Iwakuma 00740314

02/17/2008 4:12 PM ET
Yankees enter 2008 at crossroads
Young talent will be counted on for more than wins in Bronx










TAMPA, Fla. -- This could be the first year of a new dynastic period for the New York Yankees. Or it could be the last year of the Yankees' current baseball administration.
Many people inside the game of baseball have thought that if the Yankees ever became serious about building from within their organization, in the conventional way, building a strong base of their own talent -- particularly pitching talent -- that they could become, given their Major League-leading financial resources, close to unbeatable.

The thinking has been that if the Yankees built that organizational base of talent, they would then be able to fill in whatever gaps occurred with the necessary but ever-present money. This would be reversal of form for the Yankees, who for years used prospects largely as trade bait to obtain even more proven stars. But it would work.

Guess what? Under the leadership of general manager Brian Cashman, the building of an organizational foundation of pitching strength is precisely the direction the Yankees have taken. And the first rank of talent from that new direction is on hand for this Spring Training in the form of three splendidly talented young pitchers: Joba Chamberlain, 22, Phil Hughes, 21, and Ian Kennedy, 23.

These are not the only legitimate pitching prospects in the Yankees' current possession, but they are the ones who are ready to perform on the big stage now. They will be asked to play integral roles in the 2008 campaign; Hughes and Kennedy in the starting rotation, Chamberlain either in the rotation or in the eighth-inning setup role in which he dominated last season.

The presence of this substantial young talent led Cashman away from a potential trade with the Minnesota Twins for the best pitcher available this winter, Johan Santana. The Twins wanted as much of the Yankees' young pitching talent as possible in return for Santana. Cashman didn't want to part with the young talent, not to mention his entire organizational direction.

This was a deal that the Yankees would have made in the past; gladly, rapidly, without remorse or reservation. They would have paid the bill in young talent, they would have paid the record-setting amount of Santana's new contract, and it would have been another day at the office.

But now? Thanks, but no thanks, Twins. Santana went to Queens instead of the Bronx, in a deal with the Mets that didn't look any better for the Twins than the one the Yankees initially offered. The Yankees held on to their young pitching talent and were further consoled by the fact that at least Santana didn't wind up with the Red Sox.

Reasonable people can agree that the Yankees are on a sound, time-tested organizational path here, nurturing and developing the young talent, taking the long-term organizational view. But can the Yankees, the biggest win-now operation in professional sports, actually function like this?

What if the 2008 Yankees, while developing and nurturing this young pitching talent, not only fall to the Red Sox in the American League East, but -- shudder -- miss the postseason for the first time in 13 years?

Wouldn't Cashman be relentlessly, ruthlessly second-guessed for not acquiring Santana? Wouldn't Cashman, in the last year of his current contract, be in his last year as Yankees general manager, period? Would a demanding fan base, not to mention a demanding ownership, be understanding, sympathetic and atypically patient through this kind of experience?

Those questions don't have to be answered immediately, but they will remain until the 2008 season provides some answers. In the meantime, the situation is made more complicated by the fact that these are young pitchers whose careers must be safeguarded by cautious usage. So the Yankees will be attempting to win in 2008 with three pitchers working under innings limits. This is not an impossible task, but it will qualify somewhere between tricky and delicate.

This would be a challenge for any manager. In this case, it will be a challenge for new manager Joe Girardi. His job wasn't going to be easy in any case. Following a legendary figure is never particularly easy. The presidency of Andrew Johnson teaches us that much, as does the record of a whole line of people who tried to coach basketball at UCLA after John Wooden.

Beyond the ritual comparisons that will occur with Joe Torre's work, Girardi will have this balancing act to achieve with the young pitchers; attempting to protect them while winning with them.

Girardi was straightforward on Sunday in his responses to how this situation can be mastered. As a general rule, "I think a player's health always comes first," he said.

Far from being unfamiliar with this situation, this reminds Girardi of his other managing job, in 2006 with the Florida Marlins, when he became the National League manager of the year.

"That's the only thing I know," Girardi said of having a staff with young pitchers. "I had a young staff. You know, we had 22 rookies over the course of a season. It's the only thing I really know. The goal was the same, to protect them."

So let's assume that Girardi is ideally positioned to handle these circumstances. If this season leads to another postseason berth or more for the Yankees and the young pitchers grow in their roles and maintain their health, this could be the beginning of a something big, even by Yankees standards. By returning to the sound organizational fundamentals, this organization is doing what is right, what is intelligent and what will pay off in a big way, if it is allowed to play out over the long haul.

But if it doesn't work out all that ideally, there is going to be a deluge of second-guessing about why the Yankees didn't act like the Yankees and trade every prospect in sight for the biggest name available.

There are dramatically different outcomes possible here; outcomes that could determine the direction of the Yankees for many seasons to come. You don't want to call this a transitional season, because the Yankees aren't allowed to have any of those. But if you called 2008 a pivotal season for the Yankees, all you'd be risking would be understatement.

Mike Bauman is a national columnist for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.