Down on the Farm 2

As we wait for the Giants' and Yanks ' games to start, I thought we could talk a little more about the Yankee system.    This time, we'll talk a little it about hitters and their development.   Pictured is Dante Bichette Jr..   He had one of the more disappointing seasons in the system.   He played in Charleston, which is a big pitcher's park, and finished up hitting .248 with just 3 homers and a .322 OBP.    Early in the season he was taking his walks, and sporting a better OBP, but as he struggled he tried to hit his way out of his slump and expanded his strike zone.   Now this is a kid who in Spring hit 2 homers in a big league preseason game.   I have no explanation for why he struggled as he did - could have been homesick - since it was his first time away from Florida.   Who knows? Apparently not the Yankees.

Now, I will concede that all hitting development is about making adjustments and that players make them at uneven rates.   Still, what you want to see from minor leaguers in season is improvement, and Dante just got worse.    What's more, no one on hand seemed to be willing to remind him to take his walks.   The Yanks do give each player "walks goals" for the year, but I don't know if those are too low, or just not being emphasized enough in the day to day managing of the minor league players, but it remains a problem.

One player who does take his walks is Cito Culver, but he doesn't hit!   He batted just .215 but walked 71 times to give him a .321 OBP, and that desirable .100 or great split between the two.  Now, not only does he not hit, but he doesn't slug, either.   It's unclear at this point if he will ever hit enough to start in the bigs, but he might be able to get on base enough and play D well enough to be a back-up.

Not terribly good showings from our first picks from `11 and `10.   And consider this; both of these players were taken under the old rules, where the Yanks and other teams could spend whatever they wanted on their drafts.   But both of these first picks signed for slot or less.    Mason Williams and Greg Bird got the biggest bonuses in their respective classes and both look legit.   If there's time, in the next few days, I'll look at the Yankees strategy under the old rules, and if there's more time, I'll look at some good news.

Get Well, Cap!

In a game that was clearly touched by the weird universal energy of today, the Yanks had a miraculous comeback in the 9th, but went on to lose the game and their captain in 12.   The game doesn't matter now.  It's an old, mismatched team, that may or may not have a little magic left in it.  But Derek Jeter is one of the greatest of all Yankees, and watching the rest of the postseason without him in the lineup will be surreal.   The injury is a broken ankle, and they are calling it a 3 month recovery period.    Who knows how the Yanks will look in three months (we'll talk about it later), but their just going to look weird, and perhaps a little lost for the rest of this season.   God bless you, Derek Jeter.

Down on the Farm

Okay, we'll probably look at this in a couple of parts.   Pictured here is Tyler Austin who had a great year and looks like he could be ready for right field pretty soon.   He's a converted corner infielder, who doesn't have plus speed but is an amazingly good base stealer, to go along with his prodigious power.   Those not pictured here all had bad years or were injured.   You get the picture?

Anyway, there are larger issues at work here, and the biggest one seems to be that the Yankees scouts are finding and signing real talent, but, in many cases that talent isn't being maxed out by the development people in the system.  It's really plain as day.

One of the places where it's clearest is pitching.  Over the past 9 years the Yankees have drafted, signed or acquired a ton of minor league pitching talent.   Lots and lots and lots.  Of course, because of the injury matrix that every pitcher goes through, there really are no pitching prospects.  But there is pitching talent.    

It's fair to say that the Yanks haven't developed a plus starter since Andy Pettitte.    Sure, Hughes and Nova have had their moments, and don't get me started on Joba, but that's almost 20 years and that's a really poor record.  And both Nova and Hughes arrived in the majors missing parts of what should be their arsenal.   Nova didn't have his slider and Hughes had lost his changeup by the time they hit or re-hit the bigs.

How did a pitcher like Nova make it through the Yankee system without an out pitch?   And why hasn't anyone there been able to get Phil Hughes to pitch like he did as a 19 year old?  

Putting those two aside,  the next two Yankee pitching prospect were supposed to be Dellin Betances and Manny Banuelos, but over the last two years both of them developed problems with their fastball control.   Two pitchers could not be more different that Dellin and Manny, but both, all of a sudden, couldn't find the plate, and NO ONE in the Yankee system has been able to fix them.   Now Manny is getting TJS...

What's more, throughout the system, the Yanks are not good at teaching changeups, you know like the one Lester has, or the one Shields used to strike out 15 Orioles the other night?   We're not teaching them and our pitchers aren't learning them,

Also, during the Nardi Contreras era, they have had a policy of making every kid learn a curveball, even if they came into the organization with a plus slider, like Brett Marshall did.    Brett Marshall used to throw 97, but since they made him throw curves instead of sliders, he has had to have TJS and now sits around 91.  

And there are other examples throughout the system of pitchers who the system has failed.   In short, no Yankee pitcher should arrive in the bigs without and out pitch or a change up.   Think about that next time Hughes gives up an 0-2 bomb.     That's a failure of development.    It's time the Yankees got themselves a new minor league pitching czar and reorganized their pitching priorities.  I am not kidding when I say they have a ton of young (21 and under) pitching talent in their minors, and it would be a shame and cost them millions upon millions in major league FA's and minor league assets if they fail once again to develop them,

Yanks Win the East

Robby Cano and Curtis Granderson each pounded two homers as the Yanks beat the Sox 14-2 to ice the American League East.  Actually Baltimore lost so they had won it before they finished pounding on the Sox.   Now they will have to travel to play the winner of the AL wild card game between Baltimore and Texas on Friday.   The Yanks finished with 95 wins, and a team record 245 homers.    They seem to finally be getting hot after a lousy second half that allowed O's and the rest of the league to catch up with them.   We'll see what happens and this is no doubt the last rodeo for some of the stalwarts of this team.

If there's time, I'll take a look at what went right and wrong with the system this year.    Though, the biggest problem with both the big league team and the affiliates was injuries.

But it's a good night for the Yanks and things do look wide open for this post season.   Go Yanks.