There seems to be some confusion here:
All of a sudden the Yankees, by spending "423 million" on Free Agents, seem to be buying championships and abandoning the youth movement somehow. Brian Cashman is now a liar, Yankees' prospects are overrated and the New York payroll is a billion dollars. No wait, that's just what some fans and even "experts" would like you to believe.
Let me start off with the biggest misconception of all. The Yankees spent 400+ million dollars on three players. That much is true. What's also true is it is over eight years. What is even more true is CC Sabathia is seeing just 14 million in 2009 and 62 million has been added to the 2008 payroll as a result of these signings, plus Damaso Marte earlier in the offseason. What's also true is 86 million came off the books when 2008 ended with the departures of: Mike Mussina, Andy Pettitte, Ivan Rodriguez, Carl Pavano, Bobby Abreu and Jason Giambi. That's 86 million in one season, not over eight years. Next year, if not traded by then, Xavier Nady, Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui will join the group of departures and after arbitration to Nady, that bill could be for another 35 or so million dollars. Already, without doing anything, that big 400 million dollar figure, has been cut by 25%.
So New York loses its starting first baseman, right fielder, Ace pitcher, number three starter, and number five starter, and people expected what, exactly? For them to have a minor league roster full of prospects ready to duplicate those numbers? Did they want the Yankees to just sit on that money and let their payroll drop to 120 million dollars, so they wouldn't take advantage of the boatloads upon boatloads upon billions of dollars they have for being the Yankees, having a TV Network and a new Stadium? Perhaps they were supposed to spend this money over a few years so other fans could be less shocked at once, maybe Brian Cashman should have hand picked one Free Agent for each offseason until 2012 instead and just hoped the pieces would be available. Or maybe, as everyone seems to ignore, he should have started in 2006 instead of doing nothing in the way of other team's players so the process of buying Free Agents would be over already.
What would you have liked to have seen happen?
The Yankees lost three starters, four if you count Johan Santana who they refused to give up prospects to acquire last offseason. They did the latter knowing they would go after CC Sabathia with a ton of house money this season, and they ended up doing exactly that. Rather than give up the prospects they have spent now three years developing, they went with spending money coming off the books instead. If your business wanted to transfer you, or fill an open spot, which would you prefer? What if they had a giant surplus? Should they let the owners buy a personal jet, or get you coworkers to help you with your excessive workload and deadlines?
The Yankees chose to do what any good business would do, they bought products to improve their brand. They signed Sabathia to help soften the blow of losing 20 wins from Mike Mussina. They gave Chien-Ming Wang a 5 million dollar contract so he could double his wins after freakishly injuring himself running the bases in an interleague game. They signed AJ Burnett to help make up for the loss of 200 innings in Andy Pettitte.
Last season the youth movement with the offense started and it happened to also double as a push to the playoffs. The Yankees took what was still considered a high prospect in Jose Tabata and used him in a package to acquire a 28 year old corner outfielder in Xavier Nady who was having a career year. The Pirates acquired a prospect who had just suffered a mental breakdown and was ready to quit baseball in a season where he was hitting .230 and they still wanted his presense in their system.
Why? Because Jose Tabata has that kind of potential and it's a lot different to develop in Pittsburgh than in New York, it probably becomes a win-win for both teams. The Yankees get a player in his prime, the Pirates get to rebuild the farm. The Yankees get younger anyway, and the Pirates get loaded for 2012 or whenever they want to contend. Oh wait, here's where I throw in the disclaimer that the Pirates are dumb for trading a potential 100 RBI man for a Yankees prospect because scouts know nothing and they are all overrated.
Brian Cashman then traded for Nick Swisher, giving up a few B -evel prospects who probably won't actually pan out, to take on an inexpensive by Yankees standards contract of a player who had a terrible year in his prime. It's a low risk, high reward move and it continues the Yankees' youth movement. Now, knowing only Matt Holliday sounds appealing in the outfield next year, the Yankees have acquired Swisher and Nady, both of whom are capable of playing excellent corner outfield. Not coincidentally, Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon, two corner outfielders, are off the books after 2009, the same offseason where nobody but Matt Holliday is appealing. Think maybe these moves were made with this in mind? Or maybe centerfield for now has been largely left open because the Yankees have a can't miss prospect in Austin Jackson waiting in the wings? Due to arrive, on time, without being rushed, for the 2010 season?
If that's the case the Yankees are in trouble because all their prospects are overated. We're going to ignore Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte. They are too old to count as prospects because Cashman didn't draft them and the Red Sox have no core from last decade because they had all mercenary Free Agents and trade acquisitions when they won the World Series in 2004. It wouldn't be fair to use three potential Hall of Famers in this argument because that only benefits the Yankees, so we're going to ignore them and start conveniently from 2004 since that's when Boston decided to do well.
Notable Yankees prospects currently on the Major League roster: Melky Cabrera/Brett Gardner, one of them for now, is the starting Yankees centerfielder since Cashman has said he doesn't want Swisher or Damon there. I'd say that has to count for something, right? And again, they stand to be replaced only by another Yankees prospect, so it's fair to say they have developed their own centerfielder and we will have to see how he plays out.
Robbie Cano: Starting second baseman. This is what cracks me up. Robbie Cano hit .287 or better from May-September of last year, each month. As in, in the months of May, June, July, August and September, he hit: .295, .287, .327, .290, .287 respectively. In April, he hit .151. His season average to finish the year, was .271. The three months to finish 2007, he batted .333, .301, and .385. He hit .306 for the season. In four of the five months of 2006, he hit above .316, and in three of those five months he hit above .350. Robinson Cano has had five months, out of his last 18 where he hit under .280. Five. And one of those was .275. What makes him a bust again?
For comparison, Dustin Pedroia hit .260 in May of last year, his MVP season. In April of 2007, he hit .182. People were calling for Alex Cora because Dustin wasn't going to make it. Pedroia is a better second baseman than Robbie Cano, he plays better defense, he has an MVP and a ROY award. But to tell me a career .303 hitter in almost two years longer than Pedroia, a career .313 hitter, is an "overrated Yankees prospect" you have to be out of your mind or a complete clown. There's no other definition for someone that delusional.
Chien-Ming Wang: How easy we can forget due to an injury to a pitcher running the bases. A pitcher who averages 222 innings a season with a 19-7 record, a hit an inning, 12 HR a year, a 3.79 ERA in the AL East, 63 BB, and a 117 ERA+, (only that low because he was hurt last year and didn't have a complete season in 2005, or else it would have been over 120+). Ace? Two starter? You decide. Now, with CC Sabathia, who by comparison throws an average of: 15-9, 222 innings, 206 H, 20 HR, nearly 100 K more, a 3.66 ERA, 70 BB, and an ERA+ of 121, it doesn't really matter. Add in AJ Burnett and it's not even relevant.
Sure, minus the strikeouts Sabathia's ability to get into a zone on national television and the extra homeruns, their numbers are comparable, but it doesn't matter, CC Sabathia is a power pitcher who gives up three run less per year compared to Wang and yet somehow because of an MVP and superhuman half seasons, he is an ace and Wang is not. In my mind, their both aces, but let the record show, one came out of the Yankees' farm system.
Bullpen? Again, we're ignoring Rivera, he came before the Sox were relevant and bought their 2004 World Series, so let's stick to the rest of the relievers, like: Jose Veras, Dave Robertson, and Phil Coke, all of whom have a legitimate shot at being in one of the league's best bullpens. Don't worry about Mark Melancon though, he's from the Yankees' farm system, he has no chance of sticking. Oh and by the way, Damaso Marte and Jonathan Albaladejo came from trades, not Free Agent signings, and the Yankees gave up virtually nothing (Marte was in the Nady deal) to get them from the farm system.
Joba Chamberlain: I don't think I need to explain him. Sub 3 ERA's as a reliever or a starter. He was the ace of the Yankees before his injury, albeit in only a third of the season. Or you know, one third of how long Jon Lester has proven he's a front-of-the-rotation pitcher, except Joba also spent a near full season in the bullpen dominating hitters. Don't worry though, he's been accepted by critics as an acceptable and "panned out" Yankees prospect.
Phil Hughes: He threw a whopping 22 innings as a 21 year old in 2008 through to the month of April, and he had a 9.00 ERA. That's a crazy total of 26 innings he's thrown in his career in April, with a 8.89 ERA. He's also thrown a putrid 32.1 innings in August with a 6.40 ERA. And 41.2 innings in September and October where he had, wait, what the heck? A 2.25 ERA? You mean to tell me a 21 year old prospect has struggled mightily his first month of his first full season and the first month of his major league career, and then he struggled in August right after injury?
And all that combined to 57 innings, but we ignore the 42 innings where he strived in September and October AFTER his first month of a season due to injuries? At 21? Inconsistency?! Flop! None of that is rationale, he's an overrated Yankees' prospect who succeeded in the playoffs, but his April numbers in his first full season are more important, so let's ignore that too. Wooo Jon Lester, be glad as you turn 25, you put together your breakthrough season at 24 because if you were a Yankees prospect, you would have been a flop two years earlier for that 4.76 ERA you put up in your first EIGHTY ONE INNINGS.
Good call on Yankees prospects being terrible and Red Sox prospects having a proven track record. Good thing Jacoby Ellsbury had an excellent full season but we can judge him on his 150 at bats from the year before. He also was not a choker in his 20 postseason at bats of 2008 either. How many hits did he have again? Jed Lowrie, terrific average too. He didn't peak in his first month or anything, wait, he played hurt? Well we can't count that because for guys like Wang, Hughes and Kennedy, that's a giant question mark, not an excuse.
Well, now that we've sorted all of that out, let's look at the plan going forward:
The Yankees to acquire: Xavier Nady. Damaso Marte, Ivan Rodriguez (and the draft pick for him if he signs somewhere), Nick Swisher, CC Sabathia, and AJ Burnett, gave up a grand total of Jeff Marquez, Jose Tabata, Ross Ohlendorf, and some spare parts. They held onto Mark Melancon, Austin Jackson, Austin Romine, Jesus Montero, Dellin Betances and all of their other highest rated prospects. They shed Kyle Farnsworth's nine million dollar salary as well. Add Phil Coke and Alfredo Aceves, and you have two more young players poised to make an impact on the major league level or to provide depth.
So, they just got younger with two players in the lineup and two in the rotation (Sabathia and Burnett are younger than Mussina and Pettitte) traded nothing away, and to top it off, still have a first and second round draft pick because they had protected ones for not signing their first two picks of last year's draft. That's right, they can sign Manny Ramirez if they wanted to, and they'd still get picks in the first two rounds, so I wouldn't say this hurts them for the future prospects either.
Now, since none of this has cost them any excess money, draft picks, or legitimate prospects with high upside in New York, how is this straying from the plan again? How is Cashman abandoning the youth movement? When Chien-Ming Wang, Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes make up 60% of the rotation, they will have more than half of it homegrown. That could happen as early as April of 2009, or Opening Day. Since we exclude Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada from existence, that means the Yankees are 1/3rd homegrown in the infield.
Oh, that reminds me, they also signed Mark Teixiera. He's 28 years old, in his prime, and plays excellent first base, a major hole the Yankees have had the last few years. His defense should also help compensate for a mediocre middle of the infield, he's a switch-hitter and he can help compensate along with a full year of Xavier Nady, a healthy Hideki Matsui and Robinson Cano returning to normal, for the losses of Jason Giambi and Bobby Abreu. With Matsui and Damon gone next year, my bet is they trade either Swisher or Nady (or Matsui if possible) and pick up someone like Chone Figgins, and still move Derek Jeter into leftfield within the next two years.
Jorge Posada, assuming he can't catch after next season, will only be good for his bat, we call that a designated hitter. Teixiera is at first, A-Rod at third, and Cano at second. You would have to imagine by the end of 2010 or 2011, Austin Romine, Jesus Montero, Francisco Cervelli or someone else can take over catcher without them being named Jose Molina or Kevin Cash. Swisher or Nady, (Swisher if he is not traded, or Nady if he is extended) whoever is left, and Jeter would join Jackson in the outfield. The Yankees signed Teixiera, did not create any logjams, and now they have players under 30 at 5 of their 9 starting positions for 2009 and could make it as high as six of their nine by 2010. That's pretty young.
Meanwhile, in the rotation, their oldest player right now is 32 years old in AJ Burnett. Nobody in that rotation is signed for after the age of 36, and currently four of their five pitchers are under 30, with two of them in their prime and Joba Chamberlain already demonstrating on multiple levels in multiple situations, he can dominate hitters. It seems to me, the Yankees are using their homegrowns (Chamberlain, Hughes, Cano, Wang, Veras/Robertson, Aceves, Coke, Gardner/Cabrera) to play a role on the major league team, and at the same time are using their money (Burnett, Sabathia, Teixiera) to get younger. Not to mention, they even include trades (Nady, Marte, originally A-Rod, Swisher) to improve the team. And we can't forget about Posada, Jeter and Rivera, who somehow don't fit under any category because the Red Sox didn't believe in the farm system last decade, but yet we're on an even playing field despite the fact they started seriously drafting around 2003 and the Yankees didn't catch on again until around 2005). I would say when you have at least 10-13 homegrowns on your roster (10 legitimately since we're not counting Hall of Fame caliber homegrowns) and your roster now has over 15 players under 30 you're probably going in the right direction. Especially if there is a clear-cut plan not for this year, but the next couple of years.
That's what the Yankees did by going all-in in this Free Agency offseason. They didn't jump the gun last year, they resigned all their own players instead. They traded away some age in 2006 and they have stayed out of taking players from other teams really since 2005, the year Cashman developed "The Plan". But with the farm players already making impacts in the majors, the next ones needing time to make their debuts and get to the majors in the first place, and a weak batch of Free Agents on the horizon, the Yankees spent enough for the last two offseasons and next year's in other people's players. Now they will have eight years to pay off the deals as their own roster slowly dumps payroll itself year after year. This wasn't a one year move, it was more like five, and the Yankees are now built pretty formidibly for the conceivable future, and as always, their prospects will be there to lend a guiding hand.
If you're still reading at this point, stop and make sure you tell your family members how much you care about them. Honestly, I'm so excited I took that much time away from your day, but if it's Christmas Day when you read this, go have some egg nog and watch Kobe take down the Celtics. Some days were meant to be bigger than a back and forth baseball discussion.
Merry Christmas, and a Happy middle of Hanukkah!
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