Brian Cashman (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Hal Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman spoke to the media Tuesday ahead of a crucial offseason for the Yankees. Usually, these press conferences are an opportunity to set priorities and give a general statement on where the team is going in the future. However, Steinbrenner and Cashman only exposed themselves and how the Bronx Bombers have fallen behind the modern age of baseball.
It’s no secret that baseball is becoming more analytics-driven by the day. It’s the way small-market teams can gain an edge on big-market clubs. Teams like the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Chicago Cubs have invested in their analytics department to gain a competitive advantage over opponents. Cashman and the Yankees have gone a different direction,
“We have the smallest analytics department in the AL East,” he said.
In a division where both the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays are some of the most analytically driven teams in baseball and saw more success than the Yankees this year, this is a surprising statement from Cashman. The Orioles were 29th out of 30 in terms of payroll this year while the Rays were 27th.
How do these teams get the edge on big market teams with nearly three times their payroll? The analytics department.
The statement from Cashman, seemingly a brag, is a much greater sign that the Yankees have fallen behind the modern age of baseball and refuse to adapt.
“We got the largest pro scouting department in all of baseball,” he began. ” Is that a shocker to you guys?”
Given this statement, the question then becomes why haven’t the Yankees been able to translate minor league talent to the major league roster?
Players like Anthony Volpe, Oswaldo Cabrera, and Oswald Peraza were expected to be key contributors to the Bronx Bombers this year. Instead, they fell flat and were a big reason why the Yankees underachieved this year. With just the eye test of the scouts and not relying on the analytics…
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