Are The Yankees Really Building a Farm System?
Praises are often given to the New York Yankees for rebuilding their farm system. Instead of “buying” their players, G.M. Brian Cashman and crew are developing homegrown talent. But a closer examination reveals something different. I went through the Yankees top prospects and looked at how they were acquired.
Philip Hughes- Hughes wasgiven $1.4M and in line with slot money.
*Joba Chamberlain- Picked 41st overall in 2006, Joba was signed for $1.1M and over slot money.
*Dellin Betances- He was picked in the 8th round of the 2006 draft and signed for a cool million dollars. He received a record amount of money for an eighth round draft pick.
*Jose Tabata- signed as an amateur free agent from Venezuela for a half million dollars.
*Ian Kennedy- Drafted 21st overall in 2006 and signed for 2.25 million. He was paid more than slot money.
*Andrew Brackman- Brackman was taken 27th overall this year and most definitely paid more than slot money getting $3.35M
Humberto Sanchez- Was acquired via Sheffield trade Tyler Clippard- signed for 75 grand as a 9th round pick. Not over slot money but at the high end.
*Jesus Montero- signed as an amateur free agent from Venezuala for $2M
Christian Garcia- drafted in the third round for 390K.
Eric Duncan- First round pick from 2003. Signed for 1.25 million.
*Mark Melancon- 9th round pick from 2006 for $600,000. That’s over slot money by about a half-million.
*Alan Horne- Drafted in the 11th round but given third round money.
Francisco Cervelli- I was unable to find out his signing information.
JB Cox- Cox was signed for a mere $55,000 as a second round pick in 2005.
Jeff Marquez- Signed for $790,000 as a supplemental pick.
*Marcos Vechionacci- Signed as an amateur free agent for a quarter million dollars.
*Austin Jackson- Signed as an 8th round pick for a then-record $800,000.
Shelley Duncan- Second round pick signed for $655,000.
*Bradley Suttle- 4th rounder from this year signed for $1.3 million.
*Taylor Grote- 274th pick this year signed for a quarter-million dollars.
*Carmen Angelini- 334th pick this year signed for a million dollars.
Extending this thought a little further, I analyzed the first ten rounds of the 2007 draft and took the signing bonuses (as reported from perfect game cross checker) and regardless of quantity of picks, the Yankees had the third highest total. The Yankees had ten selections in ten rounds. By contrast, the teams who spent more (Washington and Baltimore) selected 13 and 8 players. Baltimore spent 6 of their 7.67 million dollars on Wieters. Not that this is a perfect analysis or a condemnation of the Yankees, but I am trying to highlight that the Yankee’s aren’t building a farm system through scouting and the draft. Instead, they are building it by drafting and paying buys that wanted more money than other teams were willing to give them. Essentially, they were buying their way into a good draft. 13 of their (roughly) top 20 prospects were overpaid. If this is a long term trend, the Yankees are heading into a big game of roulette, but that’s not necessarily bad. It’s paid off for them already with Joba Chamberlain’s recent success. Are the Yankees doing it the “right way”? No. While they are building one of the better farms systems in baseball, they are doing it by buying players. The list of top prospects that they’ve overpaid is long and if baseball had more legislation over this matter, things would be different. The Yankees wouldn’t have such a great farm system. But baseball doesn’t and the Yankees do. So for now, we’ll have to live with a new era of the rich get richer.
EDITORS NOTE: Recently this article has caused quite the commotion. I want to stress a couple points:
- I am not saying this as a negative about the Yankees.
- Other teams embrace this strategy (though not as much as New York) namely: Detroit, Tampa, Boston.
- I like this strategy and have, on several occasions, argued for certain teams embracing this strategy as well.
6 Comments
December 17th, 2007 at 7:51 am
Boo hooo, the big bad Yankees are just the evil empire and are ruining baseball.
Every team drafting above the Yanks had the chance to draft Kennedy and Joba. It wasn’t just the money, it was injury concerns that dropped them lower in the draft.
“if baseball had more legislation over this matter, things would be different.”
Well there isn’t, so deal with it. Did you rail against Detroit’s signing of Porcello and the other over slot deals they have made?
Slotting is just another tone deaf attempt by BudLite at collusion. He wants to destroy the free market place. Revenue sharing and the MLB.com has gone a long way to level the playing field. The Yanks have put a lot of money in the pockets of owners of smaller market teams. What better use for their revenue than to improve their team? It’s not just throwing money around- they are doing it smartly.
Your vision is parity ( mediocrity ) and thankfully, in spite of the ankle biters, that is not gonna happen in baseball
December 17th, 2007 at 8:10 am
Don’t get so bent out of shape. I’m not condemning the Yankees strategy or saying anything negative about it, intrinsically. In fact, I clearly state that it is not a condemnation of the Yankees:
“Not that this is a perfect analysis or a condemnation of the Yankees, but I am trying to highlight that the Yankee’s aren’t building a farm system through scouting and the draft.”
The point is to realize how significant spending money on the draft actually is. As teams like the Yankees, Tigers and Red Sox stock pile high-priced draftees, their farm systems have flourished.
I’m not advocating any sort of change. I’m simply laying out a potential difference between the present system and the system used by the other major sports leagues. “My vision” is not parity. I do not have a “vision” on this matter.
Finally, I will point out, once again, that there is nothing I wrote that is calling the Yankees out or criticizing them. If anything, this is applauding methods. They are working within the confines of the given system and are capitalizing on its flaws.
December 17th, 2007 at 10:50 am
I think the flaw in the article lies in the fact that it singles out the Yankees when other teams have adopted the strategy. It also selects the specific cases that prove you point about the Yankees spending over slot and ignores the cases where their scouting department should be comended.
Austin Romine, Ryan Pope, Damon Sublett, Justin Snyder and Brandon Laird are all examples of draft steals from last years draft.
I know that your intent was not to condemn the Yankees or their strategy, but in certain cases that is the tone that the article takes. (”Are the Yankees doing it the “right way”? No. “)
December 17th, 2007 at 10:54 am
“Are the Yankees doing it the “right way”? No.”
So this is not condemnation or criticism? Come on.
“I am trying to highlight that the Yankee’s aren’t building a farm system through scouting and the draft. Instead, they are building it by drafting and paying buys that wanted more money than other teams were willing to give them. Essentially, they were buying their way into a good draft.”
So they just find the guys that want more money and, what, draft them regardless of talent? And they’ve just gotten lucky so far, does that essentially capture your argument?
What you’ve shown is that the Yankees are using their resources to sign out of slot. They are essentially using the resources they have at hand to their advantage, similar to every other successful team, ever. What makes them exceptional is not the practice but the dollar amounts, right?
Conversely, what you have not shown is that they are “not using scouting” to draft quality talent. If anything, I would suspect that they ARE in fact scouting these players adequately; otherwise, I would be hearing about a string of high-priced draftee busts, instead of a parade of solid prospects i.e. Hughes, Chamberlain, Tabata, Jackson, etc.
To argue that the Yankees and other high-budget teams should be forced (via legislation) to spend less, on a more even playing field with non-spenders, is to argue for parity. Do it or don’t do it, but at least accept it when you are doing it.
December 17th, 2007 at 10:57 am
So basically the yankees just stumbled on all of the good talent that is in the farm system? I always thought that their scouting department finds the players that are worth spending money on….i must be mistaken though because based on your article, it’s all about the money and has nothing to do with the scouting that the yankees have done.
As the 1st poster said, the yankees scouted A-Jax starting when he was TWELVE. The yankees have an excellent scouting department and to give them absolutely no credit is wrong.
There is no right way or wrong way to create your farm system and for you to say that the yankees are doing it wrong is completely ridiculous and makes you look like you are on some high horse. Your tone of the article screams condemnation of the yankees whether you meant for it or not.
I’ll be awaiting this very same article except with the team switched from the Yankees to the Tigers. Until you do that, I will stick with my initial view of the article as you hating on the yankees building their farm system by scouting the players they want and then paying for them like every other team can do except choose not too because they’ll make the commissioner mad.
December 17th, 2007 at 9:50 pm
Thanks for all the comments folks. I’ll try to address each issue one by one. If I missed something, I didn’t mean to.
Mike,
I picked out the Yankees because they have employed the strategy the most. They have paid over slot money more times in the past four drafts (not counting draft-and-follows) than any other team.
As far as players like Romine, Pope etc., I agree with you that they were steals, but…
Austin Romine was paid $500,000 as the 94th pick and that was over slot money.
Damon Sublett was taken 244th overall and paid $120,000. That is over slot.
Justin Snyder was taken in the 21st round and paid nearly $100,000 plus a few more perks like paying for his final year of school. His bonus alone is way more than slot.
So I wouldn’t say these are good examples.
Finally, I would like to mention that the “right way” is always quoted. It has a specific connotation that I am not giving it.
Callahan,
First, I will reiterate that I am not advocating any change. I’m pointing out how the Yankees are conducting their amateur player acquisitions. In fact, given the means, other teams should follow suit. I am, in no way shape or form, arguing that baseball should change its policy and have never once said they should.
Again, on the condemnation point, reread this passage:
“If this is a long term trend, the Yankees are heading into a big game of roulette, but that’s not necessarily bad. It’s paid off for them already with Joba Chamberlain’s recent success.”
I’m not condemning them. Just pointing out their method and the results of it.
You wrote: So they just find the guys that want more money and, what, draft them regardless of talent? And they’ve just gotten lucky so far, does that essentially capture your argument?
My response is that I am not making a judgement on players that were drafted a year ago. Intrinsically there is more risk involved in paying amateurs big sums of money but to judge any player just a year or two removed from being drafted is silly. I won’t say the Yankees are lucky or not. I don’t know what Austin Jackson’s career will look like. I don’t know if Joba Chamberlain will have more injury troubles that keep him from pitching effectively. In five to ten years it will be easy to look back and make those sorts of value judgements but for the time, I am not and have not made judgements about players being successes or not.
I am certainly not saying that by paying a player over slot, a team will have Top Prospects. But every year there are a handful of guys that are universally regarded as elite talents. But, signing bonuses and player leverage cause teams to pass. Would you say that the Yankees signing Andrew Brackman was a feat of scouting? No, it was a feat of the checkbook. Any team could have scouted him and seen his talent, and the concerns with him. Combine that with his bonus demands, and that will scare off a lot of teams. Not the Yankees though.
Again, I won’t call anyone a bust without giving them the appropriate amount of time. Likewise, I won’t call Hughes, Chamberlain, Tabata etc a success until they’ve been given an appropriate amount of time.
House,
I’m not saying they stumbled on talent at all. But many of the players they have gone over slot on are guys that are not hidden gems that they somehow found and no one else did. They’ve taken guys that everyone knows is good but come with either high bonus demands, sketchy injury history, other big developmental questions etc. and specifically and repeatedly targeted those players.
I agree that it’s unfair to not give the scouting department any credit. And I certainly don’t mean to do that.
The “right way” to build a system refers to a commonly used term. I’m not inventing it or giving it meaning. I’m simply comparing the way the Yankees are operating to the traditional way of thinking. I don’t condemn them. I specifically say I don’t condemn them.
I certainly could write a similar article for the Tigers and Red Sox. I chose the Yankees because the scale to which they are going over slot is much higher than the Red Sox or Tigers. But no doubt, those teams are also playing the game like the Yanks.
I do not hate the Yankees for how they are rebuilding their farm system. I actually admire it and have, on multiple occassions advised that other teams adopt the same strategy. I have criticized teams like the Twins, Astros and Pirates for consistently going low on draft budgets.
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