Good luck with the LSAT work etc.

We have no great position prospects before 2010.  Tabata smells like Ruben Rivera and Duncan plain stinks.  However, our pitching prospects seem quite impressive.  I dream of one day having young players who can run and play the field and perhaps hit for power (i.e. not Robbie Cano).  Soriano is the only star position player who has come up through our system since Cashman took over as GM.  I know there’s the Tampa/NY argument but the fact is Cashman took over as GM in 1997 and since then- a decade- we’ve had three (Soriano, Wang, & Cano) quality major leaguers come up through the system and excel in the pinstripes.  If you also include guys we’ve traded- Lilly, Nick Johnson, and MAYBE Juan Rivera are the only one who comes to mind- it’s still a pathetic number of major leaguers coming up through what is probably the best-financed minor league system in baseball with the most money available for contracts.  Am I missing something here?  I’m not seeing how Cashman’s record- based on present, not future, performance- justifies him being considered anything more than an average GM at best.  Sure, he is a great communicator and likeable guy but I don’t see any brilliance in his record.  I hate to say it but that other dick is looking pretty smart getting Oliver Perez and John Maine for peanuts and making every other move work.  Maybe he’s just getting lucky but it’s quite annoying.

To compare Tabata to Rivera at this point is absurd. Duncan, as I said before the season started, should have begun his season at Trenton. Cano will be an above average defensive 2Bman. He has good range and a strong arm, and will also have 20+ HR power.

The first draft that Cashman supervised was in 2006, so to pin the failure to produce position players on him is more than unfair, it’s inaccurate.

If this year’s draft is as productive as last year’s draft appears to be with regard to pitching prospects, it could yield multiple high ceiling position players, who are fairly close to the major leagues.

Cashman also did a very good job during the international signing period this year.

Cashman was only the nominal GM since 1998. In actuality, he was one member of George’s crack baseball committee, which was characterized by a shifting power base. He only gained full decision making power in October 2005. He, for example, according to all reports, wanted to sign Vlad instead of Sheff, and wanted to use the available funds to sign Beltran instead of trading for Johnson.

That said, he has made mistakes. His trades for Weaver, Vazquez, and Brown didn’t work out, and the Pavano signing was beyond awful. According to Joel Sherman, he could have had Owings for Johnson if he would have accepted a smaller overall package. He has admitted that he knew that Sanchez could require TJ surgery, and according to Bill Madden in today’s Daily News, “sources” say that he knew that Ohlendorf had pre-exisiting back issues.

Either way, he traded Sheff and RJ without getting any immediate help, which is problematic for a team whose “mission statement,” in his own words, is to win the WS every year.

btw, Good luck, Fabian.

PagsRags - The Yanks have trotted out Nick Johnson, Alfonso Soriano and Robbie Cano in the last 7 years, and off the top of my head, the only team I can think of that produced 3 position players that good in that span are the Twins with Mauer-Morneau-Cuddyer. The Yanks also produced Dioner Navarro, and they can take some of the credit for Wily Mo Pena. That’s not bad at all.

Good luck Fabian, hopefully you’ll be feeding us that inside info…(wink wink)

(seriously, you know my email address)

I’m really looking forward to Clippard today.  The team itself is pretty depressing, but I still find it hard to believe there isn’t a ten game winning streak or something in the cards or some point to vault them back into wild card contention.

Yesterday was frustrating, but hell, at least the team showed some life and fire making the game exciting in the end. Torre is a fucking knobhead for sending Myers out there. There had to be, HAD to be, a better option than that. The guy is fucking completely impotent against a good right handed better and Wright basically gelded him on national TV. Really, the most logical thing to do in that situation is to just start with your best and go down the list, since you know you will probably need them all anyway. Rivera for two, Proctor for two, Bruney for two, Farnsworth for two, and close the game with, uh, Villone?

Pags - Good heavens, Johnson - Soriano - Cano is the 2nd best tandem you can think of?  How about Rollins - Utley - Howard - Victorino - Burrell, McCann - Francoeur - K Johnson, Hardy - Weeks - Hall - Fielder, Hafner - Sizemore - Peralta, Youkilis - H Ramirez - Pedroia, or Swisher - Ethier - Crosby?  Four of the five Yankees you list (Johnson, Cano, Navarro, and Pena) haven’t really done much of anything yet.

Sorry, that comment was really for Mike A.

On the other hand, the Yanks have (as Fabian pointed out) a very good catching prospect in Francisco Cervelli.  If he keeps progressing, the Yanks will be stocked at the two most difficult positions to develop - namely starting pitching and catching.  Their excess of the latter should, if need be, be able to net the odd position player.

So, how did Clippard get on the 40 man roster?

According to Joel Sherman, he could have had Owings for Johnson if he would have accepted a smaller overall package

ahh, if Sherman said it, it has to be true.  color me skeptical.

Hafner - Sizemore - Peralta

Hafner came from the Rangers, Sizemore was traded to the Indians by none other than PagRags’ favorite GM Omar Minaya.  Minaya traded one of the 5 best players in baseball for 1/2 a season of Bartolo Colon.  sweet.

it’s still a pathetic number of major leaguers coming up through what is probably the best-financed minor league system in baseball with the most money available for contracts.  Am I missing something here?

yes, the Yankees’ minor league system was NOT the best-financed for the last decade.  the Yankees largely ignored the draft for a decade for whatever reasons. 

Cashman, in one of his FIRST MOVES after consolidating his authority, was to start overseeing the draft and increasing the drafting budget.  bingo, 2 good drafts in a row.  doesn’t the fact that this was one of his first orders of business tell you it was something he WANTED to do earlier but didn’t have the authority for?  that’s what i take from it.

So, how did Clippard get on the 40 man roster?

well, Rasner goes to the 60 day DL for starters…

Good luck on the LSATs Fabian.  What’s your goal score?  If you hit 165 you’re golden.

OK, OK- I may not be fully in tune with the inner power struggle that was the Yankees front office pre-2006 but it’s fair to say that the Yankees front-offcie, nominally led by Cashman, failed miserably. 

I don’t love Omar Minaya, I hate him…but I to be fair and say, at this moment (a key qualifier), he appears to have made some brilliant moves.  Getting that punk Oliver Perez as a throw-in; getting John Maine and trading Bannister instead; always somehow having a great bullpen without big names; signing up Wright and Reyes for peanuts; adding bench guys like Endy Chavez and Damian Easly; and generally changing the attitude of that organization.  I hate that he is from NYC and understands the Mets/Yankees tension here.  I am from NYC but I feel a lot of Yankee fans from CT or further away don’t understand how important it is to remain “the team” in NYC and widen the margin.  The Yanks corporate attitude does not appeal to a lot of people and they shouldn’t have let the Mets have the BK Cyclones.  But that is done and the Yankees have to market their team more aggressively in NYC, especially in BK.  And they have to get rid of their broadcasters.  This is not just a baseball competition, this is a business competition and Thee Mutts are competing with The Yankees as much or mre than Boston.

Oh, and I can’t say teh Weaver trade was terrible, even in retrospect, and looking at what Vazquez is doing now that was a decent trade as well.  Lately it seems like teh atmosphere around The Yankees has been stifling talent.

for the record, i think Minaya is a pretty good GM.

but like the Yankees, the Mets needed to hit rock bottom (Kazmir trade) before ownership was ready to stay out of the kitchen and let the GM start making the decisions.

the difference is that when each occurred, the Yankees and Mets were in completely different positions from a roster/payroll perspective.

the Mets really had no where else to go but up.  the Yankees were coming off a decade of success, yet were paying the price of that with a bloated roster of huge, unmovable contracts, older players, and a barren farm system.

the Mets had some young impact players waiting in the wings, and a few key acquisitions could make a huge difference quickly.  it helps that this coincided with an era where the NL is MUCH weaker than the AL.

any wholesale changes the Yankees were going to make would have to take much longer.  cashman is taking a much longer term strategy, so that he NEVER finds the organization again in the same state as it was 2 years ago.  and that strategy begins with building up a massive talent pipeline from the farm, through spending more on the draft and on international signings, and remaining FLEXIBLE.  he’s not above spending on guys like Clemens and Pettitte, but that means paying more for fewer years.  he has seen the folly of 6-7 year deals, and as such, stayed away from the Zitos and Lees this off-season.

it is what it is.  it’s a long term vision, and just looking at what has happened to some of the older players on the team this year, it HAD to be done.  it’s a little painful, but i am not ready to declare it a failure after 42 games.  especially just b/c the Mets are playing better right now.