Thank You, Brian Cashman: Why the Yankees Will Benefit from His New Philosophy

Despite Hank Steinbrenner’s early grumblings about the need for Joba to be bumped to the rotation, and the general feeling of anxiety mounting, neither Steinbrenner nor the fans have any reason to worry about the state of the franchise.

While many are starting to become critical of Brian Cashman for not pulling the trigger on the Johan Santana trade, they fail to recognize just what he has done for this team.

He has put them in a position to win.

Perhaps the team won’t be a “lights out” type winning team just yet, but they will surely mount wins this season and will most definitely be in contention for many seasons to come.

In sticking with youth, Brian Cashman has done the best possible thing for this team in a game that is rapidly changing.

With the crackdowns on steroid use and other performance enhancing drugs, we are starting to see a general trend of youth as the key to success. Just look at the two teams that made it to the World Series last year—the Colorado Rockies and the Boston Red Sox.

What do these two teams have in common? They both relied on their farm systems to bring up young players toward the end of the season to stay fresh.

As Peter Gammons noted in his blog this week, “those organizations that can bring up young players—guys they know because they've been tested time after time in the minor leagues—are going to have a huge advantage on the older teams."

The Sox brought in Clay Buchholz and Jacoby Ellsbury as the older players began to tire, renewing the vigor of the team. Even the Yankees did it by bringing in Joba Chamberlain and Ian Kennedy at the end of last year.

And the team that endured the biggest collapse of all time? The New York Mets—one of the oldest teams in the league.

Old teams can’t make it through a full 162-game season. Younger ones can, even though they may struggle at times.

The Yankees have already benefited enormously from Alberto Gonzalez, who they brought up as a backup shortstop when Jeter went down. Now he is seeing time at third and second as well to keep the team fresh.

Shelly Duncan is back up in the big leagues, and can give fresh legs to right field or first base, as well as a MUCH better glove at first.

Toward the end of this year or the beginning of next, the Yankees have center fielder Brett Gardner to look forward to as well.  He did a tremendous job in spring training, and left some fans and reporters wondering why he wasn’t with the team at the start of the season.

Cashman is trying to change the philosophy of the franchise, instead of just hiring mercenaries.

This is a much more sound approach. Think about it.

In 1996 the Yankees won with homegrown talent. They tried for a few years to plug in gaps with veterans, but as we have seen many of the hired guns have failed to help produce that World Series ring the team so badly yearns for.