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What you say is true, maba ... but, even worse is BA is probably the LEADER in correctly pegging future success.  It's not that *they* are awful - it is that EVERYONE is awful.
This is why I continue to harp on DEVELOPMENT over EVALUATION.  The successful teams don't simply draft talent that magically become Hall of Fames, (though I understand after Griffey, AROD and Unit that many in Seattle would think this is the norm). 
The majority of MLB players were NOT drafted in the top 10 -- they were drafted in the 8th, 12th, 17th, 32nd, etc., etc. rounds.  The actual results are SOOOOO random, that they *ONLY* way to succeed (IMO) is to see to it that every single player in your organization reaches his PERSONAL maximum potential, (whatever that may be).  Because the actual talent is so thoroughly spread out - the organizations that maximize production from each player ARE the ones that churn out all stars.
Yeah - anybody could succeed with Strasburg, (to a point).  But, there are any number of mistakes an org could make, even with an uber-talent that could derail a career, (like via an injury).  Not saying that Washington actually made any mistakes with Strasburg - just saying that you can't ever say with certainty that a player failed *ONLY* because he wasn't talented enough.  Every other year, some age 29 journeyman minor leaguer gets a shot due to injury - and SHOCKS! the planet that he's actually good enough to stick. 
The reality of the situation is the minors are rife with kids good enough to be major leaguers, (some who will never see a single day in the Show), and MLB is rife with hitters that will never bat their weight, and pitchers who will post Olga Korbut gymnastic scores as ERAs.  There's all kinds of biases that are just hard to get past.
Clearly, Seattle has NOT helped many (any?) hitters reach their maximum potential.  Pitchers?  There's another story.  Seattle has a pretty decent history of developing nice arms - (primarily - but not totally - in the bullpen).  The park helps - but it's not like Vargas and Felix are just getting blown up on the road and tossing nothing but shutouts in Safeco. 
You see - it isn't about Seattle maximizing the potential of Ackley and Smoak.  It's whether they can maximize the potential of all 25 guys in Tacoma - the odds of SOMEBODY turning into McCann or Prado increases 12-fold over just concentrating on Ackley and Smoak.