OF THE DEAD
get younger and tougher or else
this all season in which the “home run or bust” Yankees ranked 10th in the American League and 17th in the majors in batting with runners in scoring position. The way to beat them was to keep them in the ballpark, which is precisely what the Tigers did, yielding only three homers in the four games.
They have to hope Swisher gets a long-term deal from some team willing to lose a No. 1 draft pick — and not come back hat-in-hand to accept their qualifying one-year offer of $13 million. And they have to hope they can find a team willing to overlook those 195 strikeouts and the 15 more in 30 postseason at-bats for a 40-home run, 100-RBI bat in Granderson after they pick up his $13 million option. This is Cashman’s most important mission in re-shaping this Yankee team. He had a bad year with his trades — the Austin Jackson/Phil Coke/Ian Kennedy three-team swap for Granderson of three years ago blowing up in his face in the ALCS against the Tigers, on top of the Jesus Montero-for-Michael Pineda trade going immediately bad on him when Pineda showed up in spring training out of shape, hurt his arm, was lost for the season and got busted for DUI while doing rehab at the Yankees’ minor-league complex in Tampa.
Which brings us to the root of the Yankees’ problems: player development. With the St. Louis Cardinals as the prime examples — they’re leading the NLCS 3-2 with a team comprised of 17 homegrown players, mostly attained through the draft, despite letting Albert Pujols walk away after their World Series triumph last year because they weren’t willing to get involved in a 10-year, $254 million contract — the Yankees have to start replenishing from within. Unfortunately, under the direction of Mark Newman, the Yankees have still not drafted and developed a top-of-the-rotation pitcher since Andy Pettitte, or an All-Star caliber regular since Derek Jeter. Under Newman’s minor-league pitching coordinator, Nardi Contreras, the Yankee minor-league starting pitchers are all immediately put on pitch counts and never seem to learn command or how to pitch out of trouble. And for all of that babying, their two top prospects, Manny Banuelos and Jose Campos, both blew out their elbows this year.
The Yankees always do a great job of hyping their prospects — as they did with Montero and they’re doing now with center fielder Mason Williams (who also got hurt this year) and catcher Gary Sanchez — but it’s always the same story: The closer they get to the big leagues, the less they like them. That said, there are two players that haven’t gotten a whole lot of hype who many scouts think could make a contribution next year in a lineup desperately in need of more “grinder” types.
Tyler Austin, a 21-year-old right fielder drafted by the Yankees in the 13th round of the 2010 draft, hit for average and power at three levels of the minors this season and has a .406 on-base percentage for three seasons of minor league ball. “He’s still a little raw, and doesn’t have a lot of range in the outfield, but he’s a great kid, smart, who works hard and I could see him breaking in at some point in right field for them next season, if only because of his work ethic,” was one scout’s appraisal of Austin.
As for Adams, Yankee fans may remember him as the player whose severe ankle injury scuttled the Yankees’ deal with Seattle for Cliff Lee back in 2010. The 6-1, 205-pound Adams is 25 now but he’s slowly worked his way back to the impact hitter he was in 2010 when the Mariners insisted on his inclusion in the Lee trade. Yankee insiders say there’s no harder worker in their entire system than Adams, who because of his size, is best suited for third base — except Newman hindered his development by keeping him at second base at Double-A Trenton for most of 2012. Only now is he playing third in the Arizona Fall League.
“Adams is precisely the kind of player the Yankees need,” said the same scout who almost exclusively covered the AL East minor-league teams in 2012. “He’s the kind of player they used to have. He’s a real good, disciplined hitter and I can see him holding his own at third base for them, if they give him the chance.”
At this point, they may have no choice. For what was also made clear in the ALCS is Yankee fans don’t like this team as presently constituted. There is a yearning for more homegrown players like Eduardo Nunez, about the only position player who looked like he came to the play in the ALCS. Yes, the Yankees’ 95 regular-season wins were the most of any American League team, but we now know that was as misleading as the $200 million payroll insofar as the soul and character of this team. Cashman may not be able to change A-Rod, but he needs at least to change a lot of the personnel around him, as well as those responsible for the failures of his player development department.