And what part of being the 33rd overall prospect in all of baseball by MLB.com going into THIS year, isn’t a product of the previous over-hyping I was speaking about.

Horray someone on Fangraphs was right about him, lately…. I guess the guys at MLB.com didn’t get the memo and put him #33 anyways.

But you keep going on your tangent don’t let me stop you.

Betances comes in at the No. 3 spot, knocked down by a less advanced power pitcher, because he currently projects as a reliever at the big league level. The right-hander has an above-average fastball sitting between 90-95 mph and it features lots of movement, which causes it to miss the strike zone a little too much. His changeup may have passed his breaking ball as his second-best pitch but the curve still shows potential. Like a lot of tall pitchers (6’8” 260 lbs), Betances fights his delivery and that leads to the inconsistent command and control. He spent the majority of 2011 in double-A where he posted a 3.70 FIP (3.42 ERA) in 105.1 innings of work. He also pitched 21 innings in triple-A and 2.2 innings during his debut in The Show. His walk rate increased with each promotion, helping to underscore the need for more seasoning. The soon-to-be 24-year-old pitcher will likely return to triple-A and await an opening in either the starting rotation or, more likely, the bullpen.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/top-15-prospects-new-york-yankees/

What more did you want?

If you do not think Betances has been over-rated the past 2 seasons by many, then you have not been looking.

They were calling them the killer B’s 2 years ago,
Brackman, Banuelos and Betances.

It’s only in 2012 (now) that people have finally realized that these guys are nothing special

The Yankee system isn’t doing so great this year, but they have a few guys who are still very good prospects, if not elite guys. And I just don’t understand those who think the Yankees don’t develop players. Sure, they might trade a bunch of them, but they usually get good value from those trades.

Kennedy
Montero
Jackson
Cano
Wang
Hughes
Robertson
Melky

Those are all guys who are doing will or have done well in the recent past and were developed by Cashman in the last decade.

The times Cashman has had his baseball evaluation skills put to the test, it’s been embarassing. Jarret Wright? Kei Igawa? Kevin Brown?

Yes, because if you only look at the bad players he acquired, of course he looks terrible. Why didn’t you mention Mike Mussina? Or what about Jason Giambi? I also noticed you didn’t bring up any of the players Cashman traded for. How David Justice hit 20 HR in 78 games in ’00 and hit .305/.391/.585 for a 145 OPS+? Or Curtis Granderson? Or Nick Swisher? Or how he pulled off the Arod trade and got Texas to pay part of his salary!

They traded away Montero for a overwieght, out of shape slob with a bad shoulder

Cool story, not actually true. But okay. Also noticed you left out the rest of the trade. And judging a 5 year deal based on 3 months is smart too.

The whole Joba debacle?

What debacle are you talking about? I assume you’ll make a bunch of erroneous comments here regarding how Joba was handled, how he never should have been a starter, etc

Currently? I would put Theo Epstein in the conversation for the glory days of the Sox. But that’s it

Point being that it seems every 2-3 years, a new GM comes in, makes one or two phenomenal moves, and everyone wants to anoint him as the best GM in the game. Then 2-3 more years pass, that same GM makes some bad moves, and people remember that no one in this game is perfect.

Cashman has made some great moves, some good ones, some bad and really dumb ones. But so has Epstein (heir #1), so has Jack Z (heir #2), so has Amaro (heir #3) and so has AA. If you are in the game long enough, you will make mistakes. Why other Yankee fans don’t see this is beyond me.

When you have an unlimited payroll at your disposal and can throw an obscene amount of money at players, you have a huge advantage. At the very least it guarantees your team a playoff spot, which is what the Yanks have done. However, even with the ridiculous payrolls, the Yanks over the past decade have been poorly constructed, due to the fact they can’t develop their own talent, and the talent they do develop they trade away in awful deals. (Thankfully, Arizona turned down Cano in a deal for Randy Johnson, or that would have been another notch on Cashman’s belt.). Seriously, is it that hard to figure out that CC Sabathia is a stud pitcher, and throw $180 million dollars his way? Or that Mark Teixiera is the premier free agent hitter, so lets’s throw him $170 million? The times Cashman has had his baseball evaluation skills put to the test, it’s been embarassing. Jarret Wright? Kei Igawa? Kevin Brown? The whole Joba debacle?

Just look at the team now. Yes, first place, but look at the position players. Where is all the young talent coming up the system? A-Rod is 36, Jeter 38, Ibanez 39, Swisher 31, Texiera 32. Who is the best young position prospect the Yanks have? Eduardo Nunez? Who is the best young pitching prospect? Banuelos? Betances (who just got demoted to AA at the age of 24?) They traded away Montero for a overwieght, out of shape slob with a bad shoulder. If you had a GM with some baseball evaluation skill, it would basically be the mid 1990′s all over again. Instead we have Cashman, an overrated GM who has the benefit of a $200 million payroll.

I say this as a Mets fan: Cashman is the best GM. Yes, he makes mistakes. But fewer than most, and rarely to the utter detriment of his team. There are no Victor Zambranos on his resume. And there are plenty of Bartolo Colons and Russell Martins, not to mention Cano and Granderson and so on. I want him on my team (Yes, I like Alderson a lot. But Brian is the best.)

Can the Yankees bring in a real GM with some baseball acumen who can develop talent instead of a numbers guy whose only talent seems to be throwing boatloads of money at the best free-agents?

Name another GM who has had half the success Cashman has had, even over half the time?

“But there’s still a strong sentiment among pro scouts that he ends up in the bullpen long-term because of command questions. ”
“Betances is not a good athlete and struggles to maintain a consistent delivery. ”
” He’s 23 now, still not very experienced, but he has size and velocity you can’t teach. The lack of progress and athleticism make a bullpen role more likely than a spot in the top half of a rotation.”

Betances, 24 years old, quickly becoming another over-hyped and over-valued prospect in same vain as “top prospects” John Ford-Griffin, Andrew Brackman, Humberto Sanchez, Jeff Marquez etc. Not to mention the disasterous (thus far) Montero for Pineda deal. The only decent pitching prospects that have actually come through the Yankees system, Cashman traded (Kennedy, Clippard and I’m sure I’m missing others). Can the Yankees bring in a real GM with some baseball acumen who can develop talent instead of a numbers guy whose only talent seems to be throwing boatloads of money at the best free-agents?