players to Seattle. The Rainiers are also young.

"We don't have as many journeymen — as some teams do — that we can plug in to help make that team more competitive," Hunter said.

For Wisconsin, High Desert and West Tenn, the second half of their seasons began this past week and gave them a chance to begin anew.

"The nice thing is that you get a chance to start from scratch," he said. "We would like for all of our teams to be fighting for championships, or at least be competitive."

Note

• Seattle has signed 16 of its first 20 selections from June's amateur draft, including third baseman Matt Mangini, a supplemental first-round draft pick. Among those yet to sign are right-hander Phillippe Aumont, the team's top pick and No. 10 overall; and outfielder Denny Almonte, the second-round pick.