Yankees: 4 things the Bombers can learn from small-market teams

1. Spend on Scouting/Talent Evaluation

The Bombers need much better scouts and evaluators of talent than they currently have on their payroll. Too many great players have been overlooked and have been snatched up by other teams, and too many subpar players have been signed over the years just before they’ve cratered. Player evaluation is both a science and an art. Superb, experienced and successful scouts and evaluators are worth their weight in gold.

In a nutshell, the Yankees appear to be following a roster formation strategy from the last century, and it is not working. Given the tremendous amount of money the team already spends on players’ salaries (and how much more they could comfortably spend), the Yanks should be far more successful than they have been.

And, when it’s come time to choose pieces to protect (Whitlock, Ort) or pit players against each other in trade (Brandon Drury over Nick Solak? Taylor Widener?), the Yankees always seem to choose incorrectly.

However, baseball has changed a lot over time and continues to change, and the team now needs to reconsider its business model and player evaluation and development culture if they wish to succeed in the coming years.