Over the years, the baseball world has argued which is better – homegrown or purchased players. But there’s an obvious answer – homegrown.

Creating and building up your own team is much more rewarding than essentially creating a “fantasy” team in hopes to win a ring. Historically, teams who have done this have been able to be successful, but recently this route hasn’t been working out for those high roller teams.

Thinking about the past few World Series champions, the Kansas City Royals, San Francisco Giants (3 times in the last 5 years), Boston Red Sox, and the St. Louis Cardinals, all of these teams have one thing in common – none have essentially ‘bought’ their team. However, the Giants have the most homegrown players on their roster than any other team in the MLB.

Their loaded farm system has been working for them for the past few years, very, very well. Seeing that San Francisco had not won a championship since 1954 (as the New York Giants) before they won their 2010 title, they obviously knew something had to be done, and they did it.

Two of the Giants’ biggest players, Madison Bumgarner and Buster Posey, were both brought up through the farm system in 2009. Other prominent players that have shaped the team in the last five years include Pablo Sandoval, who now plays for the Red Sox, and Tim Lincecum, who is now a free agent. However, veteran Matt Cain is still around and he was brought up the same way.

The Giants are more than two-thirds homegrown and their system is only getting better. Triple A affiliate, the Sacramento River Cats, have some of the best talent in the league because of San Francisco’s common “bring up-put down” method.

Joe Panik, Matt Duffy, Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford, and Sergio Romo are all prominent players who have been with the Giants organization for their whole professional career.

Twenty-seven out of their 40-man roster are homegrown – 16 of which made an appearance last year, compared to other teams who have around 5-10 homegrown players, who don’t even make an appearance.

The five most homegrown teams, courtesy of SB Nation –

1. Giants, 67.5%

2. Mets, 61%

3. Twins, 57.5%

4. Royals, 56.1%

5. Cardinals, 55%

It’s interesting to notice that all of those teams except the Twins, have been in the playoffs or won the World Series in the last couple of years.

Goes to show you – homegrown is the way to go. Teams like the New York Yankees or Los Angeles Dodgers have recently spent billions on young and strong players; however, they haven’t been able to do much with that.

Fortunately for the Giants, it’s an even year and they have no significant injuries (knock on wood). Their spring training performance, which will mostly include farm players, should help them figure out their new team – to adjust to a couple offseason additions and retirements.