Thursday I saw a number of stories complaining about the Aroldis Chapman deal, mostly about the Yankees spending a large percentage of their payroll on a one-inning pitcher.
They can’t take on much salary in a trade either. Paying $17.2M a year for a one-inning pitcher whose usage depends on the rest of the team is something you do when you’re a) ready to win the World Series, or b) operating with a seemingly unlimited payroll. The Yankees are neither at the moment.
Or when you want a young team to win games they should win.
In 1992, Dave Dombrowski, GM of the expansion Marlins drafted closer Bryan Harvey with his 10th pick.
The Rockies’ payroll appeared to be $4 million, less than what the Marlins would pay Bryan Harvey.
Criticism came in quickly for the move. Why were the Marlins, a team that would be bad, drafting a good closer? I’m sorry I’m doing this from memory, but Dombrowski’s said he wanted his team to be able to win close games. It was a psychological move, if you will. He didn’t want to see a group of young players work hard to take a lead into the ninth inning, only to see it disappear. The Marlins led the NL in save percentage that season, and finished five game ahead of the Mets. They were a bad team, but they held leads. Dombrowski wanted to instill some sense of winning in the organization.
Now the Yankees are rebuilding. Chapman will help a young team keep leads late, especially in tandem with Dellin Betances. The Yankees shouldn’t lose many close games in which they have the lead. They will be awarding the youngsters scraping for that extra run or two with wins. Unlike the Marlins of 1993, the Yankees are good enough that a few extra wins might put them in the playoffs, where anything can happen.
from baseballmusings.com http://ift.tt/2gIDYPH
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