The great Chad Jennings has a post on LoHud that I can't get out of my head.
He lists the longest tenured Yankees, in terms of organization.
1. Mariano Rivera (non-drafted free agent, February 1990)
2. Jorge Posada (24th round, 1990)
3. Derek Jeter (first round, 1992)
4. Chien-Ming Wang (non-drafted free agent, May 2000)
5. Jose Valdez (non-drafted free agent, October 2000)
6. Robinson Cano (non-drafted free agent, January 2001)
7. Shelley Duncan (second round, 2001)
8. Melky Cabrera (non-drafted free agent, November 2001)
9. Wilkin De La Rosa (non-drafted free agent, November 2001)
10. Phil Coke (26th round, 2002)
He lists the longest tenured Yankees, in terms of organization.
1. Mariano Rivera (non-drafted free agent, February 1990)
2. Jorge Posada (24th round, 1990)
3. Derek Jeter (first round, 1992)
4. Chien-Ming Wang (non-drafted free agent, May 2000)
5. Jose Valdez (non-drafted free agent, October 2000)
6. Robinson Cano (non-drafted free agent, January 2001)
7. Shelley Duncan (second round, 2001)
8. Melky Cabrera (non-drafted free agent, November 2001)
9. Wilkin De La Rosa (non-drafted free agent, November 2001)
10. Phil Coke (26th round, 2002)
Note the eight-year gap in the chain between Nos. 3 and 4...
Between 1992 and 2000, not one new Yankee -- not one, nada -- stayed.
WTF? This was the ascent of Yankind. We became champs. Theoretically, we should have latched onto these gamers and refused to let them go. Whah hoppin?
I dunno. Not a clue. I won't get heavy here, because maybe an analysis of all teams would show something like this. We did keep three players. (Andy would be on this list but -- ahhh -- we let him walk.) A bunch -- Bernie, Tino, Paul, Mendoza -- retired. A bunch -- Reuben Rivera, Irabu, Kenny Rogers, Ed Yarnell -- turned out dogs.
But there is one guy who SHOULD have been a Yankee all the way. We blew it. We frickin' blew it. And any question about Yankee continuity should center about the shameful way we let this guy go.
His name?
el duque, of course
Posts
1 comment:
Please note also that only one high draft pick made it. Derek was a hall of fame pick at number one. And Shelly is a AAA MVP at number two.
We get lucky once or twice a decade with undrafted free agent signings, but our annual draft of prospects is as empty a resource for us as a discarded toy box.
We got Jorge and Phil Coke ( for God's sake ) in the "throw away" rounds. Some drunk put in their names while running for the train home.
How is that possible? Who is responsible for this waste? This utter calamity?
I could do better throwing darts.
Post a Comment