Youth in Revolt

Written by Sean P | 21 April 2010

Youth might be wasted on the young, but lately it’s also wasted on the Yankees. Well that might be overdoing it slightly. It's certainly not being wasted. But the Yankees HAVE seemed hesitant to trust their young guys. Whether it’s Brett Gardner, Joba Chamberlain, Mark Melancon or Dave Robertson it seems the most heated of debates takes place over the infusion of youth.

How can they do it better? Do they need to? The Yankees have been a “veteran team” since the late 90’s and it hasn’t always been easy assimilating the new guys into real roles. Luckily, for the most part the Yankees haven’t had too. That won't always be the case though. As the core continues to age and the years pile up, these questions demand answering.

My proclivities for the young guys around here are well known (I write for a minor league blog after all). But let’s be clear- there’s not a whole lot about this current team that I would change. Frankly I love it. That doesn’t mean however that I haven’t bristled at how some of the decisions have been made of late. Here’s a a short list of the minor quibbles I have:

• Effectively platooning Brett Gardner with Marcus Thames while facing a LHP
• Joba
• The role and utility of Dave Robertson in the bullpen.
• The hesitancy to see what Mark Melancon can offer in a regular role.

Remember when we were sold on Brett Gardner getting a shot to play every day? I do. I also remember hearing that last year as well. Things have looked better of late, and Girardi played him against a lefty last night. I hope this is a long term trend. Gardner needs to have the training wheels taken off- he has almost no real platoon split to speak of and it’s easy to see how well he complements the team. He works the count, gets on base and plays great defense.

Robertson and Melancon are a little nitpicky I suppose. Many of us have clamored for Robertson’s role to be expanded but a fair counterpoint would be that he has to earn it. He’ll have to be given a shot to earn it though, something that hasn’t happened frequently. And someone just must not like Mark Melancon. He should be given a substantial opportunity to stick in the majors.

These ultimately are small matters, especially when the Yankees are winning. We’re discussing organizational philosophy here, which really is just on the periphery of things this Yankee team should be worrying about right now.

But make no mistake about it, these ARE real issues. How can a team like the Yankees, the penultimate example of a win now ideology, expect to develop and grow young talent? And how can that talent be smoothly assimilated into a finely tuned baseball machine such as the current New York Yankees? How can they develop starting pitchers while focusing on winning in the short term? How much rope will management be willing to float a young position player like Brett Gardner in order to find out what he’s capable of? It’s clear we don’t have all the answers yet.

We’ll need them soon however. Because sometime in the future, maybe 3 years from now, maybe sooner, the David Ortiz unraveling in Boston won’t look so funny. The Yankees have had an elixir to avoid age so far but that won’t last forever. What’s more, the free agent market has changed. No longer is it common to find superstars in their 20’s readily available. More and more teams that develop their own talent are finding ways to keep it for as long as they can.

The Yankees have seemed to wean themselves from their free spending ways, with a few notable exceptions and that’s definitely a good thing. The pieces and prospects they have developed have turned out nicely- others have been jettisoned for additional useful players. Teams are smarter now and the business has changed. The Yankees need to continue to change and adapt with it.

Listen, I think the Yankees are doing well. Brian Cashman has done a terrific job evolving and turning the organization into a well run juggernaut. It hasn’t always been smooth, but for the most part it’s been successful. There are difficulties however and the Yankees have run into snags. What could they have done differently to ensure Joba Chamberlain smoothly transitioned to the rotation while staying healthy? I have no idea.  At the very least though, they tried.

It’s an extremely comforting sign that the organization recognizes the importance of developing their own young pitching. There will probably be more bumps on this journey as well. Because again, we don’t have all the answers just yet, but we do know this- figuring out a way to incorporate young talent into a veteran and experienced team is of paramount importance moving forward.