The Yankees also have the eternal prospect, catcher Gary "I'm Not Jesus" Sanchez, who ranked 11th in the Eastern League.
It's fashionable to say that the Yankee farm system has finally shed the air-sucking misery of its last four years, when it served up Eduardo Nunez, Melky Mesa, Preston Claiborne and Zolio Almonte. And hopefully, Refsnyder in 2015 will become the first meaningful Yankee-born-and-raised position player since Brett Gardner.
Look, I don't want to be negative all the time. But before the Yankees congratulate themselves - (and write the front office bonus checks) - a point should be made:
The Yankee farm system only looks good when compared to past Yankee farm systems.
Don't even think about comparing it to the Redsocks' system.
Boston has four prospects on the International League's Top 20 list, including two that are ranked above Refsnyder. The Redsocks placed six prospects on the Eastern League Top 20. Overall, the Redsocks could have nine highly regarded rookies vying for next season's roster. That, my friends, is a wave. We had better hope for a few duds. And keep your fingers crossed for Refsnyder.
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3 comments:
Does the Royals' and Giants' success change your mind about the wisdom of seeking "Selig's faux one-game wildcard playoff spot"?
Let's assume the spot was around in the 1980s, when Steinbrenner's millions fielded some pretty good teams that could win 95+ games but would just miss the playoffs. Now the team would make the playoffs and in so doing would, by definition, be hot going into the playoffs. Who's to say the team would not have gotten to a few more World Series?
Of course you could dismantle and try to build a dynasty, but who's to say you won't be in the wilderness for 30 years?
Why not cobble together a collection of promising young players and aging veterans, invest in as much good pitching as you can, and hope you catch lightning in a bottle.
That is, should the long term strategy be to find a way to make the "faux" playoffs every year and then count on getting lucky every few years and making the Series?
"Why not cobble together a collection of promising young players?" This reminds me of the old Steve Martin routine in which he parodies the late-night infomercials on how to make a million dollars: "First (in a hurried, muted, off-handed mumble), get a million dollars. Then . . . "
Well that's the attitude of Yankee management -- whoa is me, the league won't let us buy our championships anymore, so there's nothing we can do.
The Yankees mindset prevents them from taking the steps necessary to assemble a core of young talent. First, they don't play the young players that they have. What's the excuse for not bringing up Refsnyder and Pirella? You have to promote these guys and see how they do.
Second, the Yanks knew they were going to lose Cano, but they were too cowardly to bite the bullet and deal him. Do you know how KC got Cain and Escobar? They dealt Greinke to Milwaukee. They knew they were going to lose him so they cashed him in.
So, if you had dealt Cano and had promoted the talent you have, you might have a core of 4 young players. They could still fall on their faces, but you might as well go down fighting instead of cowering in the corner like the empty suits running this team.
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