That’s how the New York Times describes the Yankees’ new strategy of focusing on building up amateur pitchers in the minor leagues:
TRENTON, July 3 — Tony Franklin has wandered the minor leagues for 38 years, watching teammates advance to the majors and teaching prospects to do the same. He is a wise 57 years old, and these days, he carries himself with a carefree air not often seen in a manager.
Franklin knows how good he has it as the manager of the Trenton Thunder, the Yankees’ Class AA affiliate in the Eastern League. He has seen enough pitchers to understand what a precious thing he has now.
“Every manager should have the opportunity to have a pitching staff like this at least one time in their career,” Franklin said Tuesday at Waterfront Park. “It’s pretty special to know you’ve got a great opportunity to win each and every night.”
Franklin spoke after a shutout victory against the Harrisburg Senators. Joba Chamberlain had worked six innings and struck out 12, two short of the Thunder record. [Brett Smith would toss a rain-shortened no-hitter the next night, and the team now has a nine-game winning streak.
(…)
Chamberlain, Horne, Smith, Ian Kennedy, Jeff Marquez and Jason Jones lead a Trenton staff that is the nexus of the Yankees’ recent emphasis on developing pitching. In a dreary season for the major league team, the Trenton pitchers have been the organization’s highlight.
Every team knows the importance of pitching. But under General Manager Brian Cashman, the Yankees’ strategy of taking risks on amateur pitchers and exceeding industry standards for bonuses seems to be working. It suggests that the Yankees may not be down for long, and other teams have noticed.
“He recognized a few years ago the need to fortify his system and has taken advantage of every opportunity possible to infuse talent into it,” Cleveland Indians General Manager Mark Shapiro said.
“The system is now one of the stronger ones in the minor leagues, and at some point, as those players become major-league-ready, the Yankees will have the most deadly combination of depth of young talent combined with elite payroll resources at the major league level.”
And, it seems, it’s a much wiser strategy than focusing on spending millions of dollars on acquiring a superstar pitcher like Randy Johnson who only turns out to be a disappointment in the end.
