Not nearly as much as you want to bear Cash-Man's.

I've made it clear which acquisitions I am a fan of and which I am not. That will not change. But thanks for the warning.

Posted by nyk4ever:

Phil Hughes dealing so far in the 1st. This is a huge start for the Yankees organization - if Hughes pitches well, it quickens and eases the process of sending Joba back to his RIGHTFUL position in the bullpen.

Let's go Phil!!!

I'm not sure if that's his rightful position but we need him there so desperately that I hope it does work out that way.

Swisher has certainly cooled off

yanks are way behind in terms of farm system. but yankee history tells us that only until cashman stated getting more power did the farm start replenishing. cashman gained major power in 2006 and then full control the year after. they were late to the party in terms of building from within, but since cash has started it, he's produced wang, cano, and joba. there are also a host of other young arms on the way - and with most young arms, some can come up sooner rather than later. clay bucholz threw a no-hitter and has been in the minors since. yankees were paying for signings of the past - i.e. giambi. now they are paying for signings of damon and posada's extension. but since those 2 deals, we haven't signed an over-the-hill guy to a big free agent contract. there is a change in how the yankees are building their team but these type of changes take time.

Posted by djsunyc:

yanks are way behind in terms of farm system. but yankee history tells us that only until cashman stated getting more power did the farm start replenishing. cashman gained major power in 2006 and then full control the year after. they were late to the party in terms of building from within, but since cash has started it, he's produced wang, cano, and joba. there are also a host of other young arms on the way - and with most young arms, some can come up sooner rather than later. clay bucholz threw a no-hitter and has been in the minors since. yankees were paying for signings of the past - i.e. giambi. now they are paying for signings of damon and posada's extension. but since those 2 deals, we haven't signed an over-the-hill guy to a big free agent contract. there is a change in how the yankees are building their team but these type of changes take time.

He gained full power--a level of power no other GM has in their contract--in 2005, not 2006, and had the full off-season of that year to start re-shaping the team.

Posted by Pharzeone:

A healthy Phil Hughes is bondafide.

When that knuckle-curve is going, he's unhittable.

Hughes looked completely different tonight than anytime I've ever seen him before. He was absolutely zeroed in on what he was doing, he was showing a little emotion and it looked like he finally thought he belonged where he was. One of my good friends is a huge Red-Sox fan, he watched the game tonight also and said Hughes reminded him alot of Lester tonight... we can only hope Hughes takes that step - he certainly has it in him.

Posted by Pharzeone:

Posted by nyk4ever:

Posted by Pharzeone:

A healthy Phil Hughes is bondafide.

When that knuckle-curve is going, he's unhittable.

Hughes looked completely different tonight than anytime I've ever seen him before. He was absolutely zeroed in on what he was doing, he was showing a little emotion and it looked like he finally thought he belonged where he was. One of my good friends is a huge Red-Sox fan, he watched the game tonight also and said Hughes reminded him alot of Lester tonight... we can only hope Hughes takes that step - he certainly has it in him.

What about that no hitter he was throwing two years ago against Texas? The kid had bad luck with injuries. A healthy Phil has always been bondafide IMO.

No, I do agree with your Phar - he's definitely had his issues with injuries. Maybe it's been a while since that game in Texas, but even from seeing him throw that 1st pitch tonight, he just looked totally locked in, like I haven't seen from him before. It was good to see.

Posted by Bonn1997:

Posted by djsunyc:

i still haven't heard any suggestions for this past offseason instead of signing "mercernaries" in cc, aj, and tex...

Yes, you have actually. Although some thought we had the best bullpen in baseball, we needed bullpen help and a deeper bench. I was neutral about the bullpen last off-season and clear about the bench. I suggested Ken Griffey Jr. as a player to look at and many gave some other names. That said, Cashman has been GM for a lot longer than the past few months. Why are you trying to restrict the discussion to the past off-season anyway?

Jr's. batting .196 w/a .660 OPS... i suggested him too but bringing him up as some example of a better option in hindsight doesn't do much for your case against Cashman.