TheRivernator

I cannot believe people are actually fighting over this area. Here is the deal, the yankees have a different philosophy than the red sox, period. The HS philosophy as I have said before is one that is riskier but usually pays off more in the end. The college route is a good way to restock quickly, but you usually limit the potential you receive in return. It is a stupid thing to argue which one is better for long term success, but each of them works for both organizations. Take a look at the yankees. They have long term contracts at 1b, 3b, ss, cf, lf and have a rookie at 2b. That means that even if they had any rookie infielders that were ready, their paths would be blocked. Now, take a look at the ETAs of these guys and the expected expiration of the guys with the long term deals. See where I am going? Also, for some reason NY is a tough place to play. Giving these kids those 3-4 extra yrs in the minors can help them ready for the steep challenge ahead. For the sox, how many prospects have their paths blocked? They are ready now or will be ready in the next year or so. You could trade them off when they get ready and that is what the sox have done mainly and that works for them. Also, the sox have made a massive attempt to try and save money in the future and to get younger, so a youth movement could be something that is on the horizon and you can only do that if your players are ready. The sox guys are. The yankees plug players in one at a time around superstars. Therefore for them, having a bunch of rookies ready at one time is detrimental because their paths are blocked, so gambling and maybe hitting it big 2 out of 4 times with one of those guys being a potential superstar works best for them. See what I mean? It will work for both squads and arguing which philosophy worked is premature. All I know is that for their age, the yankee 1st rounders will be advancing rapidly which is always a good thing. Duncan is in AAA, Hughes will be in AA and CJ Henry will likely see time in High A this yr.....

??? If we are talking about the health of the farm system, then how does your above statement make any sense?

we arent comparing to the sox in this instance. We are comparing to previous yrs for the yankees. This yr was a conservative offseason if you could believe that. Also, Cashman's adeptness at getting the international player is something else. Wang and Cano are both international Cashman signings and from what I've heard, the 17 yr old Tabata is projected to be something else by the time he is ready (likely 2009-2010). I know it is not as good as the sox whole farm system, but it is a start. Remember, the yankees had one of the worst farms in the entire game from AAA to rookie ball. Now that is not the case anymore. Also, farms take time to grow unless you sell off your talent and it also depends on what kind of talent you are growing. If you want quick hitters but maybe some limited potential, then you go for the college kids. If you want the potential high end guys then you draft the high schoolers and you have to wait awhile, sometimes as long as 7 years. The sox drafted college guys and lo and behold they are ready. The yankees went high school and they are almost there. Different philosophies with the potential to have similar results. Look at the sox draft picks and their expected ETA's and their age in () Red Sox Yankees 2003 Murphy (24)2007 ....... Duncan(21) 2006-2007 Papelbon(25)2005 ....... Clippard (21) 2007-2008 Alvarez (23) 2006 2004 Pedroia (22)2006 ....... Hughes(19) 2007-2008 ....................................... ........Poterson (19) 2008-2009 ................................................Garcia (20) 2008-2009 2005 Hansen(22) 2006 ....... Henry (19) 2008-09 Ellsbury(22) 2007-2008 ....... Cox (21) 2006-2007 Buchholz(21) 2007-08 Lowrie(22) 2007-08 See my point? The sox reloaded their minor league system rather quickly with talent that is a little older, but the best prospects usually get taken out of HS. I know most of you will crucify the last statement, but ESPN actually ran a story about college vs high school players, and they showed that a higher percentage of picks drafted out of college made the bigs, but the highest profile players were the ones drafted out of HS. I guess it is all about the gamble of drafting a HS player that makes it so trendy. It is kinda like playing the 25cent or the 5 dollar slots. You could really blow your money on the five dollar slots but if you hit it big, then you are rolling in it. If you play the 25 cent slots, you will likely not win big, but you wont lose big either, so it is a safer bet. The yankees are going the daring route and the sox have gone the safe route, and unfortunately for yankee fans, the daring route is a patient one at that.....

Numbers vs Lefties Ortiz .263BA .804OPS vs .312BA 1.065OPS against righties Nixon .224BA .639OPS vs .288BA .847OPS vs righties Myers and Villone will help here For the yankees Damon .327BA .814OPS vs lefties and actually lower vs righties Matsui again much better vs lefties surprisingly but Giambi .882 vs 1.021 L/R and Cano .824/.662 L/R. That is quite a disparity, and a lefty could certainly help, but not as much as I thought. I didnt know Damon was that good vs lefties and righties....

maybe you arent familiar with the previous yankee MO. We usually dont lose players and we take them from other teams, so we dont get to keep our picks. Over the past 3 yrs, we have had 1st rounders and we will again this yr, while adding premier players for the positions we needed. Take a look at how our single A team will be this yr and then you will see the magnitude of what Cash has done....

It is an important position nonetheless. Those 2 teams didnt have to go through the yankees 19 times over the long haul of a regular season. Do you have any idea how s***** it was to watch us not have a guy who couldnt get Papi or Nixon out in the late innings? I know having a lefty in the pen doesnt guarantee that, but it sure as hell makes the job easier. I think you'll see how valuable Myers was when you play against us and you dont have an answer for Cano, Damon, Giambi, or Matsui when the game is on the line. DiNardo has the stuff, but he may be more of a starter than a reliever and he is a little green for the high pressure situations....

He gave up a 1st rounder for Damon and one second rounder for Farns. We got a 1st and 2nd rounder for Gordon. Basically, it was a trade of Gordon for Farns and Damon plus being able to move up in the draft by 10 or so spots for the first 2 rounds. His negotiating with Damon was amazing. You have to admit that he grabbed the bull by the horns and had Boraby the balls. I thought that whatever the yankees offered, that the sox would meet damon halfway and likely retain his services. Cashman made sure that wouldnt happen. As for the pen, he refilled it with the best available talent, how they will be in 2006 is anybody's guess. Basically, he filled our 2 biggest holes, he spared the farm, and dropped payroll by 20 mil. Sounds like a good job to me....

Now that Embree is out of both the yankees and the sox system and now that Myers is a yankee, who becomes the sox go to lefty reliever in the pen. DiNardo is the most likely candidate, but I dont think he is projected to be a matchup lefty and I dont think having what amounts to a rookie in the pen is the best idea for a late inning, pressure packed spot. The Yankees did not have a good lefty in the pen over the last few yrs and it hurt them, and they even had guys who were right handed but were good vs lefties. Those are not the types to make the matchups late in the game. So I wonder, with the slew of starting pitching on the sox, who will be the sox likely target from the left side?...

did you read my post? I didnt say ours was better than the angels, I said our pitching gave the white sox fits. Look it up....

We had the type of pitching that they didnt like. For some reason Chacon, Small and Wang gave them fits....

got banned from a few. Am currently on the yankees.com one but that sucks too. I think the majority of on-line yankee posters are too young to have a good online conversation. So I joined the herald, and once it died, I was led here by some of my friends....

I agree wholeheartedly with this post...

He is a poor man's Joe Torre. A players manager...

I am characterizing the average fan. Obviously, those who come out to the boards are usually not your average fan. Either way, his yankee stadium stats are due to good pitching most likely. Damon may become a sox killer, who knows, so long as he plays well....

same thing 2 yrs ago when the sox were close and they had the head to head. You guys would have taken the ALE if you could have it and you wouldnt have cared. Such hypocrites....

Everyone who ever wears a Red Sox jersey is awesome until the day they take it off, then they suck...

how'd that great chemistry work for you last yr?

The Yankee media gives credit where credit is due and is willing to criticize when criticism is due. The red sox media types are the "it will be alright" types and will gloss over the many problems in the organization in-season, then will crucify anyone who dare leave without their consent. See the difference. The Yankee media will criticize while they are on the yankees. The sox media will criticize once they leave. Both have positive and negative aspects......

some dont see the distinction...

With the merciful ending of the super bowl, and the american disinterest in basketball and that other sport that America Jr. seems to love, the sports focus will soon be pointed squarely onto baseball and for us in the northeast, that means the yankees and red sox will be back on the field. Nothing like having 162 out of 180 nights dominated by baseball. God I love baseball season and this season should be a good one. No yankee slant here, just happy to see the calendar moving towards rawhide and away from pigskin....

you may have wanted him back, but the organization didnt and they made it know by getting a supposed upgrade. They didnt even attempt to keep him and it was well known, so that one clearly fell on the organization and no slant needed to be put onto it, hence it was without animosity. You arent getting my point here. My point is, if the sox org wants a player to return at a lower than market rate and that player takes the higher offer, then the media harps on how greedy the player is and how bad he would have been anyway, maybe to soften the blow. If the sox dont want a player to return at all, then they make it known early and there is no animosity. Did the sox want Millar to return, NO. Did the sox want Myers to return, in the end NO because they didnt offer him arbitration. Did the sox want Mueller to return, not really. Did they want Damon to leave, not as stated to the media, and who of the above players has been crucified the most by the media? I rest my case.....

How about his 2004 alcs quote saying that Pedro would be facing Brandon Arroyo tomorrow....

David Wells was booed during the game. That is fine, that is not a virtual crucifiction. We didnt have article upon article of hatred for Wells when he took the sox offer. We didnt say how pathetic he was now that he was a sox. We didnt really care. Yeah we booed him in game, that happens a lot, but we didnt obsess over his becoming a red sox like sox fans have over damon becoming a yankee.....

look at my post before you continue to make yourself look like a moron. You DID NOT crucify Cabrera because you had apparently upgraded at that position by getting ERent. You didnt WANT him back so there was no animosity at his departure, so the fans had no bad feelings and he was cheered. You better believe that if the sox wanted him and were lowballing him (like they always do) and he did the red blooded human thing to do and took the highest offer, then you would have said how terrible he was. Sox fans are loyal to the organization more than they are to the players, which is a good thing, but at the same time, too much loyalty to the organization and too little to the players makes you swallow every gulp of the media spooge that is ejaculated out there. There is a bad combination of organizational loyalists and in the pocket media types, so the majority of the fans eat up each and every spin that they make. I think the globe and the herald could turn a 62-100 season and spin it to a positive, and everyone would buy it. There are a select few that challenge the spin, but they are few and far between....

The Yankee FO hardly loses its own players (exception is Pettitte) if they want them and if a guy leaves and returns, we CHEER them instead of kill them. We dont have the media assassinate them on the way out the door. We dont make public comments saying that we tried really really hard but it didnt work out, making the player look like the bad guy. Mendoza left and now he is back, nobody ever booed him (aside from sox fans). Take a look at high profile fan favorites who were jettisoned lately by the red sox. 1. Mo Vaughn- the guy had a PI following him, then when he left the media all of a sudden found out he was fat. 2. Pedro- the guy switched divisions and he was killed. All of a sudden his rotator cuff was "90%" torn, which is impossible BTW, his best yrs were behind him and he was a traitor. 3. Derek Lowe- all of a sudden people figured out he liked to be a party animal. We wouldnt want him around, even though he was the MVP of our WS run. 4. Damon- Calling him Judas? Traitor? Fake? All of a sudden he was a hobbled old geezer with no arm? People now hate the guy because he did what any red-blooded american would have done. He took the money from a team that really wanted him. As for OC, you supposedly upgraded on that position in 2004, why would you crucify him? The public would like the idea of him leaving anyway. Mueller was the only guy to get a proper sendoff in the papers. It seems that when the sox lose a player that produced and the fans liked them, the media shunned the scrutiny by pointing out what was bad in the player, be it off the field or certain parts of their on the field game that quite frankly are not as important as their strengths (damons arm for instance). It is surprising that the sox have their media so deep into their pockets that they cannot even be honest with themselves. Look for more of the same when the big 2 in your lineup gets broken up. All of a sudden Manny being Manny would be a curse instead of cool and Papi will be portrayed as a fat future injury waiting to happen, and all of a sudden he'll be a burden as a no D player. Granted, these things are true right now, but nobody is harping on them when predicting their seasons. Only when they walk out the door. The hypocrisy of the nation's media is amazing and unfortunately it is like leading horses to water, all they gotta do is drink....