New York Yankees Can Recover From Disastrous 2023 Season Through Development

Forbes Business SportsMoney New York Yankees Can Recover From Disastrous 2023 Season Through Development Wayne G. McDonnell, Jr. Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

Business Of Baseball Analyst Following Aug 25, 2023, 05:13pm EDT | Press play to listen to this article! Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman gestures while speaking during a news conference . . .

[+] before a baseball game against the Washington Nationals Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II) Copyright 2023 The Associated Press.

All rights reserved. The 2023 season has been an embarrassment for the New York Yankees . Besides the economic disaster of an Opening Day payroll of $275,249,873 as reported by the Associated Press, there are inherent flaws when it comes to talent acquisition and player development.

Harsh criticisms of executive leadership and the prominence of analytics in decision making have become focal points of attention. As the Yankees are paying a costly price for years of ill-advised trades, disappointing drafts, and onerous contracts, the current roster suffers from lethargy and a lack of cohesion. However, they can recover only if there is a willingness to embrace change through player development.

The ire regarding the Yankees’ overdependence upon analytics has merit, but only to a certain extent. They have made substantial investments in technology with the best of intentions. Their pitching facility in Tampa affectionately called the “gas station,” is a laboratory for learning that provides unprecedented access to analytical and biomechanical resources.

However, the Yankees have experienced mixed results when trying to incorporate newfound knowledge into player development strategies, athlete care, and injury prevention. As a senior vice-president, general manager Brian Cashman has surrounded himself with a diverse brain trust of analytical and player development advisors with proven track records of success. Amid accessibility to intellectual capital and cutting edge data, the Yankees have been ill-prepared and overmatched by opponents with far less in terms of talent and resources.

In theory, they should be enjoying a competitive advantage given the pedigree of people Cashman has surrounded himself with in recent years. Instead, the Yankees appear to be struggling with how they manage the relationship between analytics and the human elements of baseball. There is an intimacy that accompanies coaching and instruction.

Implementation of a new technique or a mechanical adjustment requires comfort and trust. In Bryan Hoch’s book, 62, he talks about the Yankees’ displeasure with Aaron Judge working on his own with Richard Schenck, an outside hitting contractor. As Judge was looking to reach the baseball with greater speed, Schenck’s unique drills were met with derision because it was a different approach than what the Yankees were presenting to one of their top prospects prior to the 2017 season.

As evident in the tremendous success he has enjoyed throughout his major league career, Judge was willing to trust Schenck’s philosophies because of comfort even if it was going to create a schism between him and the Yankees. Since the advent of assigned pick values and bonus pools in Major League Baseball’s draft beginning in 2012, the Yankees have selected and signed only three ball players who have posted a career Wins Above Replacement of five or greater based on Baseball-Reference’s calculation (bWAR): left-handed pitcher Nestor Cortes (6. 2 bWAR), right fielder Aaron Judge (40.

4 bWAR) and left-handed pitcher Jordan Montgomery (11. 5 bWAR) of the Texas Rangers. Cortes has had a circuitous journey back to the Yankees after stops with the Baltimore Orioles and Seattle Mariners.

According to Baseball-Reference, the Yankees have selected and signed 294 ball players over the past 12 drafts with 50 appearing at the major league level. Only 24 have made their major league debuts with the Yankees to date. MORE FOR YOU Apple Leaks Detail All-New iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Pro Design Changes Exactly When Apple Will Launch iPhone 15 Pro Max New Date Claimed Latest Pixel 8 Pro Leak Reveals Google s Smart Decision Data collected by MLB Pipeline’s senior writer Jim Callis states the Yankees have spent $59,444,100 in signing bonuses over the past eight drafts.

Only four ball players who were selected by the Yankees during this period have spent time on the ball club’s major league roster this season: shortstop Anthony Volpe, and three right-handed pitchers, Greg Weissert, Clarke Schmidt, and Ron Marinaccio. Over the past 12 drafts, the Yankees have given signing bonuses of at least $2 million to 10 ball players amid the assigned pick values and bonus pool restrictions. The Yankees presently have the 21 st ranked farm system in Major League Baseball according to MLB Pipeline.

On their list of Top 100 prospects, MLB Pipeline has identified three ball players of distinction for the Yankees: outfielders Spencer Jones (78 th ), Jasson Dominguez (79 th ), and Everson Pereira (80 th ). They have spent a combined $9,480,800 in signing bonuses on the highly regarded trio of outfielders. Besides the obvious cost containment strategies, there is something special about a homegrown prospect who can bring vibrancy to the pinstripes.

The top prospect in the farm system is Jones. The 25 th pick in the first round of the 2022 draft out of Vanderbilt University, Jones received a $2,880,800 signing bonus according to MLB Pipeline. At six-foot-six, Jones has drawn favorable physical comparisons to Judge due to his size and power.

He is currently playing for the Hudson Valley Renegades, a High-A affiliate. NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 24: Everson Pereira #80 of the New York Yankees doubles for his first Major . .

. [+] League hit in the eighth inning during the game between the Washington Nationals and the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. (Photo by Katherine Woolson/MLB Photos via Getty Images) MLB Photos via Getty Images Intrigue surrounds the development of an international prospect affectionately called, “The Martian.

” In July 2019, the Yankees had signed Dominguez out of the Dominican Republic for $5. 1 million according to MLB Pipeline. To put his talent in a financial perspective, the Yankees’ international bonus pool at the time was $5,398,300 which meant they had committed 94.

47% of their allotted funds to a 16-year-old outfielder. Dominguez is currently the second best prospect in the Yankees’ farm system and was recently promoted to their Triple-A affiliate, Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. The third best prospect, Pereira was recently recalled from the ball club’s Triple-A affiliate alongside infielder Oswald Peraza.

According to MLB Pipeline, the Yankees had signed Pereira out of Venezuela for $1. 5 million and was viewed as one of the best all-around talents from the 2017 international class. He recently secured his first major league hit, a double, against the Washington Nationals.

Several difficult decisions lie ahead for the New York Yankees that go well beyond the dugout and executive suite. A multi-layered, personal approach to player development begins with the moment a scout first lays their eyes upon a prospect. It’s not about algorithms or regression analyses, but an opportunity to create authentic connections between people while having faith in an organization’s development philosophies.

The Yankees can recover from a disastrous 2023 season but only if they understand how innovation complements collaboration. Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn . Wayne G.

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