Yankees spend money to seed the farm
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- January
- 30
I’ve been reading the BA Prospect Handbook (seriously, order one) and found several interesting things.
Here’s is what the Yankees spent on draft picks in recent years:
2007: $7.4 million.
2006: $6.3 million
2005: $3.7 million
2004: $4.8 million
2003: $3.8 million
and the Red Sox:
2007: $3.5 million
2006: $6.8 million
2005: $6.2 million
2004: $1.8 million
2003: $5.1 million
Those numbers must scare the heck out of the rest of baseball. Two high-revenue teams invested $34 million in talent in the last three years. We’re starting to see the results in Chamberlain, Hughes, Pedroia, Ellsbury, etc. Those figures do not include money spent on international signings, another area the Yankees have invested heavily in.
Once Brian Cashman got his much-discussed power, he had the Yankees draft more high-ceiling (and more difficult to sign) college players instead of the toolsy high school kids they used to love. Their approach has changed.
I think we could see Miranda, Horne, Melancon, Marquez, Gardner and McCutchen in the majors this season. Kennedy and Ohlendorf could make it out of camp. Joba, too, obviously. The Yankees would be fools not to let Cashman continue on the track he is on. That investment is going to start paying off.
It’s hard to predict what the day-to-day stories are going to be in spring training. News breaks when you least expect it. But I’m going to try and write stories on as many of these kids as I can.
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on Wednesday, January 30th, 2008 at 8:56 pm by Peter Abraham.
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Peter Abraham
You write, we read
Too bad Cashman is only good at spending money on the farm and not on free agents.Damon Oppenheimer is who we should be saying hekped the farm he is the one one who picks them not Cashman and the Steinbrenners pay for them Cash is the middle guy.
Sounds like great stories to write about. Who do you think will be the Inf. on the bench. And Who will be the 4th OF.
Out of spring training
c’mon mclovin. your comment reeks of knowing absolutely nothing about some critical responsibilities of a gm.
and ps - has all the spending in the past on free agents, netted a championship for them?? damon, giambi et al.
study up buddy. the business is passing you by. cash is instituting a system for the future, not the past.
very interesting. sounds like it may have the potential of the George Weiss era.
The Yanks have clearly done a good job of getting young pitching talent. The next job to tackle is everyday position players.
Will the money and talent not expended on Santana go to, say, Mark Texeira (sp?). Or will the combo of Duncan and Miranda make this unnecessary also? This seems to be the next question facing the organization and fans.
Pete;
I know you will be at ST, but do you ever get out and see the guys playing in the MIL? Just asking.
If you do get the chance…it is well worth it.
This is one of the things I enjoy (fishing is 1st) watching these kids play a kids game. That’s why I say, watch IPK this year, he is much better than most give him credit for. His pitches are not top of the line, but they are plenty good. Everyone thinks of 98 mph Fast ball, sharp curve, power slider etc. They often forget the most important thing in pitching..CONTROL. Fansy, anyone? Oh, I know this is a bad phrase but, watch out for Kei in the BP. He was getting the ball down a lot more, if he can keep it there with control (both sides of plate). He may be the BP lefty, I know I’m crazy, just wait and see for yourself. 27/08.
if he can keep it there with control (both sides of plate). He may be the BP lefty, I know I’m crazy, just wait and see for yourself. 27/08.
Does BP stand for batting practice?
“Will the money and talent not expended on Santana go to, say, Mark Texeira (sp?). Or will the combo of Duncan and Miranda make this unnecessary also? This seems to be the next question facing the organization and fans.”
——————————————————–
I don’t know if Tex is on the radar, as not only do we have Duncan and Miranda, but Posada and Jeter MIGHT be headed in that direction.
But will the Yankees continue to spend BIG money on quality, impact FAs? YES, OR COURSE. But… they will no longer act out of desperation and overpay or get tied into long contracts.
We turned down Santana because looking at ALL aspects of the deal, it was not right. But whether its C.C., Tex, the next Beltran or the next Miggy Cabrera, the Yankees will always buy SOME impact FAs. That’s the beauty of having all these quality, low cost kids. It puts us in a much better position to spend our FA monies wisely.
Pete - glad to hear that we can expect some stories on the youngsters.
Melancon is first year after a major injury - I’d be pleased if he regains his control in the minors by year-end. Some time next year would be terrific.
It’ll be interesting to learn more about the next generation of Yanks. I’ll go see some of them when they come in to play the Mud Hens. Fifth Third Field here in Toledo is a very nice Triple A facility. I have seen a lot of Yankees prospects come through here over the years.
Hey, anyone know where to get the Baseball America handbook for cheaper than $30.00?
Rebecca
$20.26 on Books-a-million website
^ The library?
Pete, the font size on the site has been reduced too much. Can you see if your webmaster can make it a little bigger?
Baseball America 2007 Prospect Handbook:
The Comprehensive Guide to Rising Stars from the Definitive Source on Prospects (Baseball America Prospect Handbook) (Paperback)
by The Editors of Baseball America (Author)
List Price: $28.95 Price: $19.11 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders - Amazon.com
Ooops…$20.96 for the 2008 version.
Thanks! I will take a look sometime this weekend
if he can keep it there with control (both sides of plate). He may be the BP lefty, I know I’m crazy, just wait and see for yourself. 27/08.
Does BP stand for batting practice?
*****************************************************
Does Matthew Cohen stand for dumb A$$?
Just trying to give you an observation, if you disagree fine, say so. Have you seen him pitch lately? If not then I think we can, respectively, disregard any of your comments on the subject. Would you not agree? Opinions are very welcome, buy me or anyone. 27/08.
you like respectively? Opps!
(Scooby Doo voice) Er?
It looks like we only have a 2 year trend going in spending more for draft picks. We need at least a few more years of doing so to get a well-established machine. With the $100 million in revenue sharing and maybe some of that MLB.com profit sharing disbursed to all teams this year, some of them might cut down on exotic art purchases and spend more on building up young players. If that doesn’t work, bring in other business partners. If that doesn’t work, try another line of work.
Yeah Cashman has done a great job. He’s had the most money for payroll, biggest international scouting system, most money to throw around the draft, most money to throw at international amateur free agents, and what has it gotten the Yankees?
No #1 starter and early exits from the playoffs.
Have fun with another team in 2009 Cashman. A monkey could do the job you’ve done here with Damon Oppenheimer running the draft.
Not to mention Cashman decides to bash a Yankee hero at a Q&A with his new pal Theo Epstein. Get this guy out of here pronto. Not only is he a dolt with personnel, he’s also a PR nightmare.
Old Ranger - dude get over yourself - you have no sense of humor.
Calling someone an ass is pretty uncalled for in any case. Especially in defense of one for the worst signings in Yankee history (for the money).
We all know that Kei Igawa can pitch to sub major league talents. If you check his stats at AAA, even in a short season of 68 innings, he gave up 10 dingers. Maybe even his low pitches are easy to hit out.
“No I’m Patrick Bateman.”
Cashman has done a very good job in improving the farm system. But the downside is that it has made him biased against trading away young players even when it makes sense to do so. Cashman was blind to the fact that the latest Santana offer (for Kennedy/Melky/and a prospect) was a great deal that the Yanks should have taken in a heartbeat.
crap Pete way to reveal the secret
Since Cashman got full control the whole approach changed. And in my opinion Cashman does a great job. I always find it more exciting to see players like Cano, Wang, Hughes, Joba and others get a chance than to see one veteran after another shipped in.
I think Cashman doesn’t get enough credit for the things he does, because “the Yankees have such a large payroll, so it must be easy”. I for one would really hate to see Cashman leave after this season.
Matthew Cohen;
You sound like a very bright young kid. When you grow up you will understand that one liners don’t refute or give any substance to a different opinion. The 10 HRs you were talking about were in starts. I was talking about the games out of the BP. Big difference. Now, see how easy that was. 27/08.
Chris, man, I’m afraid to say (for your sake) McLovin is right, here’s a line from an article from the Star Ledger last year right after the draft…
“But yesterday, with GM Brian Cashman attending his first draft ever, the Yankees selected a player they feel confident they’ll be able to sign”
…see that, attending his first draft, all the quotes are from damon oppenheimer, not from cashman, because oppenheimer was the one who chose the picks. In fact, i remember an article quoting cashman as saying the picks, specifically of kennedy, was on oppenheimer (as in, he’ll be responsible if he doesnt pan out).
its true that toolsy high schoolers are never good, like phil hughes. look, its certainly true that college players are more of a sure thing, but when the yankees took one of the least polished players in the draft and gave him an MLB contract, i dont see how you can make that point.
Matt Cohen
Did you forget about Carl Pavano?