Yankees major and minor league pitching

by Deech on Jan 3, 2007 2:01 AM EST

I had posted this somewhere else but wanted to repost it here to see what everything though.

So it looks like the Yankees are sending Unit packing.

Clearly, the Yankees have a plan headed into the new ballpark, to assemble an incredible bullpen and young starting pitching. Like when they brought up all the players in the late 90s, they are looking to do that again in the next few years, this time with mostly pitching.

Brandon Medders and Dustin Nippert seem to be headed to NY. Medders is a reliever, Nippert a starter.

Nippert is an interesting player, he got hurt in 2005 but if he pans out he's got pretty big upside. He had a dissapointing 2006 but he can definitely put it together, the only reason his numbers weren't great is because he gave up a lot of hits. But he had good stuff shown by his strikeout numbers.

Medders will atleast be decent, but if his strikeout numbers come back he can be a setupman even in 2007.

If the Yankees hold all of their pitching prospects/young pitchers they probably will have the best bullpen and starters in baseball going into 2008. Off the top of my head...

Hughes
Wang
Sanchez
Clippard - ready mid season 2007
Igawa
Nippert? - not sure if he will pan out
Chamberlain? - don't be surprised if he becomes one of the best minor leaguers this year
Kennedy?

Britton - proven young mlb talent
Cox - should see NY soon, he's been talked about a lot as the next closer
Medders - another young proven mlb guy
Whelan - from Detriot

I really hate the Yankees but every team in the AL should be scared right now because all these guys have big upside and will be ready very soon and are progressing well. Plus, most of these guys are going to be at the minimum contract wise. So the Yanks will have plenty of money to spend anywhere they want. Carlos Zambrano?

The Yanks are probably set up the best in baseball looking at the near future going forward.

-a mets fan

Tweet Comment 21 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Remember

Chamberlain is a stud. If he can control his weight, he will be a force in the big leagues. On another team, when they trade him for a veteran, of course.

by doublestix on Jan 3, 2007 2:06 AM EST reply actions

Re

Yeah, they've been doing that a lot lately, haven't they? Give me a break. Cashman will continue to steer this organization in the right direction.

by albo4lyfe on Jan 3, 2007 11:15 AM EST up reply actions

Fear Not, Met Fan!

Those are some interesting names, but nowhere near the "best bullpen and starters in baseball going into 2008".

by BobbyMac on Jan 3, 2007 2:16 AM EST reply actions

Re

They cleared up soo much payroll for next offseason I find it hard to believe they will pass on Zambrano or whoever else is available. And it's not as if any other teams currently have great rotations or pens at the moment.

by Deech on Jan 3, 2007 2:39 AM EST up reply actions

Well...

I was commenting on the statement at face value, but even if you add Zambrano to that list, I'd much rather have the Twins' pitchers. And I'm a Hughes believer, so it's not like I'm discounting him. It's just that after him, nobody on that list has shown enough to worry about yet. No doubt they're moving in the right direction, and that this is a lot more talent than they've been able to boast in the recent past, but "best in baseball" is a long way from where they've been pitching-wise, too.

by BobbyMac on Jan 3, 2007 11:52 AM EST up reply actions

re: subject

i am very interested to see how all this young talent is handled...

this is the yankees we're talking about, not the royals or pirates so i cant believe the team will ever go into the season with over half the pitching staff being under 25 years old...obviously some of these guys will get hurt and be ineffective, but i wonder how all these guys will become contributers to the team and fit into the roster, i think what cashman wants the most is flexibility, for the past few years there have been very few tradable players on the big league roster, now with some depth in the system he has more chips obviously

i take some issue with the way some people reference the building of the dynasty in the mid and late 90's, people love to point out jeter, posada, mo, pettitte and bernie as "the core" of the team and also being homegrown...but everyone forgets many big names who appeared on BA's top 100 list in the early part of the decade were traded before the dynasty years to improve the team, i think with cashman having more power now, a lot of fans feel the right move is to just keep every good prospect the team has, and thats just not the right mindset...and to be fair, those 5 players listed above became regulars over the course of around 5 seasons, not all at once

it will never turn out this way, but a best case scenario of hughes, wang, chamberlain, sanchez, clippard rotation is pretty nice to dream about for 09

as a yankee fan, it certainly is exciting to have some talent in the system for the first time in close to a decade,

by nyybaseball99 on Jan 3, 2007 4:25 AM EST reply actions

Rotation upside

$150M contracts aside, I think there are a number of teams with an even chance to have a rotation as good or better than the Yankees in 2008. If one looks at players under control for 2008, the Giants could be fielding a rotation of Cain, Zito, Lincecum, and Lowry, which may be the best in the majors as soon as the All-Star break this year. The Marlins will have virtually their entire 2006 team under control for 2008 and have a system deep in young pitching. The Red Sox (who I'm biased towards) will have Matsuzaka, Beckett, Wakefield, Lester, and Papelbon, and several young starters that may see the majors sometime in 2008. The Twins will have Santana and Liriano to go with Garza and whatever no-name prospect they've decided is going to no-hit the entire Eastern and International leagues in 2007. The Tigers are absolutely loaded with young pitching, and more is on the way. The Indians have a young staff, a smart GM and several very good prospects in the minors. And that's not even counting whatever obvious example I forgot.

Anyway, my point is, there's lots of organizations that could have a very good rotation in a couple years. The question is, which of the 'if's will pan out?

by harvey on Jan 3, 2007 5:08 AM EST reply actions

Tim Wakefield in 2008??

I know he's durable but it will not be a good sign for Boston if the 62-year old Wakefield is in the rotation.

by CubsFan on Jan 3, 2007 9:33 AM EST up reply actions

why?

Isn't he just hitting his "prime" now, as a knuckle-baller? And I'm not just being snide or funny... shouldn't people be counting on him for about 5 more years pretty much the same as the last 5?

by BobbyMac on Jan 3, 2007 11:55 AM EST up reply actions

Marlins

While it is kind of hard to judge with that cavern they play in, I think they'll have the best starting staff in baseball until they can no longer afford to keep that crew together.

Rios is the next Juan Gonzales, thats right, I said it.

by KaoticKlown on Jan 3, 2007 6:16 AM EST reply actions

Not one of the best in baseball

That rotation wouldn't be middle of the pack.

Sure, some of them will become good, but some of them will flame out completely (by the nature of prospects).

To think that the Yankees pitching staff will look anything like that is laughable.

a portion will be mediocre, portion will flame out, and a portion will be traded.

by Galt on Jan 3, 2007 9:27 AM EST reply actions

while i agree

that the original post paints a bit rosey a picture.. i think your picture is a bit pessimistic.

The fact is the yanks have Hughes and sanchez who have both shown very strong ability at the upper levels of the minors. The yanks already have wang at the big league level.. and while i dont think wang is a perenial cy young winner or the ace of the yankee staff, he is a very good mid rotation starter at his point. That gives the yankees 3 very strong in house members of their rotation.. with hughes being a #1, sanchez a #2,3 and with Wang as a #3. Joba and betances have a good shot at becoming strong mid rotation guys with the chance at joining hughes as #1 capable starter (sanchez has that chance as well). Now if we want to assume... that some of these guys wont work out because of probablity (which really isnt true.. since its just as likely that all 3 yankees work out as it is that none of them work out).

Even if half of the potential guys work out.. thats a darn good rotation... of which you can fill other slots with free agents... or future draft picks, or via trades.

By the way there is some speculation that cashman is loading up with young arms to be able to put a package together for a (zambrano, johan, or willis).. though i seriously doubt the twins trading johan.

Either way i think the proprer statement to make about the yankees, is that they have put themselves in a very strong position to have some in house stud pitchers in their rotation, and they have the chips in their farm now to make big trades if thats what Cashman ends up wanting to do at the deadline.

Something that hasnt been a story in a long time... even the famed dynasty teams only had andy pettite as far as home grown talent goes.

"You also must admit, that outside of the facts, I made a compelling argument!"

by jbluestone on Jan 3, 2007 10:25 AM EST up reply actions

****in the rotation (andy pettite)

"You also must admit, that outside of the facts, I made a compelling argument!"

by jbluestone on Jan 3, 2007 10:25 AM EST up reply actions

Not likely

Hughes is not going to be a #1 by 2008. That's ridiculous. Almost as ridiculous as Sanchez being a #2 by the same time.

IF the guy moved the timeframe back to 2010, then I would be a little less positive about my statement that a pitching staff consisting of the players he listed wouldn't be close to the best-in-baseball.

And it's a moot point because they are the Yankees. They are stockpiling minor league talent to trade for talent in the next 18 months and to be mediocre-to-servicable roster fill-ins behind the big name free agents they sign/trade for.

They are not stockpiling minor league talent so they can be the Marlins.

by Galt on Jan 3, 2007 11:28 AM EST up reply actions

Well i agree on the other ones

but why is is far fetched to believe that hughes and sanchez could be #1 and #2 level pitchers.... Sanchez has already done very well at AAA and is ML ready.. and hughes is ML ready right now supposedy... 2008 might be a little on the curve.. but there are tons of young pitchers who have come in and pitched like top of the rotation pitchers early in their careers.

"You also must admit, that outside of the facts, I made a compelling argument!"

by jbluestone on Jan 3, 2007 12:09 PM EST up reply actions

Feel free to name them

The pitchers over the past 20 years who were reliable #1/#2 starters in their first full years in the majors (since it's unlikely that either Hughes or Sanchez will start the year with a rotation spot)

Johan? Nope. Took him 4 years. Clemens? Nope. 2 years. Dwight Gooden? Nope. That was more than 20 years ago (god, I'm old)

I'll start. Oswalt. Prior. Ok. Verlander? Maybe. Liriano? without injury, sure. Cain? Beckett? I wouldn't say so. Hamels? We'll see.

The fact that rookie pitchers did so well in their rookie year's last year has fooled people. It's rare that pitchers do so well so early consistently over the course of the year.

If Hughes makes his way into the majors this year, he may do well. 2008 would likely STILL be his rookie season, and expecting anything under a 4.00 ERA would be aggressive.

Point is: even if those guys pan out, it will take a few years. Not 2008. Under no circumstances are the Yankees going with anything close to that pitching staff.

by Galt on Jan 3, 2007 12:42 PM EST up reply actions

why is 2008 their first year?

Hughes and Sanchez are very likely to be in the rotation at some point this year... a lot of people think sanchez might be the #5 if the yanks do trade Unit.

That would be their 2nd year in the rotation... By the way.. the twins refused to put Johan in the rotation.. its not like he was struggling in it.. he was doing very well when he got a chance to start.... but the twins kept moving him back to the pen.

Now truth is I think your better argument is most of the pitchers who dominated their first couple of years in the rotation.. ended up having injury plagued and short lived careers.

Again i conceeded that 2008 is a little on the optimistic side.. but considering Hughes and Sanchez will likely be in the rotation this year.. that is perfectly reasonable to think they could step into front of the rotation roles the next year or 2.. Wang did that and he doesnt have half the skills these guys do.

"You also must admit, that outside of the facts, I made a compelling argument!"

by jbluestone on Jan 3, 2007 2:17 PM EST up reply actions

TINSTAAPP

re: "Even if half of the potential guys work out.. thats a darn good rotation."

If these Yanks minor-leaguers reach "half" their potential, that will make them perhaps the most successful crop of pitching prospects ever. :)

I find a certain irony, to the fact that a fan of the team which boasted Paul Wilson-Jason Isringhausen-Bill Pulsipher (the original poster, not jbluestone) a few years back would be counting pitching prospects as sure things.

by BobbyMac on Jan 3, 2007 12:09 PM EST up reply actions

well what i meant

was if half of the bunch of prospects the yanks have are able to become solid memebers of a big league rotation ... sanchez, hughes, clippard, joba, betances, karstens, de paula, whoever they get for randy, then the yanks would have 2 or 3 very good starters that are home grown.. u add wang in there and then some free agents to round it out you have a very good rotation.

As far as prospects being a sure thing... i think its pretty clear, even sure things are def. not sure things... there is no such thing as a sure thing prospect!

But i think the yanks have enough talent now that at least a couple of them should work out.

"You also must admit, that outside of the facts, I made a compelling argument!"

by jbluestone on Jan 3, 2007 2:20 PM EST up reply actions

Garrett Patterson

Interesting sleeper for two reasons. One, he is one of the few lefties in the Yankees system worth mentioning. Two, if and when he is on his game he is electric. No. 2 is a big if, considering he was hampered by arm problems last year, to add to the already existing concern over his lack of conditioning. Still, a promising arm if he gets on track.

by StickRat on Jan 3, 2007 9:44 AM EST reply actions