“Also, why do we care if the Yankees sign pitchers who have “different philosophies?” That’s the most worthless thing I’ve ever heard.”

MJ:

It’s funny that you should say that because it was intended as a compliment. Maybe I should’ve used the word “mindset or makeup” rather than “philosophy.”

It takes a special breed of pitcher to handle and excel in the Bronx where expectations are high and the pressure is intense. Just look at how Randy Johnson and Kevin Brown handled it–both were thought to be tough customers but both couldn’t hack it in the fishbowl.

Let’s face it–I love the stats as much as the next guy but just putting up impressive numbers (traditional or sabermetric) is no guarantee of success in the Bronx.

As to the other points–I didn’t compare the Yankees with other teams because the Yankees have higher standards of success, more resources and greater willingness to use those resources…I didn’t think it unreasonable to point out that a team with such standards should have more expected of it.

Finally, the Yankees should care about developing their own pitching–between baseball’s growing revenues and revenue sharing, more and more teams are locking up the best pitching their organizations develop to long term deals long before free agency…this translates into fewer pitchers available for the Yankees to sign as free agents. Since these contracts other teams sign their pitchers to tend to be less onerous to the club, they’re less likely to deal them to the Yanks for salary relief.

Thanks for the link (and feedback). All the best in ’09.

Best Regards

John

Great research MJ.

I would just like to point out that John Brattain is usually excellent. This just isn’t one of his better pieces.

As for this conversation here, I sort of agree with bits and pieces of what’s everyone is saying. The Yankees haven’t done a good job developing pitchers over the last couple of decades until very recently. This turned out okay for them, but it still probably would have been better if they had developed some pitchers.

Personally, I like their current approach, which seems to be something along the lines of “Sign all the best pitchers and develop good pitchers too.” Moderation in all things, I say.

Guys, just look at the garbage pitching that the Yanks have acquired since 2003. Many of them were highly sought FA’s and the Yanks’ deepest pockets brought them here. How has that worked out? It’s a new era and the old formula doesn’t work. You just can’t buy starting pitching now.
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Yes and no. While it’s certainly preferable to develop your own pitchers because of the efficiency/cost-effectiveness it provides, there’s absolutely no evidence to demonstrate that a team can only win a WS with homegrown pitching.

Since 2004, in the 22 WS games played, only 5 WS starting pitchers were drafted by the team they won with (Mark Buehrle, Anthony Reyes, Jon Lester, Cole Hamels, Brett Myers) and only 1 (Jon Garland) was traded to his team and spent time in the minor leagues with his WS-winning team.

2004: 0 of 4 starters homegrown
2005: 1 of 4 starters homegrown
2006: 1 of 4 starters homegrown
2007: 1 of 4 starters homegrown
2008: 2 of 4 starters homegrown

ken:

I agree with your assessment. It is much harder to get quality starting pitchers these days for all the reasons you listed and the point of my post wasn’t to abandon our system or anything along those lines.

The times have changed, recently, due to revenue sharing and teams locking up their arms and quality players through their arbitration years. However, this article is also a slam on what the Yanks have done since they developed Pettitte and with our years or championships and playoff berths, we haven’t exactly been struggling. With CC and AJ here it gives Kennedy, Hughes and the others more time to develop either into our arms or trade pieces for others.

Guys, just look at the garbage pitching that the Yanks have acquired since 2003. Many of them were highly sought FA’s and the Yanks’ deepest pockets brought them here. How has that worked out?
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Looks like they’ve made the playoffs from 2004-2007. Best record in the league in 2004 & 2006. Won 89 games in 2008, lowest since 2000…

Also, why do we care if the Yankees sign pitchers who have “different philosophies?” That’s the most worthless thing I’ve ever heard.
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Agree completely on this point. Josh Beckett’s “Marlins philosophy” (whatever the hell that even means) worked out just fine for Boston in 2007.

Guys, just look at the garbage pitching that the Yanks have acquired since 2003. Many of them were highly sought FA’s and the Yanks’ deepest pockets brought them here. How has that worked out? It’s a new era and the old formula doesn’t work. You just can’t buy starting pitching now.

Since Andy Pettitte was drafted, how many starting pitchers did the Yankees develop and retain that have tossed two seasons of 200 IP? How many have they drafted?

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I’m with Yank Crank on this one, who cares? This article doesn’t offer any comparison to other teams, so I can’t really be sure where the Yanks stand.

Also, why do we care if the Yankees sign pitchers who have “different philosophies?” That’s the most worthless thing I’ve ever heard.

He also says”fewer and fewer aces hit the market.” Isn’t CC probably one of the best pitchers over the last half decade? He was available via FA, Santana (the best pitcher) was also available (not by FA, though). I just don’t get the point of this article. Who cares where the players were developed? Do teams “philosophies” really differ so much, as the author seems to think, that a player from one team can’t pitch on another?

YankCrank: The point made in this article, and elsewhere, is that the Yankee’s formula of cherry picking other team’s top pitchers doesn’t work any more.

In part, this is due to revenue sharing so other teams have money to sign their own emerging FA’s. Also, many teams are now signing long term contracts to top players during pre-FA years.

And one other thing, in the post-PED world, older pitchers won’t hold up. I think that all teams are looking to expect more from younger players which means you develop your own.