They Whisper

Just to riff off Duque’s and Alphonso’s recent posts and comments:

In their sycophantic pandering to their co-author/subject (That combination should tell you something right there.) in Inside the Empire, Bob Klapisch and Paul Soloratoff described him as an expert at “the courtship of a dejected superstar…” “Done right, it’s a whisper-quiet, three-step waltz, among the GM, the player, and his agent,” they wrote, or rather, breathed heavily. But of course, Brian Cashman did it right. “Cashman, like the three or four masters of his craft, is one part diplomat to two parts pickpocket,” they gushed on, like a runaway fire hose. “He can politely boost your watch and wallet and leave you thinking the heist was your idea. Jeter’s style, by contrast, is to dictate terms and expect you to glumly accept them.”

Oh? In 2017, as El Duque mentioned, the Yanks had a bumper crop of minor-league prospects, shining like so many gold nuggets. Not only that, but 8 of their 9 minor-league teams had winning records, with a winning pct. of almost .600 (.586). Scranton, Trenton, Tampa, Staten Island, Pulaski, and the GCL West Yankees all finished first in the regular season, with GCL West also winning the Gulf Coast League playoffs. Only the Yanks’ Dominican Summer League team had a losing record.

Combined with the players they had already brought up, and the likes of Greg Bird on the DL, how could they miss? Well, they missed. And the farm system promptly imploded.

Could it just be that the reason was the real “whisper-quiet,” master pickpocket here? The man who whisked away Gary Denbo, the team’s farm director, at the same time that he pawned Giancarlo the Magnificent off on the old master whisperer?

Not saying the Yanks’ success was all Denbo’s doing. Not saying all those golden nuggets weren’t fool’s gold to begin with, as prospects so often are. A lot of them failed to pan out with other teams.

But still. The farm system has never been the same since. The kids have never been the same since. And we have a new permanent resident on the DL, to replace Jacoby Ellsbury.