NEW YORK (WCBS) -- By now most Yankee fans agree that the signings of Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright a few years ago were the epitome of defective thinking. The winter of 2004/2005 was the same off-season that Tony Womack was signed, so a trifecta of sorts was achieved in the annals of inept transactions that year. It was as if the loss to the Red Sox temporarily fried the brains cell of the Yankee decision makers.
But now it appears that there is a silver lining in those heavily laden clouds. The Pavano and Wright signings were so bad, and put such a strain on the pitching staff at such a high cost, that the Yanks seem to be really changing how they go about structuring their pitching.
With GM Brian Cashman firmly in charge and consigliore Gene Michael at his side, there is finally hope for the future.
Cases in point are the addition-by-subtraction dumping of Randy Johnson, Jaret Wright and Gary Sheffield over the winter. The surplus of young arms that the Yanks got in return has restocked the minor league system.
In fact, Baseball Prospectus ranks the Yankees minor league system as the 4th best. This is a huge improvement over previous years. Of the Yankees’ top 10 prospects, three came in winter trades: pitchers Humberto Sanchez and Kevin Whelan from Detroit and infielder Alberto Gonzalez from Arizona.
Top Ten Yankee Prospects (per Baseball Prospectus)
Excellent Prospects
1. Philip Hughes, rhp
2. Jose Tabata, rf
Very Good Prospects
3. Joba Chamberlain, rhp
4. Humberto Sanchez, rhp
5. Dellin Betances, rhp
Good Prospects
6. Kevin Whelan, rhp
Average Prospects
7. Tyler Clippard, rhp
8. J. Brent Cox, rhp
9. Ian Kennedy, rhp
10. Alberto Gonzalez, ss
In addition to these minor league hopefuls, the Yanks received right-handed Major league relievers Luis Vizciano in the Randy Johnson trade and Chris Britton in the Jaret Wright trade.
Vizciano is a lock to make the Opening season roster, and the Yanks will be counting heavily on him this year to help be a bridge to Rivera and take some of the load off Scott Proctor and Kyle Farnsworth.
Vizciano posted some impressive numbers last year. 65.1 IP, 51 hits, a +133 ERA better than league average, a 1.22 WHIP and 72 Ks in those 65.1 IP against 29 BBs. In fact, for the last three years he has been better than average in League ERA. Luis is also superb against lefties. Last year in 104 ABs lefties could only manage .163/.281/.288. Righties faired better: 133 ABs, .256/.331/.481. Let’s hope Uncle Joe doesn’t burn him out.
Chris Britton also looks promising. He made the jump to the Orioles last year from AA ball and was impressive in limited action. Yes, this is a small sample size but it is what it is: 53.7 IP 46 hits, +135 ERA better than league average and 41Ks with 17BBs. The year before in A ball, he smoked his way through the league, whiffing 110 and walking just 23 in 78.2 innings. The 300 pound Britton does have some trouble against lefties, however. They hit 301/.378/.384 against him in the minors last year.
Also not mentioned in the Top Ten prospect list is Ross Ohlendorf. The brainy Princeton Engineering grad is worth watching. He shows a great work ethic and had a 3.29 ERA in the minors last year. But his K/9 ratio slipped from 8.25/9 in 2005 to 6.33/ 9 in 2006. Unless he turns out to be Chien-Ming Wang, that could be a problem, particularly since his sinkerball has not produced an inordinate amount of grounders.
As far as the slick-fielding Alberto Gonzalez, who also came over in the Johnson trade, he could very well be the Yankee reserve infielder of the future.
The point is that the River Yankee in now restocked with young bass and trout, and they can now deal from a position of strength when it comes to making future trades.
Compare this new approach by the Yankees to some of the outlandish deals that have recently gone down throughout the Majors. Gil Meche for 5 yrs/55 million; Javier Vazquez for 3yrs/34.mil; Vincente Padilla for 3yrs./33.75 million. I
feel like thanking Pavano for possibly being the tipping point in the consciousness raising of the Yankee front office.
E-Mail Story
Print Story
