Wednesday, October 7, 2015

The Significance of the Yankees Farm System Going Forward


The 2015 season has been the Year of the Prospect, and not just for the New York Yankees but for the entirety of Major League Baseball. Without the concrete numbers in front of me I would think we have seen more Major League debut’s in 2015 then we have in quite a long time, I know for a fact that the New York Yankees set the record for the most by one team in a single season with 18 this season. Yesterday when the Yankees released their Wild Card postseason rosters I couldn’t help but be amazed at just how much homegrown talent was on the roster. Sure a few spots would have been filled if it had not been for injuries to Stephen Drew, Mark Teixeira and Nathan Eovaldi and had CC Sabathia been available but still, in years past those losses would have been a death sentence and in 2015 it has made the team win almost in spite of it all.

Breaking down those rosters from yesterday’s game you can see just how the Yankees farm system is going to play a significant role for the team going forward. Luis Severino, Greg Bird, James Pazos, Robert Refsnyder, Gary Sanchez, Rico Noel, Bryan Mitchell and Slade Heathcott all made the Yankees Wild Card roster as rookies and all but Noel, who was originally in the San Diego Padres organization before the middle of 2015, came from the Yankees farm system. Sure a case could be made that if the team hadn’t lost Eovaldi that Severino wouldn’t be in, if the team hadn’t lost Drew that Refsnyder would be in, if the team hadn’t lost Teixeira that Bird wouldn’t be in and if it wasn’t a one-game playoff that allowed the team to reset their rosters after the game if they won that Sanchez wouldn’t be in but I don’t think I would necessarily feel comfortable agreeing with that.

Severino was held back early in his minor league season with the hopes of him coming up late and providing the boost that he has. Bird was up when both Alex Rodriguez and Teixeira were healthy and was being groomed slowly, that plan just never came to fruition. You likely have a point with Refsnyder, only because his second half numbers were atrocious, and Sanchez but the fact of the matter is the Yankees have been preparing for this day all season long.


The reason David Price, Craig Kimbrel, Johnny Cueto and Ben Zobrist to name a few are not wearing Yankees uniforms these days is because of the significance of the farm system going forward. That farm system will only get more and more important as the contracts of ARod, CC Sabathia, Carlos Beltran and Mark Teixeira come off the board and I, for one, am excited to see it happen. 

16 comments:

  1. Burch a good read, however as I most always do I have to disagree with a few of your points. I want to address your last paragraph first, which is that the reason the above mentioned guys aren't wearing Yankee uniforms today is because of the significance of the farm system moving forward. That comment is only half true. The other ingredient you left out is the owners unwillingness to take on more money is the other part of the equation.

    Look I'm the biggest ball buster of the farm system. Mr Reed on the other hand is probably the biggest supporter of the system. It still lacks quality arms and please don't say Mitchell is quality? More on him later. I do believe the farm system has gotten better, however I still believe it is in the lower half of MLB. I don't buy all this crap about drafting later in rounds so our talent pool is weaker. Two teams prove otherwise and they are the Cards and Giants so if anyone comes with that argument look at those two clubs.

    I want to touch base on some of the names you mentioned like Pazos who may have a live arm, but he is all over the place. Guys like him and Goode and Pinder and Mitchell and the rest of the triple A staff was up in the bigs was due to Girardi burning his bull pen out.

    Noel is going to be a career late inning replacement that can run like the wind which brings me to Mitchell. There are plenty of major league pitchers out there that throw hard that don't amount to anything. Once he got hit in the face his whole makeup changed. Girardi kept sending him out in crucial situations only for the kid to crap the bed every time out. I am not sold on any of the arms we have that have been drafted and again don't come to me about Severino as he was an international signing.

    I said it a few times and I will say it again that this team did better than I expected, however it was not a playoff team and we sat on our hands because we didn't want to add salary and give up some prospects. We couldn't win the play in game so in retrospect the Yanks played one more game than last year. Houston moves on to the playoff rounds now and the Yanks sit with a false sense of hope for next year.

    The additions will be minimal and as will the subtractions and while teams get better we will stay the same or regress. It's time to cut bait on some people like Nova and Gardner who batted 202 the second half of the season along with Sanchez and get a nice arm or another stick. The rotation has numbers but not the ace or consistent number two that needs to be counted on every time they take the mound.

    Last night lineup was a joke and not starting Ellsbury and having Young in there was disgusting. I would not have an issue today if Girardi went bye bye as I think he managed scared once Toronto made their move. Changes need to be made I'm just not sure that Cashman and crew can make the right ones.

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  2. Hans,

    I don't think the willingness to take on money or not is relevant here. Price, Cueto and Zobrist are free agents at the end of the year. According to Lohud Cashman turned down Refsnyder and Warren for Zobrist before he was traded. I truly doubt Hal was worried about taking on two months of salary with potential playoff money at stake.

    I think you're being a bit rough on the young bullpen guys. Sure they didn't burst onto the scene and dominate the league but neither did Warren, Phelps, and a slew of others that are having good MLB careers. I'll tell you someone who did though, Joba. Does Joba even have a job? Give them more than a month or so before casting them by the wayside.

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  3. Burch I wouldn't trade Refsnyder and Warren for Zobrist either. I have said it a bunch of times that I wanted Hammels and believe me we could absorb his salary and there is your true number 1

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    1. I wanted Hamels too, or Price with an extension worked out before the deal.

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    2. I like them both also, I just couldn't see Hal cutting the money loose.

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    3. You're exactly right Reed. Hal is a fraud that doesn't practice what he preaches about WS or bust. If that was the case I'm sure we could have done more that Ackley at the deadline or before it.

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    4. If you believe reports the Yankees were willing to trade Sev and others for Price as long as he agreed on an extension. Whether Dombrowski didn't want that to happen or Price didn't remains to be seen but they were obviously willing to add 20 mill plus annually in July. Just didn't work out.

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    5. I don't believe that report at all Burch.

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    6. Well that's on you. Doesn't make it any less (or any more) true. I believe it.

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  4. One salient fact you are missing Ken H is the other teams were running their farm system for many years before we really even started being serious about ours. King George always traded away our good rookies for older players. Then when Free agency came about we ended up drafting in the latter rounds much of the time.
    Not an excuse just a fact.

    We basically had NO farm system at all before George got himself banned from baseball operations for a few years and Stick and Watson along with Showalter took over.

    We have had to play catch-up ever since, now we are starting to do that. Another fact, Stick had been adviser to Cashman in the drafting and talent department for years (up to 2013?) so he made some of those decisions also.

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    1. Michael has been an advisor for quite a while, you're right Reed. Stick was a good talent evaluator but he got lucky more than he got it wrong. Everyone kills this GM or that GM for bad trades but it's the non trades that tell the story.

      Stick tried to trade every member of the core four more than once with the exception of Jeter. Same thing when Cashman tried to trade Cano to Texas for ARod. Sometimes being lucky defines your legacy more than your skill.

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    2. You don't have to have a Top 10 farm
      To produce talent. Even when the Yankees had no farm they produced Gardner, Cano, CM Wang and a laundry list of names you already know. You can write off certain players because they were IFA's or whatever but every team makes up their rosters with international signings and draft picks. Teams like St. Louis and SF have to rely on their farm, the Yankees do to a lesser extent because of the need for an attraction and a star. That's on the fans, not so much Hal or Cashman.

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    3. Cano was not drafted he was an international singing. When I discuss farm system with you guys it is all about the draft with me. Yes I know the international pool is key and the scouts dictate a great deal of that with the $$$$. The Yankees have no stars and haven't signed a star in years. It is quite evident that as I always tell you a combination of the Elf not being able to put a big deal together and the owner not dipping into his pockets and letting his 3.2 Billion dollar empire collect revenue from what little he has left of the YES network and concession stand revenue along with parking and ticket prices and most importantly the money he generates from licensing of the Yankee brand. This guy is a fraud in every sense of the word. He gets on TV and radio and says the Steinbrenner's know one thing in our thought process which is if we don't win the WS we have not done right by the fans.

      You know what... bullshit to that. Burch you keep talking about where would you put a bat in the lineup. Tell me Burch what player on that team is untouchable on the field? There is not one player that couldn't be upgraded in a trade or FA signing. The only players on the Yanks who I wouldn't trade right now are Severino and Miller and Betances That means everyone else could be replaced and upgraded. In fact the elf always preaches that, he states he is always looking to upgrade the team. You're a 3.2 Billion dollar empire, start acting like it!!

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    4. With great respect ken H...
      I know where you are coming from and in a perfect world all those things could and would happen. I myself wishes The King was still here sometimes but alas, he is gone and we have what we have in the Front Office.

      The only contracts I could see the Yankees eating or part of are; Brett, Chase, Ryan, Nova.
      All of that means Good luck finding a guy to trade for that can play LF in Yankee Stadium and have a big bat...the same could be said of 2nd base.
      There are a few guys that may hit the FA market this year that could be used. IF we could get them that would be fine with me.
      IF the team goes younger that will help the cap and we can get the higher priced players we truly need. In 2017, Beltran will be gone as will A-Rod I am not sure about Tex.

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    5. Never said Cano was drafted, I said he came through the system. Drafting is probably easier than signing a 16-year old kid you've never seen first hand and putting the time and effort into developing him.

      I never said anyone was untouchable Hans but I don't think the Yankees are going to make a trade simply to make a trade. If the trade makes sense, sure. Marginal upgrades don't happen when you have a team full of contributing players (and they did in July).

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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)