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Guest Post: Patience

Posted by Moshe Mandel at 1:00 pm 3 Responses »
Dec 212010

This is a guest post from friend of the blog Jamal Granger, available on twitter at @JamalGR.

“I do stress Plan B is patience,” said Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman of the reaction to the second Cliff Lee non-acquisition in less than six months. As of right now, Jorge De La Rosa, Zack Greinke, Hiroki Kuroda, Lee, Ricky Nolasco and Jake Westbrook – all decent-to-great options to fill out the Yankees’ rotation – have been taken off the market by signings or trade. With such a dearth of inspiring or even adequate options on the starting pitching market, Yankees fans have seemingly been befuddled by what Cashman and the Front Office have done and what they plan to do. This is for good reason, as a 2011 swan song by Andy Pettitte would still leave this rotation in need of aid.

During the 2007-08 off-season, Johan Santana dominated the hot stove rumor mill. As the ink was drying on the Mets’ nine-figure extension of the 29-year-old lefty, many wondered how could the Yankees, a team that felt the need to pay a 44-year-old Roger Clemens a pro-rated $28MM salary just months prior, pass up an opportunity to acquire such an asset? Simple: patience. Cashman saw that he had another prime-aged southpaw ready to hit the free-agent market in a year’s time and felt waiting was the opportune course of action. Now that Lee has signed with the Phillies, the Yankees’ GM is employing a strategy well known to draft junkies: B(est)P(lan)A(vailable).

In the 2012-13 off-season, Chad Billingsley, Matt Cain, John Danks, Zack Greinke, Cole Hamels and Francisco Liriano will all be free agents. Their 2013 ages, you ask? I am delighted to inform that Billingsley, Cain and Danks will be entering their age-28 campaigns and age 29 for Greinke, Hamels and Liriano. A half-dozen prime-aged aces all hitting the free-agent market at the same time. Just thinking about this makes me giddy, but as The Wolf taught us in Pulp Fiction, we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves. Anything from the signing of an extension (personally, I don’t expect any of the four to do so, but the possibility is not remote) to injury could put a wet blanket on this scenario in a cocaine heartbeat.

What about the 2011 and 2012 seasons, though? For argument’s sake, we will assume CC Sabathia will remain with the team, whether by not opting out or doing so and getting the Yankees to retain him. That leaves Hughes and Burnett as the only other safe bets to be in the rotation during these upcoming seasons. With a hopeful return of Pettitte in 2011 and a bushel of starting pitching prospects in the upper levels of the farm system ready to join the core of this rotation, this team can and should remain a contender for those (gasp!) bridge years. If you remember, the 2008 Yankees, despite the injuries to Joba Chamberlain, Hideki Matsui, Jorge Posada, Alex Rodriguez and Chien-Ming Wang, and off years by Robinson Cano and Derek Jeter, were three games back in the loss column to the wild-card leading Red Sox as late as August 8th of that season. Essentially, that was a playoff-caliber squad even though it was obvious to some that Cashman saw it as a transition year.

Can you deal with the Yankees merely being the wild card favorites for 2011 and possibly 2012 instead of the division favorites? These two years can be used to allow Manny Banuelos, Dellin Betances and Andrew Brackman to mature; Brett Marshall and Bryan Mitchell to establish themselves as legit prospects; Hughes to realize his full potential. Remember, this team still has prime-aged players in the field (Cano, Brett Gardner, Curtis Granderson, Russell Martin, Nick Swisher and Mark Teixeira) and on the mound (Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, David Robertson and Sabathia) and MLB-ready prospects (Jesus Montero and Ivan Nova) that are likely to play significant roles in 2011. Right now, the Red Sox are definitely a better team in the near future, but the Yankees are definitely a better team than the Rays and everyone else in the league, making them clear contenders.

Cashman is selling patience to us once again. It was clear what the endgame was back in the winter of 2007-08; even though our patience may have to last an extra year, the endgame is just as clear: Billingsley (28), Cain (28), Danks (28), Greinke (29), Hamels (29) and Liriano (29).

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Wang may not sign until May

Posted by Chris H. at 12:24 pm 2 Responses »
Dec 142009

Last night, after speaking to Chien-Ming Wang’s agent, Alan Nero, Ken Davidoff of Newsday noted that Wang may not sign until April or May. Today, ESPN’s Buster Olney confirms, writing that it’s “possible that [Wang] won’t sign for months.” This is largely a contractual move, as Wang may receive better offers after a few months of rehab, in which he could prove his shoulder’s health. “In short,” states Olney, “the more he shows as he goes through his rehabilitation, and in perhaps throwing for scouts in the spring, the better the offers to him could be.”

In light of this news, the Yankees, who Olney says can possibly resign Wang, will likely have to move on this winter and explore other pitching options that are currently available (e.g., Ben Sheets, Justin Duchscherer, Kelvim Escobar, etc.). They can’t really wait for Wang, not if he’s holding out until May. If the team adds other players and still has payroll space for him at that time, then perhaps a deal will happen, although it seems unlikely.

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The Importance of Patience

Posted by Moshe Mandel at 12:07 pm No Responses »
Aug 062009

From Chad Jennings:

This is the way it goes when a team develops from within. Some fans don’t have the patience for player development, and that’s fine. They don’t want to sit through Beckham hitting .071 with no RBIs through his first eight major league games, I get that. They don’t want to deal with Beckham hitting .267 through his first month, fair enough. But without patience, those fans don’t get to enjoy Beckham hitting .330 with a .526 slugging percentage in his second big league month. They don’t get to enjoy Rick Porcello going 5-0 in May if they aren’t willing to watch him go 1-3 in April. They don’t get Colby Rasmus hitting .333 in June unless they deal with him hitting .212 in May. They don’t get four straight wins from Tommy Hanson without sticking with him after seven runs through six innings in his major league debut.

Patience with Joba Chamberlain is starting to pay off. He made an immediate impact in the Yankees bullpen, and now he’s showing that front-end starter stuff that made him a premier prospect in the first place. Brett Gardner struck out way too much when he got to the big leagues last season, and when he broke camp this April he wasn’t getting on base nearly enough for his speed to matter, but his injury last month was a significant blow to the New York outfield. Phil Hughes was spotty at best out of the rotation, but he’s become a key member of the bullpen.

Jennings is exactly right, and the Yankees have two examples of the imprtance of being patient with young players playing up the middle for them every day. Robinson Cano had one hit in his first 20 at-bats, and there were rumblings that the kid was not ready for prime time. He went on to have a very good season and has established himself as one of the premier second basemen in baseball. As we discussed yesterday, Melky Cabrera has had a rough time growing up on the major league level, but he is showing signs of taking another step forward in his development, and has turned into a solid major league player.

The Yankees could have dealt both players in the offseason, and many fans would have been perfectly fine with that. Yet Brian Cashman showed patience, and it has paid off. The Yankees as an organization seem more dedicated to developing prospects and living through their growing pains, and we have begun to see them reap the fruits of that strategy this season. Hopefully the Yankees maintain this method of team building and create a team that can be a perennial contender made up of homegrown parts.

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