Seems to me, they like taking risks and if just 2 of their big guns break through and reach their upside, then they’re golden. The high upside pitcher also will have to fall farther to fail. By this, I mean if Brackman doesn’t fulfill his upside, they can settle for him being a No. 3. It doesn’t always work like that obviously, but I’m sure that’s a factor in their thought process.

Now, I don’t know the exact methods the Yankees use to develop players. I do know they are very hands on and often seem to overhaul a pitcher’s mechanics. They did it with Hughes (in a negative way) and they did it with Chamberlain (which worked out very well). They’ve also done it with others as well. I can’t pinpoint their mechanical philosophy because some of the changes they make to different pitchers use competing philosophies. For instance, they made Hughes a “taller” thrower, a more armsy thrower and his velocity dropped. Chamberlain began using his body much more efficiently and his velocity soared.