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Yanks Will Be Dealing With Rays For Foreseeable Future

Posted by Moshe Mandel at 11:00 am 5 Responses »
Feb 022010


When the Rays shockingly took the division in 2008, many Yankee fans dismissed it as an aberration, and suggested that the Rays would fall out of contention once their current crop of younger stars neared free agency. However, it seems that the Rays have a contingency plan in place to prevent that from happening. From Buster Olney:

But if they languish in the AL East race behind the Yankees and Red Sox, or if they got hit by a wave of injuries, then there would appear to be a chance that they would start looking to deal Crawford, Pena, Soriano and others.

Just like sailors in a lifeboat, the Rays must constantly bail payroll, whenever and wherever they can, which is why they must rely, always, on the young and cheap players whenever and however they can. “It’s what we have to do,” said Andrew Friedman, the Rays’ general manager. “It’s our lot in life. We have to have as many different options of talented players to mix and match and construct a 25-man roster as we can.”

The development of three rising prospects in particular will be crucial for the Rays, for this season, and for seasons to come…..

(Buster goes on to provide reports on Wade Davis, Desmond Jennings, and Jeremy Hellickson).

Recently, I had the opportunity to ask a MLB GM with a payroll similar to that of the Rays about the way in which teams operate under such constraints. He explained to me that teams like his and the Rays work in cycles, whereby they attempt to develop a crop of prospects, ride them to contention through their arbitration years, and then trade them for more prospects so as to start the cycle over. In this way, they hope to contend for 2-3 seasons, with each cycle lasting 6-7 years. This is how it works for most clubs, with the Marlins, Athletics, and Indians providing a fine example of this system.

However, the Rays have become so good at developing talent that, at least for now, they seem poised to bypass the downturn of their current cycle. As they shed players such as Crawford and Scott Kazmir, they are ready to replace them with mega-prospects such as the three discussed by Buster. With this base of talent available to them (they are a top 3 system by every ranking I have seen), they should remain a threat to the Yankees for a while yet.

Photo Credit: NY Daily News

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Piliere Puts Yankee System In Middle Of Pack

Posted by Moshe Mandel at 11:00 am 8 Responses »
Jan 272010


AOL Fanhouse writer Frankie Piliere recently ranked baseball’s farm systems, and the Yankees came in at 15:

15. New York Yankees | Players in Top 100: 4
The Yankees have plenty of depth. What they don’t have right now is a great deal of impact talent behind Jesus Montero. They have a lot of potential in the low levels, and it’s a solid system, but at the moment much of their high-upside players are early in their development.

It is hard to argue with anything Piliere says, as he succinctly sums up the state of the system. They would likely rate closer to 10th or so if they had not traded a number of their more highly regarded prospects this offseason, so 15 is a fairly solid placement for them at this team. I do think that the system has the potential to take a leap forward over the next few seasons, as much of the Yankees impact talent is at the lower levels. As players like Austin Romine, Jose Ramirez, and Manny Banluelos develop, we may see the Yankees slowly make their way up the ladder in these rankings.

What do you think about the Yankee farm system? Excited? Disappointed? Ambivalent? Chime in below.

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Comparing Yankees and Phillies Roster Breakdowns

Posted by Moshe Mandel at 8:58 am 2 Responses »
Oct 282009

From John Sickels:

Phillies Roster Breakdown: 25 Players
Acquired by Trades or Waivers: 8 (32%)
Phillies Farm System Products: 8 (32%)
Major League Free Agents: 8 (32%)
Rule 5: 1 (4%.)

Yankees Roster Breakdown: 25 players
Acquired by Trades or Waivers: 7 (28%)
Yankees Farm System Products: 12 (48%)
Major League Free Agents: 6 (24%)
Rule 5: 0.

Of course, the Phillies important farm products are of a more recent vintage than the Yankees’, as the Yankees “core” farm guys are pretty much all from the mid-90′s. That being said, it is exciting to see that practically half of the Yankees roster was produced in house. With players like Cano, Cabrera, Hughes, and Chamberlain all coming into their own, the Yankees have the makings of a long term powerhouse.

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Yankees Farm System 4th Most Valuable In AL East

Posted by Moshe Mandel at 11:17 am No Responses »
Mar 232009

Beyond the Boxscore has been running an interesting feature in which they devised a system to put a dollar value on each farm system in baseball. The valuations are done based on top 100 prospects lists, as well as the grading system utilized by John Sickels. The Yankees come in at fourth in the division, but are bunched within a group of three at the bottom, with the Jays and Red Sox, that is separated by a mere 5 million dollars. Being that the Orioles and Rays have more top flight prospects than the other three clubs, they have a comfortable lead in a system that highly values star power over depth. Here is the blurb on the Yankees:

New York Yankees, $97.8M. Jesus Montero looks like a pretty terrific international signing. The 18 yr. old won the Sally League batting title in his full season debut and projects to be a major power threat in the big leagues. Austin Jackson has no standout tool, but looks like a solid all-around center fielder. Where the Yankees are particularly deep is the pitching department, but none of their pitchers are really awe-inspiring at the moment. Andrew Brackman, Dellin Betances and maybe Arodys Vizcaino are the only ones who strike me as having high upside. The Yanks have nine 23 year old + C grade pitchers, 12% of their systems’ value, so they should be able to fill out a bullpen rather cheaply for the next few seasons.

I like the upside of Heredia and De La Rosa as well, but the point is fair. The Yankees’ farm system is a bit weak at the top, with few players that look like decent bets to be major league stars. However, they should be able to fill the bullpen and back of the rotation fairly easily for the foreseeable future.

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