The New York Yankees regularly outspent their competition to maintain their status atop the American League during the franchise's championship run in the late 90s to early 2000s. Spending big in free agency was a big part of that, to be sure, but GM Brian Cashman and his front office also wielded their financial might when it came to signing high-priced international talent.
MLB has curbed the Yankees' ability to outspend the competition on young, overseas players by regulating what each team has to spend via international bonus pools. Even so, New York has continued to make bold moves on that front by offering big portions of their allocation to players they believe have the required talent to become difference-makers. That's in sharp contrast to many of their peers who work hard to spread their bonus pool around on quantity, rather than quality.
That strategy puts a lot of pressure on the team's scouting apparatus to pick the right players to spend big on. The team's decision to part ways with longtime international scouting director Donny Rowland shows how dissatisfied the higher-ups had become with that decision-making. A series of high-profile errors in recent years have served to slow the progression of homegrown talent to the Bronx.
The Yankees spent a club record $5.1 million on Jasson Dominguez a few years ago, and the jury is still out as to whether or not he can even become a quality starter. Shortstop Roderick Arias got $4 million and he looks like a flop at the age of 20 in Low-A. Several other high-profile errors stick out as costly mistakes by the Yankees' international scouting department.
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How can firing Donny Rowland help the Yankees?
There's nothing wrong with the Yankees' philosophy on international scouting. Flexing their financial muscle to snap up high-ceiling talents is a clear advantage New York can exercise over their competitors. The obvious trick for the franchise is to make sure they bet on the right players at a higher percentage.
That's where the quality of Rowland's replacement can have such a tremendous impact on the Yankees' long-term future. If they can hire a director with the ability to modernize the team's scouting setup and better identify top-tier talent, it could help Cashman bolster the team's farm system with top-tier players from the international pool on an annual basis. Supplementing their draft efforts in that way can do wonders to help the Yankees control their payroll by consistently producing homegrown talent.
The effectiveness of this strategy can be further enhanced if the Yankees continue to lean in on the idea of spending their money on premium positions. It's no coincidence that a lot of the biggest bonuses handed out by New York have been to shortstops and other speedy, toolsy players. Those are the hardest and most expensive for the Yankees to land in free agency. Growing quality starters in-house at premium positions is the best way for New York to deploy their international bonus pool.
In the end, teams going up against the Yankees on the international market should be concerned about the firing of Rowland. It gives Cashman a golden opportunity to hire a big difference maker inside his scouting setup. If New York can start to maximize their international pool it could do wonders to boost the franchise's title odds in years to come.