GimmeShelter
06-08-2006, 09:00 AM
Despite youth movement, critic remains down on farm .
The Yankee farm system has had an approval rating in recent years to which perhaps only Barry Bonds can relate. For that matter, "The Da Vinci Code" is a critics' delight compared to reviews of Yankee prospects from within the baseball industry.
But surely such a perception is changing now that Melky Cabrera has become a Stadium darling and Andy Phillips is pounding home runs, a year after Robinson Cano and Chien-Ming Wang emerged from the minors and enjoyed instant success.
Well, no. At least not to Jim Callis, executive editor of Baseball America, the publication widely acknowledged as the bible of all things minor league.
Callis is not a popular man among Yankee fans, many of whom are convinced Baseball America's organizational rankings are fueled by an anti-Yankee bias. "I get more E-mails from Yankee fans than anybody," Callis said yesterday. "If I had a dollar for every Yankee fan who has told me I must hate the Yankees, I could retire."
Callis, the point man for the rankings that have listed the Yankees as 17th, 24th, 27th, and 17th among baseball's 30franchises the last four years, insists he has no feeling one way or another about George Steinbrenner's ballclub. He also notes the rankings are far from just his opinion, but what amounts to a consensus of opinions gathered from scouts, scouting directors, farm directors, minor-league managers, and so on.
Still, Callis is not shy about voicing his own opinion. He's not sold that a few big moments from Cabrera and Phillips, or the continued development of Cano and Wang, have proven that the Yankees' farm system was underrated.
On Cabrera: "He's filled in nicely for them, but on a good team he's more of a fourth outfielder. I don't think he's a good center fielder, and I don't think he'll hit with enough power as a corner outfielder. If he's an everyday player for the Yankees in three or four years, I'll be stunned."
On Phillips: "He was a good college player. There are a lot of guys like that in Triple-A. He hit his way up the system, but he's 29. Is he a regular? No."
On Cano: "Yankee fans think I hate Cano. All I ever said about him is that he's not a second baseman long-term because he's got a big lower body. I don't think he's better than we thought he'd be. He's just doing it sooner than we thought. But I think in three or four years, Cano will be in left field for the Yankees."
On Chien-Ming Wang: "Usually guys who don't strike out a lot of hitters tend to struggle. He's done a little better than I thought. I thought he was a prospect, but he's got some moxie. I think he could be a solid middle-of-the-rotation guy."
On Eric Duncan, the Triple-A first baseman, regarded as perhaps the Yankees' best positional prospect: "If Eric Duncan was a Minnesota Twin, I don't think he'd get the hype he's gotten."
Right or wrong, it's not hard to see why Callis gets all those E-mails from Yankee fans, huh? On the other hand, Callis says he has never heard from a Yankee executive protesting the rankings or evaluation of the Yankee farm system.
Indeed, Yankee people for years have acknowledged, at least privately, the failings of their system, and wondered how Steinbrenner allowed such poor performance in the draft to go without consequence.
Callis says Brandon Claussen, the lefthander traded for Aaron Boone three years ago, is the best player the Yankees signed out of the draft between 1997 and 2003. Surely that's why Steinbrenner finally replaced Lin Garrett as scouting director with Damon Oppenheimer two years ago. Callis believes the Yankee drafts have improved since Oppenheimer took over and made a conscious effort to draft younger, more athletic players. For years, based on conversations he had with executives from several teams, Callis believes the Yankees drafted minor-league ready players with relatively low ceilings because Steinbrenner demanded that winning was the priority for even low-level teams in Tampa and Staten Island. "For years the Yankees took a shortsighted approach," Callis says. "Damon is trying to take the longer view."
With that in mind, Callis says the Yankees' system has improved significantly at the lower level. However, Callis says the Yankees deserve their farm-system ranking of only 17th this year because the upper levels have precious little major-league talent.
"They really don't have a lot at Double- or Triple-A," said Callis. "They needed a pitcher and they brought Scott Erickson up."
Ouch. Callis knows this will stir up more E-mails, but he points out that as recently as 2002, the Yankees' system ranked fifth. And he believes they are on the rise again. He's just not budging on any notion that Baseball America underrated the system that seems to be producing nightly heroics for the Yankees these days. Maybe he needs to see another replay of Melky's catch the other night.
Originally published on June 8, 2006
The Yankee farm system has had an approval rating in recent years to which perhaps only Barry Bonds can relate. For that matter, "The Da Vinci Code" is a critics' delight compared to reviews of Yankee prospects from within the baseball industry.
But surely such a perception is changing now that Melky Cabrera has become a Stadium darling and Andy Phillips is pounding home runs, a year after Robinson Cano and Chien-Ming Wang emerged from the minors and enjoyed instant success.
Well, no. At least not to Jim Callis, executive editor of Baseball America, the publication widely acknowledged as the bible of all things minor league.
Callis is not a popular man among Yankee fans, many of whom are convinced Baseball America's organizational rankings are fueled by an anti-Yankee bias. "I get more E-mails from Yankee fans than anybody," Callis said yesterday. "If I had a dollar for every Yankee fan who has told me I must hate the Yankees, I could retire."
Callis, the point man for the rankings that have listed the Yankees as 17th, 24th, 27th, and 17th among baseball's 30franchises the last four years, insists he has no feeling one way or another about George Steinbrenner's ballclub. He also notes the rankings are far from just his opinion, but what amounts to a consensus of opinions gathered from scouts, scouting directors, farm directors, minor-league managers, and so on.
Still, Callis is not shy about voicing his own opinion. He's not sold that a few big moments from Cabrera and Phillips, or the continued development of Cano and Wang, have proven that the Yankees' farm system was underrated.
On Cabrera: "He's filled in nicely for them, but on a good team he's more of a fourth outfielder. I don't think he's a good center fielder, and I don't think he'll hit with enough power as a corner outfielder. If he's an everyday player for the Yankees in three or four years, I'll be stunned."
On Phillips: "He was a good college player. There are a lot of guys like that in Triple-A. He hit his way up the system, but he's 29. Is he a regular? No."
On Cano: "Yankee fans think I hate Cano. All I ever said about him is that he's not a second baseman long-term because he's got a big lower body. I don't think he's better than we thought he'd be. He's just doing it sooner than we thought. But I think in three or four years, Cano will be in left field for the Yankees."
On Chien-Ming Wang: "Usually guys who don't strike out a lot of hitters tend to struggle. He's done a little better than I thought. I thought he was a prospect, but he's got some moxie. I think he could be a solid middle-of-the-rotation guy."
On Eric Duncan, the Triple-A first baseman, regarded as perhaps the Yankees' best positional prospect: "If Eric Duncan was a Minnesota Twin, I don't think he'd get the hype he's gotten."
Right or wrong, it's not hard to see why Callis gets all those E-mails from Yankee fans, huh? On the other hand, Callis says he has never heard from a Yankee executive protesting the rankings or evaluation of the Yankee farm system.
Indeed, Yankee people for years have acknowledged, at least privately, the failings of their system, and wondered how Steinbrenner allowed such poor performance in the draft to go without consequence.
Callis says Brandon Claussen, the lefthander traded for Aaron Boone three years ago, is the best player the Yankees signed out of the draft between 1997 and 2003. Surely that's why Steinbrenner finally replaced Lin Garrett as scouting director with Damon Oppenheimer two years ago. Callis believes the Yankee drafts have improved since Oppenheimer took over and made a conscious effort to draft younger, more athletic players. For years, based on conversations he had with executives from several teams, Callis believes the Yankees drafted minor-league ready players with relatively low ceilings because Steinbrenner demanded that winning was the priority for even low-level teams in Tampa and Staten Island. "For years the Yankees took a shortsighted approach," Callis says. "Damon is trying to take the longer view."
With that in mind, Callis says the Yankees' system has improved significantly at the lower level. However, Callis says the Yankees deserve their farm-system ranking of only 17th this year because the upper levels have precious little major-league talent.
"They really don't have a lot at Double- or Triple-A," said Callis. "They needed a pitcher and they brought Scott Erickson up."
Ouch. Callis knows this will stir up more E-mails, but he points out that as recently as 2002, the Yankees' system ranked fifth. And he believes they are on the rise again. He's just not budging on any notion that Baseball America underrated the system that seems to be producing nightly heroics for the Yankees these days. Maybe he needs to see another replay of Melky's catch the other night.
Originally published on June 8, 2006