Kennedy Demoted, Will Cashman Take the Fall?

Remember when Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy were considered to be the hope of New York?  Everyone was talking about how they were going to replicate the success of the 1996 Yanks with the perfect blend of youth and veteran talent.  Hank Steinbrenner was considered to be one of the ‘baseball’ people, and with George out, the Yankees empire wasn’t so evil anymore.

Ah the good old days.  How things have changed.  Phil Hughes is on the disabled list, Ian Kennedy is a colossal bust so far, the Mets are the best team in New York, the Yankees season looks to be in jeopardy, Hank Steinbrenner is just an idiot, and the Yankees empire isn’t evil at all.  With their current rotation, they’re more Snuggles the Bear than Darth Vader. 

If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a million times.  The Yankees messed up this winter.  Real bad.  We’ve lambasted the Steinbrenner regime incessantly over the years for their impatience while dealing with minor league prospects, but that didn’t mean for them to go ahead and get neutered.  Maybe Hank wanted to prove to the world that he isn’t the gun slinger that his father is, that he understands the game.  Who knows, but someone missed on this one like Ryan Howard trying to hit a curve ball.

Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes for Johan Santana. 

I just can’t get over it.  Think about that.  Imagine if that offer was put on the table right now.  The fans in Minnesota would tear down the house if the offer was accepted today.  Hindsight is 20-20, but so was the fact that Ian Kennedy was never an elite prospect. 

Let me rephrase that.  He had a solid college career at USC.  Over three seasons he went 24-12 with 380 strikeouts over 311 innings, walked 107 batters, and posted a 3.12 ERA.  While there he was also earned First-Team All-American honors after his freshman and sophomore years, was named the Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year following his sophomore year, and finished fourth in school history in strikeouts behind Mark Prior, Seth Etherton, and Walt Peterson.

He was even better in the minors last season, where he posted a 1.91 ERA, and struck out 163 batters through 146 innings, while walking a mere 50. 

So where’s the beef? 

The writing has been on the wall since his junior year in college, where he ran his ERA up to 3.90.  There’s a reason he slipped to the Yanks with the 22^nd pick, and it wasn’t because he was asking for more than the slot value, which he was, it was more because his velocity evaporated.  The guy went from throwing 94-mph all the way down to 88.  He touches 91-92 now and then, but he lives in the high 80’s.

His control, which was once his bread and butter has also went missing.  His out pitch in the lower levels used to be his off speed stuff, but against the likes of David Ortiz,it won’t work.  We aren’t talking about a Johan Santana change-up here, Kennedy’s is average at best.  Many people believed that he peaked while he was with USC, and there might be some merit to that claim.

“For me, Kennedy, at best, is a fifth starter. Hughes can be a little better than that, but not a [No.] 1 or 2. The thing I wonder about with Kennedy is, he was a very polished college pitcher. How much upside is there?”  One scout explainss. “He doesn’t have dominant stuff. He doesn’t really even have a dominant pitch. And they play so many games against their division, Ian Kennedy might have to start five times against the Red Sox. People talk about the second and third time through the lineup. How about the third or fourth time against one team? You’ve got to have something you can use to get through a lineup like that. And I’m not sure right now if he has it.”

The scary thing about this is that he hasn’t even went up against the Red Sox.  Four of his six starts came against Tampa, Kansas City and Baltimore.  Before being demoted to the minors on Sunday he had an ERA of 8.37.

At least we know that Hughes can pitch, but being merely good isn’t going to be enough to warrant the Yankees faith.  Unfortunately the measuring stick happens to be one of the best left-handed pitchers of all-time.  Anything short of multiple Cy Young’s and Championships is going to be considered a failure for these two young pitchers.  I don’t know if they can handle it.  Granted, there is a ton of time to prove the doubters wrong, but the pressure already seems to be getting to Kennedy.

“Analyzing every pitch doesn’t help,” Kennedy complained. “You’re on a bigger scale here.”

The one man that should be worried is Brian Cashman.  The Baby Boss went off earlier this month after watching the kids struggle through another pair of starts and depending on how you interpret his comments, he may or may not have called Cashman an idiot while speaking about Joba Chamberlain.

“There is no question about it, you don’t have a guy with a 100-mile-per-hour fastball and keep him as a set-up guy. You just don’t do that. You have to be an idiot to do that.”

It would be completely irrational to fire him, his track record is as good as it gets, but since when are the Steinbrenner’s rationale?  The natives are growing restless and a number of websites have begun popping up calling for his head.

To be continued…