YOUTH MOVEMENT WANG, CANO CHANGED YANKS' RULES JOEL SHERMAN August 31, 2007 -- JOBA Chamberlain pitched yesterday, Phil Hughes starts tonight and Ian Kennedy debuts tomorrow. If you want to know how the Yankees reached this point, if you are into baseball archeology, then travel back a little more than two years, to one month into the 2005 season. The Yankees were as miserable as at any time in the Joe Torre era. They were old, uninspired and expensive. There seemed nowhere to turn for improvement, and that is when George Steinbrenner told Brian Cashman, this is your baby, you fix it. Freed of the influence of The Boss' Tampa baseball mafia, Cashman vowed not to fall prey to the Yankee way. There would be no quick fixes, no trading whatever alluring prospects existed in the system for costly, declining veterans such as Jaret Wright and Tony Womack. Instead, with Wright injured and Womack horrible, Cashman summoned Chien-Ming Wang for the rotation and Robinson Cano for second base. With that a new Yankees age arrived - but only because Wang and Cano were superb from the outset. If they had not been, the Yanks would not have made the playoffs in 2005, Cashman probably would not have been retained and he certainly would not have been retained with autonomy over baseball operations. Those powers led to protecting prospects such as Hughes and a new pick-the-best-player-on-the-draftboard philosophy that netted Kennedy and Chamberlain 15 months ago. A direct line can be drawn from Cano and Wang not only to the young pitching, but also to Melky Cabrera and Shelly Duncan and Andy Phillips, and a bunch of talented Yankees farmhands who now believe there is opportunity in them thar' pinstripes. A line can be drawn from Cano and Wang to the Yanks trusting youth late in the 2007 season against the Red Sox amid a nail-biting playoff chase. "It was an example we had guys [in the minors] we can turn to," Cashman said. The last time the Yankees had produced such instant-impact help was in the mid-1990s, when Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera formed the backbone of a dynasty. That trio contributed significantly to a series-opening victory Tuesday against the Red Sox. But almost like a baton pass, it was Wang and Cano who were most responsible for a 5-0 victory in yesterday's finale that sealed a vital sweep. Against the team that has most bedeviled him, Wang allowed one hit and no runs in seven innings. Cano hit a couple of lasers to left-center for homers, the only runs the Yanks produced in Curt Schilling's seven innings. The Yanks piled on three more in the eighth inning to, at least temporarily, assure the wild-card lead while moving within five games of Boston. This was a sweep to savor because though the Red Sox played well, the Yanks simply played better in every phase, symbolically inflicting losses on Boston's strength, starting pitchers Daisuke Matsuzaka, Josh Beckett and Schilling. The Yankees starters - Pettitte, Roger Clemens and Wang - excelled. The Red Sox played yesterday again without Manny Ramirez. But the remaining lineup began with a .341 average (46-for-135), a .585 slugging percentage and 16 walks against nine strikeouts against Wang. But Wang's arsenal is expanding as his slider and changeup become stronger complements to his sinker. Boston did not get a hit until the seventh, and Wang survived four walks by holding the Red Sox to 1-for-10 with men on base. Wang is 16-6 this year, and 43-17 since his April 30, 2005 promotion. That is tied for the third most wins in the majors and his .717 winning percentage is second best (minimum 50 starts) to Toronto's Roy Halladay (.731). Cano has hardly been shabby since his May 3, 2005 arrival. His .313 average is the majors' 11th best (minimum 1,500 plate appearances) and so are his 109 doubles. His 16 homers are a career high, and the lightning in his wrist combined with improving discipline promise more long balls. But the wins for Wang and the extra-base hits for Cano have a meaning beyond personal achievement. They are pioneers, their instant and continued success ushering in a new Yankees way. So over the next few days as you watch Hughes and Kennedy and Chamberlain you should remember the only reason there are Joba Rules is because Wang and Cano helped break old Yankees rules. [email protected] http://tinyurl.com/2t8fcc --

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