Jeff Karstens shut down the Houston Astros and pitched the Pittsburgh Pirates into a tie for first place in the NL Central.

Karstens threw a five-hitter and Andrew McCutchen tripled and drove in two runs as the surging Pirates opened the second half of the season with a 4-0 victory over the Astros on Friday night.

With the win, the Pirates moved into a tie for first place with the St. Louis Cardinals, marking the latest in a season the team has been in first place since 1997.

Karstens (8-4) needed just 83 pitches to become the first Pirate to win five straight decisions in a season since Matt Capps in 2006. He has an ERA of 2.34 this year, but has been particularly dominant in his three starts against Houston, going 3-0 with an 0.41 ERA.

“I had an idea it was kind of low, but I didn’t know how low it was,” Karstens said of his pitch count. “It’s just one of those things where I’m just trying to go out there and be efficient and see where it takes me at the end of the night.”

It was the fewest pitches thrown in a complete game this season and just the sixth time since 2002 that a pitcher has thrown a complete game with 83 pitches or less, according to statistics provided by the Pirates from the Elias Sports Bureau.

It was the second career complete game and shutout for Karstens, who last did it in 2008, at Arizona.

“It’s one of the best pitched games I’ve seen,” Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. “You take into account the pitches thrown, 21 out of 30 first-pitch strikes, and then you get the leadoff hitter six out of nine innings … defense helped him out a couple times, but that was a masterful outing. You talk about throwing strikes, pounding down in the zone, changing speeds, he had it all working tonight.”

McCutchen raved about Karstens.

“He was real efficient and got an easy win, pretty much,” he said. “He made it look easy, anyway.”

“Jeff Karstens, Daniel McCutchen, Ross Ohlendorf and Jose Tabata for Damaso Marte and Xavier Nady” is starting to make “Nick Johnson, Juan Rivera, and Randy Choate for Javier Vazquez” and “Mike Lowell for Mark Johnson, Ed Yarnall, and Todd Noel” look good.

Then again, you could probably say that about “Tyler Clippard for Jonathan Albaladejo” too.

The contributions of homegrown players Derek Jeter, catcher Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte and Bernie Williams helped the Yankees win five World Series championships from 1996 to 2009.

This season, with Brett Gardner off to a dreadful (.150) start and Eduardo Nunez on the bench as a utility infielder, All-Star second baseman Robinson Cano is the only everyday position player developed by the Yankees’ farm system.

Years of neglect in the draft and far too many resources directed toward high-priced free agents in the waning years of George Steinbrenner’s stewardship of the franchise were to blame for the dearth of major league-ready talent in the minor-league system.

From 1997 to 2005 the Yankees drafting and player development was among the worst in baseball, with only 10 position players produced and those players combining for less than 900 major league at-bats.

Cano became a full-time player in 2005, but he was an undrafted amateur free agent from San Pedro de Marcoris in the Dominican Republic.

In 2006, general manager Brian Cashman began overseeing the player development system and things began to change, albeit slowly.

“It is an area that has lagged somewhat,’’ senior vice president of baseball operations Mark Newman said of the lack of top-tier position players at the higher levels of Yankees system. “But Nunez is there now and Gardner is one of the better young outfielders in the game. The young catchers we have are some of the best in the business, and we’ve got some quality young guys lower in our system right now.’’

I totally agree about the Yankees bad drafting from 1997 through 2005. But, the line about “In 2006, general manager Brian Cashman began overseeing the player development system and things began to change, albeit slowly” is a farce. It makes it sound as if Cashman is calling the shots for the Yankees player development system. Meanwhile, just last summer, Yankees Senior VP of Baseball Operations Mark Newman said that:

The nature of amateur scouting in the US is such that our guys do this all year. All in, it’s probably close to a twelve-month a year operation. They’ve got showcases in the fall, home visits in the winter — high school and college games in the spring leading up the draft. And then post-draft, there are summer leagues like the Cape, high school showcases, national team tryouts — there’s all kinds of things that our guys are involved in. Damon [Oppenheimer] runs that department very well, and he has the authority to draft the players the Yankees need. Neither [Brian Cashman] or I tell him who to pick and who not to pick. We’re there to support, and evaluate his production, just like everyone else in the organization is evaluated.

That sure sounds like Damon Oppenheimer is the point man for amateur scouting – which the pipeline for your player development system.

However, on the other hand, Cashman did get rid of Lin Garrett – and that had to help with the Yankees amateur scouting efforts. He gets a gold star for that one. But, then again, one could also say, here, “Brian, what took you so long to make that call?”

Also, the book on the Yankees farm system since “Brian Cashman began overseeing the player development system” five years ago still needs to be written. As, so far, what have we seen from that?

Via Mark Feinsand -

Joe Girardi was intentionally vague when delivering the latest news on Pedro Feliciano after Wednesday’s game, but it wasn’t hard to read between the lines.

“He’s got a damaged shoulder,” Girardi said. “The MRI did not come back good. He has a damaged shoulder, he has a shoulder injury, and in fairness to the player, he needs to talk about it with our doctors and the agents and decide what the next course of action will be. That’s all I’m going to give you.”

That doesn’t sound very good, does it?

It certainly sounds like Feliciano is headed for surgery, likely knocking him out for the rest of this year. If it’s rotator cuff surgery, there’s a chance he won’t be effective next year, either, leaving his two-year, $8 million deal essentially useless.

I guess this makes a gang of forty for Cashman…

Alan Embree
Allen Watson
Antonio Osuna
Billy Traber
Brett Tomko
Brian Bruney
Buddy Groom
C.J. Nitkowski
Chad Gaudin
Chan Ho Park
Chris Britton
Chris Hammond
Damaso Marte
Dan Giese
Dan Naulty
Darren Holmes
Edwar Ramirez
Felix Heredia
Felix Rodriguez
Gabe White
Jay Witasick
Jesse Orosco
Jonathan Albaladejo
Jose Veras
Juan Acevedo
Kyle Farnsworth
LaTroy Hawkins
Luis Vizcaino
Mark Wohlers
Mike Myers
Mike Thurman
Octavio Dotel
Paul Quantrill
Ron Villone
Scott Proctor
Sergio Mitre
Steve Karsay
Tanyon Sturtze
Todd Williams
and, Pedro Feliciano
__________________

Update:

New York Yankees left-handed reliever Pedro Feliciano’s season is likely over. A dye MRI taken Wednesday afternoon revealed that Felciano has a torn capsule in his left shoulder, and he is leaning toward arthroscopic surgery, he told reporters before Thursday night’s game against the Baltimore Orioles. Before that he will get a second opinion from renowned physician Dr. James Andrews on Monday.

General manager Brian Cashman characterized the injury as “significant.”

“It is a Chien-Ming Wang-like issue,” Cashman said. “And he is still trying to come back with Washington. Some people can come back, but the odds are a lot more difficult.”

While with the Yankees, Wang had shoulder surgery in July 2009, and the former 19-game winner still hasn’t pitched in the majors.

If Feliciano does have to undergo surgery, which would take place some time next week, he would have to undergo a year of rehab. He said he would likely be ready for the start of spring training in mid-February.

“It’s really disappointing,” said Feliciano, who suffered the injury during his fourth appearance in spring training. “I love to pitch and I want to be a guy that pitches every day like I’ve been doing for the past three or four years. And now to be shut down for maybe a year, I don’t know how I’m gonna handle it. It’s gonna be hard.”

Feliciano said that if Andrews tells him he won’t need surgery, he could get a platelet rich plasma injection in his shoulder, wait a month or two and try to throw again. However, that seems unlikely.

“He’s a warrior and a competitor and now he can’t compete because of this injury he sustained when he was a member of the New York Yankees in spring training,” Cashman said.

That last line sounds like Cashman wants to collect on an insurance policy…assuming he had one on this signing.

Here there are, since 1998:

Executive Of The Year
1998 Doug Melvin, GM, Rangers
1999 Jim Bowden, GM, Reds
2000 Walt Jocketty, GM, Cardinals
2001 Pat Gillick, GM, Mariners
2002 Billy Beane, GM, Athletics
2003 Brian Sabean, GM, Giants
2004 Terry Ryan, GM, Twins
2005 Mark Shapiro, GM, Indians
2006 Dave Dombrowski, GM, Tigers
2007 Jack Zduriencik, scouting director, Brewers
2008 Theo Epstein, GM, Red Sox
2009 Dan O’Dowd, GM, Rockies
2010 Jon Daniels, GM, Rangers

Amazing, considering that the Yankees made the post-season 12 times in 13 tries, since 1998, all under Brian Cashman – winning four World Series rings in the process – and, yet, BBA never felt that “Cash” warranted winning their award for Executive Of The Year. Any thoughts on why?

So, how many times, each season since 1998, have the Yankees had a starting pitcher on their team who made at least 25 starts and had an ERA+ of 100 or better? Here’s the answer:

.

As you can see, above, from 1998 through 2003, the Yankees always had a deep and solid starting rotation. However, since 2003, it’s been rare that Brian Cashman has built a starting rotation that was deep and solid. In fact, over the last seven years, it’s been extremely common for the Yankees to have only two starting pitchers, or less, who could be considered as reliable and not below league average.

That post-2003/pre-2004 line here is interesting. Why does it exist? The answer is simple. Before 2004, those Yankees starting staffs were all about Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens, Mike Mussina and David Wells. And, when those four were together in 2003 for New York, it was the last time the Yankees had a starting rotation that was deep and solid.

It’s sad that, for the last seven years, Cashman has not be able to consistently duplicate the Yankees starting pitching success that they had from 1998 through 2003. And, it’s even more sad that 2011 appears to be another year added to this run – making it eight years since Cashman had a rotation that was four-deep in terms of being durable and productive. There’s been a lot of money spent on pitching, by Cashman, since 2004. However, on the whole, it’s been good money wasted.

This season, to date, Coke has pitched in 66 games for the Tigers with an ERA+ of 159. Kennedy, for the Diamondbacks, has made 28 starts, thrown 173 innings, and has an ERA + of 112. Jackson, for the Tigers, is considered to be in the running for the A.L. Rookie of the Year Award and has been mentioned as a candidate for the Gold Glove Award as well.

Curtis Granderson’s first season in New York has been up and down.

Regardless of how you felt about this trade at the time it was made, what’s your opinion of it now? Could this be one of the worst ever made by Brian Cashman – if not the worst, period?

It’s rare for someone to be a G.M. for tens years with one team these days. Ten years does provide for some “body of work” analysis. Therefore, I thought it would be fun, this off-season, to take a look back at Cashman’s “moves” during the past decade – one year at a time. (To see all the seasons reviewed, click here.)

Here, we’ll look at Cashman’s moves in 2004 and how they helped or hurt the team:

No Impact:

February 5, 2004 – Traded Jose Garcia to the Texas Rangers. Received Mike Lamb.

March 25, 2004 – Traded Mike Lamb to the Houston Astros. Received Juan DeLeon.

June 18, 2004 – Traded Gabe White to the Cincinnati Reds. Received Charlie Manning and cash.

July 19, 2004 – Signed C.J. Nitkowski as a free agent.

August 17, 2004 – Signed Shane Spencer as a free agent.

October 26, 2004 – Signed Homer Bush as a free agent.

Good Impact:

January 12, 2004 – Signed Tony Clark as a free agent.

March 12, 2004 – Signed Orlando Hernandez as a free agent.

May 15, 2004 – Traded Brian Myrow to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Received Tanyon Sturtze.

August 3, 2004 – Signed John Olerud as a free agent.

December 3, 2004 – Traded Felix Heredia to the New York Mets. Received Mike Stanton.

Great Impact:

February 16, 2004 – Traded Joaquin Arias and Alfonso Soriano to the Texas Rangers. Received Alex Rodriguez and cash.

June 7, 2004 – Drafted Philip Hughes in the 1st round (23rd pick) of the 2004 amateur draft. Player signed June 16, 2004.

Bad Impact:

February 7, 2004 – Signed Donovan Osborne as a free agent.

July 31, 2004 – Traded Jose Contreras and cash to the Chicago White Sox. Received Esteban Loaiza.

November 5, 2004 – Jon Lieber granted Free Agency.

December 3, 2004 – Traded Kenny Lofton to the Philadelphia Phillies. Received Felix Rodriguez.

December 6, 2004 – Signed John Flaherty as a free agent.

December 20, 2004 – Signed Carl Pavano as a free agent.

Was Probably Not A Cashman Move & More Likely Something Done In Tampa:

January 6, 2004 – Signed Kenny Lofton as a free agent.

March 2, 2004 – Signed Travis Lee as a free agent.

December 20, 2004 – Signed Tony Womack as a free agent.

December 28, 2004 – Signed Jaret Wright as a free agent.
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This is an interesting year. The Lofton, Womack and Wright signings probably ticked Cashman off – and could be part of the reason why he demanded total control on his next contract. Yet, it was a big year for Cashman – picking up A-Rod and Hughes as well as some nice grabs on guys like Clark, Sturtze. Olerud, et al. Of course, this year will always be remembered for being when Cashman put the full-court press on Pavano to get him signed. That’s what many people will always remember about 2004 in terms of Brian’s moves. (I put Lieber on the list even though I usually don’t put guys going free agent on these reports – since it’s the player that controls the option. Still, Cashman misread the market on that one and should have gotten him signed before the Mets gave the house to Kris Benson. It would have been useful to have Lieber on the 2005 Yanks – instead of Wright.)

It’s rare for someone to be a G.M. for tens years with one team these days. Ten years does provide for some “body of work” analysis. Therefore, I thought it would be fun, this off-season, to take a look back at Cashman’s “moves” during the past decade – one year at a time. (I’ll try and post one year, per week, over the next ten weeks.)

Here, we’ll look at Cashman’s moves in 2003 and how they helped or hurt the team:

No Impact:

March 19, 2003 – Traded Rondell White to the San Diego Padres. Received Bubba Trammell, Mark Phillips, and cash.

July 16, 2003 – Traded Jason Anderson, Anderson Garcia, and Ryan Bicondoa to the New York Mets. Received Armando Benitez.

August 6, 2003 – Traded Armando Benitez to the Seattle Mariners. Received Jeff Nelson.

August 22, 2003 – Traded Sterling Hitchcock to the St. Louis Cardinals. Received Ben Julianel and Justin Pope.

December 18, 2003 – Traded Chris Hammond and cash to the Oakland Athletics. Received Eduardo Sierra and J.T. Stotts.

Good Impact:

January 15, 2003 – Traded Orlando Hernandez to the Chicago White Sox. Received Antonio Osuna and Delvis Lantigua.

February 4, 2003 – Signed Jon Lieber as a free agent.

June 6, 2003 – Traded Marcus Thames to the Texas Rangers. Received Ruben Sierra.

June 25, 2003 – Purchased Karim Garcia from the Cleveland Indians.

July 29, 2003 – Traded Raul Mondesi and cash to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Received David Dellucci, Bret Prinz, and John Prowl.

July 31, 2003 – Traded Brandon Claussen, Charlie Manning, and cash to the Cincinnati Reds. Received Aaron Boone.

July 31, 2003 – Traded Robin Ventura to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Received Bubba Crosby and Scott Proctor.

August 25, 2003 – Selected Felix Heredia off waivers from the Cincinnati Reds.

December 19, 2003 – Signed Miguel Cairo as a free agent.

Great Impact:

December 16, 2003 – Signed Tom Gordon as a free agent.

Bad Impact:

January 16, 2003 – Signed John Flaherty as a free agent.

January 27, 2003 – Signed Juan Acevedo as a free agent.

February 6, 2003 – Signed Jose Contreras as an amateur free agent.

July 31, 2003 – Received Gabe White from the Cincinnati Reds as part of a conditional deal.

November 6, 2003 – Andy Pettitte granted Free Agency.

December 4, 2003 – Signed Felix Heredia as a free agent.

December 7, 2003 – Signed Gabe White as a free agent.

December 13, 2003 – Traded Jeff Weaver, Yhency Brazoban, Brandon Weeden, and cash to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Received Kevin Brown.

December 16, 2003 – Traded Nick Johnson, Juan Rivera, and Randy Choate to the Montreal Expos. Received Javier Vazquez.

December 17, 2003 – Signed Paul Quantrill as a free agent.

Was Probably Not A Cashman Move & More Likely Something Done In Tampa:

December 19, 2003 – Signed Gary Sheffield as a free agent.
______________________________________________________________
The good deals this year for Cashman mostly had short-term benefits. But, the bad deals either hurt the Yankees for a while (Flaherty, Contreras, Pettitte, and Brown) or they hurt New York in a big post-season spot (Brown, Vazquez, and Quantrill). If I’m Brian, and I’m putting together a resume, I might want to leave 2003 off it – especially some of these moves in the winter following the 2003 season.

It’s rare for someone to be a G.M. for tens years with one team these days. Ten years does provide for some “body of work” analysis. Therefore, I thought it would be fun, this off-season, to take a look back at Cashman’s “moves” during the past decade – one year at a time. (I’ll try and post one year, per week, over the next ten weeks.)

Here, we’ll look at Cashman’s moves in 2002 and how they helped or hurt the team:

No Impact:

January 8, 2002 – Signed Luis Sojo as a free agent.

January 28, 2002 – Signed Ron Coomer as a free agent.

February 4, 2002 – Signed Manny Alexander as a free agent.

March 15, 2002 – Signed Mike Thurman as a free agent.

April 2, 2002 – Signed Karim Garcia as a free agent.

April 8, 2002 – Signed Billy McMillon as a free agent. Signed Bill Pulsipher as a free agent.

June 6, 2002 – Signed Alex Arias as a free agent.

December 4, 2002 – Signed Chris Latham as a free agent.

Good Impact:

February 1, 2002 – Signed Chris Widger as a free agent.

June 4, 2002 – Drafted Brad Halsey in the 8th round of the 2002 amateur draft. Player signed July 1, 2002.

December 30, 2002 – Signed Roger Clemens as a free agent.

Great Impact:

December 19, 2002 – Signed Hideki Matsui as a free agent.

Bad Impact:

February 14, 2002 – Signed Ruben Rivera as a free agent.

July 5, 2002 – Traded Ted Lilly, John-Ford Griffin, and Jason Arnold to the Oakland Athletics. Received Jeff Weaver from the Detroit Tigers. In addition, the Oakland Athletics sent Carlos Pena and Franklyn German to the Detroit Tigers and the Detroit Tigers sent cash to the Oakland Athletics. The Oakland Athletics later sent Jeremy Bonderman to the Detroit Tigers to complete the trade.

December 6, 2002 – Signed Robin Ventura as a free agent.

December 19, 2002 – Signed Todd Zeile as a free agent.

Was Probably Not A Cashman Move & More Likely Something Done In Tampa:

January 17, 2002 – Signed David Wells as a free agent.

July 1, 2002 – Traded Scott Wiggins to the Toronto Blue Jays. Received Raul Mondesi.

December 13, 2002 – Signed Chris Hammond as a free agent.
______________________________________________________________
I’m guessing that Hammond was a Tampa move – but, I’m not sure. Signing Godzilla might have been out of Cash’s hand too. The Weaver deal was bad – even worse when Weaver became Kevin Brown. If you believe that “No Impact” is pretty near to “Bad Impact,” then, this was not one of Cashman’s better years in terms of wheeling and dealing.

It’s rare for someone to be a G.M. for tens years with one team these days. Ten years does provide for some “body of work” analysis. Therefore, I thought it would be fun, this off-season, to take a look back at Cashman’s “moves” during the past decade – one year at a time. (I’ll try and post one year, per week, over the next ten weeks.)

Here, we’ll look at Cashman’s moves in 2001 and how they helped or hurt the team:

No Impact:

January 3, 2001 – Signed Todd Williams as a free agent.

March 28, 2001 – Traded Glenallen Hill to the Anaheim Angels. Received Darren Blakely.

June 12, 2001 – Selected Darren Bragg off waivers from the New York Mets.

June 29, 2001 – Signed Gerald Williams as a free agent.

July 4, 2001 – Traded Brian Boehringer to the San Francisco Giants. Received Bobby Estalella and Joe Smith.

August 31, 2001 – Traded Randy Flores and Rosman Garcia to the Texas Rangers. Received Randy Velarde.

December 13, 2001 – Traded Jay Witasick to the San Francisco Giants. Received John Vander Wal.

December 18, 2001 – Traded Bernie Castro to the San Diego Padres. Received Kevin Reese.

December 21, 2001 – Signed F.P. Santangelo as a free agent.

Good Impact:

March 30, 2001 – Traded Craig Dingman to the Colorado Rockies. Received Jorge DePaula.

April 5, 2001 – Signed Todd Greene as a free agent.

June 5, 2001 – Drafted Shelley Duncan in the 2nd round of the 2001 amateur draft. Player signed June 17, 2001. Drafted Chase Wright in the 3rd round of the 2001 amateur draft. Player signed June 10, 2001.

June 23, 2001 – Purchased Brian Myrow from the Winnipeg (Northern).

July 12, 2001 – Signed Joaquin Arias as an amateur free agent.

Great Impact:

January 5, 2001 – Signed Robinson Cano as an amateur free agent.

November 13, 2001 – Signed Melky Cabrera as an amateur free agent.

December 7, 2001 – Traded David Justice to the New York Mets. Received Robin Ventura.

Bad Impact:

March 21, 2001 – Traded Wily Mo Pena to the Cincinnati Reds. Received Drew Henson and Michael Coleman.

February 15, 2001 – Signed Henry Rodriguez as a free agent.

June 5, 2001 – Drafted John-Ford Griffin in the 1st round (23rd pick) of the 2001 amateur draft. Player signed June 14, 2001. Drafted Bronson Sardinha in the 1st round (34th pick) of the 2001 amateur draft. Player signed June 13, 2001.

June 13, 2001 – Traded Damaso Marte to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Received Enrique Wilson.

June 23, 2001 – Traded D’Angelo Jimenez to the San Diego Padres. Received Jay Witasick.

July 1, 2001 – Traded Ricardo Aramboles to the Cincinnati Reds. Received Mark Wohlers.

July 30, 2001 – Traded Brett Jodie and Darren Blakely to the San Diego Padres. Received Sterling Hitchcock.

December 7, 2001 – Signed Steve Karsay as a free agent.

December 21, 2001 – Signed Alberto Castillo as a free agent.

Was Probably Not A Cashman Move & More Likely Something Done In Tampa:

December 13, 2001 – Signed Jason Giambi as a free agent.

December 17, 2001 – Signed Rondell White as a free agent.

December 18, 2001 – Signed Sterling Hitchcock as a free agent.
______________________________________________________________

An interesting year. Two huge thumbs up on the Cano & Melky signings. But, in reality, the credit there is probably due to the Latin America guys in the front office. Most of all, looking at all the moves, this season seems to be where “it” starts for Cashman – with “it” being an inability to find good arms for the pen, a decent back-up catcher, and useful parts for the big league bench. What’s worse, Mets fans can point to this season and remind us that Cashman passed on David Wright to select Bronson Sardinha in the draft.