~~~he’s pulled Edwar Ramirez, Veras, Bruney, and Albaladejo from the trash pile.~~~

“And, just what exactly have they proven at the MLB level? Not much, according to their stats.”

Well, Edwar has thrown nearly seven scoreless so far this season so there’s hope there, Bruney had a decent run and looked solid to start this year before getting hurt, Veras has flashed potential in his limited innings, and Albaladejo was also showing potential before getting hurt (wasn’t it just you that was upset about Girardi “causing” him to be injured?). But let’s just be ridiculously negative about the whole thing.

I don’t think that 8 years ago the Yanks had a conscious plan to stockpile pitching and develop from within.
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I think most, if not all organizations try to do that. Check the number of pitchers on a NRI list sometime.

I don’t think that 8 years ago the Yanks had a conscious plan to stockpile pitching and develop from within. If they did, they certainly went off track in the years that followed. Also, eight years ago Cashman was a 32 year-old relatively new GM in constant battle with George and his Tampa baseball people. But if you want to fault Cashman for what happened with the prospects from 8 years ago–fine.

Cashman staked his job back in 2005 on having full control and a long-term plan to build from within. I think you have to give the guy some time as the true head of baseball operations to fully evaluate his performance. I would give him another 3 year deal and then see how things have worked out.

~~~he’s pulled Edwar Ramirez, Veras, Bruney, and Albaladejo from the trash pile.~~~

And, just what exactly have they proven at the MLB level? Not much, according to their stats.

~~~But I do think he deserves credit for changing a long-standing organization mindset about building pitching from within. And I’m not so sure “any GM could have done the same”–certainly not any Steinbrenner-employed GM.~~~

Didn’t he also “do” that 8 years ago?

http://tinyurl.com/6ygq9m

Did it work then? If you want to give him credit for trying it now, do we not also have to mark his record for trying it, 8 years ago, and failing then?

I don’t think he’s a genius, but that doesn’t mean I won’t give him credit where it’s due. And it’s not just Rasner, he’s pulled Edwar Ramirez, Veras, Bruney, and Albaladejo from the trash pile. Anyway, you proved he wasn’t a genius, so point proven I guess. Hurrah.

Any GM could have done the same.
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Many don’t.

Steve–I don’t think anyone here is giving Cashman “gold stars” for being a brilliant evaluator of pitching talent. But I do think he deserves credit for changing a long-standing organization mindset about building pitching from within. And I’m not so sure “any GM could have done the same”–certainly not any Steinbrenner-employed GM.

It means that Cashman is not genius, nor does he have a magic touch. Anyone who wants to give him gold stars for finding Rasner is ignoring that. Basically, he gathered a large group of cast-offs and one of them clicked. Any GM could have done the same.

Steve, I don’t get your point. To me, a 33% success rate on a bunch of guys off the scrap heap is pretty good (in the article, 6 guys are listed, 2 of which are on the team now). It’s not like it cost anything to acquire those guys. Yeah, the four names you list didn’t amount to anything. So what?

Its the “law of large numbers.” Out of many, a few will inevitably shine.
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Where were you in ‘89?