New youth in New York

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman will not be derailed in his pursuit of youth.

The Ponce de Leon of GMs made a conscious decision after the 2005 season that because the Yankees were turning into stuffy old goats, he had to do something about it. Thus came the infusion of Robinson Cano, Chien Ming-Wang, Melky Cabrera, Sean Henn, Kei Igawa, Jeff Karstens, Scott Proctor et al to a team that was overpriced and over-aged.

This past offseason, he parted with veterans Gary Sheffield and Randy Johnson in deals that brought young pitching, though he did obtain Andy Pettitte after losing out on Daisuke Matsuzaka.

"This isn't an exact science, so we're doing the best we can," Cashman said. "I want to get younger. I want to get more flexible and win a world championship at the same time.

"It doesn't mean we're not aggressive big-game hunters. The Johnny Damon signing was an example of that. The Bobby Abreu trade was an example of that.

"It's not that we won't be in the market for a big trade, but at the same time we're very conscious of retaining our draft picks, so with Andy Pettitte, we waited until Houston didn't offer arbitration.

"We're trying to rebuild the farm system. We're not trying to reinvent the wheel here. When the team needed some help, we got Bobby Abreu in here. At the same time, we're trying to get back to the business of baseball, the basics of baseball player development. We're really trying to refocus on our international and domestic amateur efforts."

Sounds like an organization that wants to have it all. With Yankee resources -- which should increase when a new Yankee Stadium opens in 2009 -- there's no reason they can't have the best farm system, best scouting system, best anything.

And Cashman can actually get a progress report on youngsters such as Chase Wright and Karstens in the big leagues here in April after injuries hit the pitching staff.

"When these things happen, it's great to have the alternatives ready to go and hope they work out, because that's how guys get opportunities," he said. "A couple of years ago, Chien-Ming Wang was called up to fill in for Kevin Brown, who had a bad back, and now Wang is our No. 1 starter."

Cashman preaches patience with minor leaguers, citing the case of Proctor, who spent six years in the Dodgers system that helped turn him into one of the better set up men in baseball.

"His unveiling was last year at age 29," said Cashman. "All the equipment was there, he just needed a little more time. Some guys come quicker than others. As long as they come, that's all we really care about."

Cashman cut his teeth under Gene Michael, the consummate scouting guy, and George Steinbrenner, the demanding owner. Somewhere in between is Cashman. He's the baseball leader of the organization.

Think it's easy to deal the Big Unit or Sheffield for prospects?

"Randy, it just wasn't a happy environment for him," said Cashman. "It's hard enough to play in this town, without a doubt, if your heart is not 100 percent into it. Randy had a conversation with me over the winter, which I appreciated. With Andy Pettitte arriving and being able to re-sign Mike Mussina with some of the young players coming and Igawa, we decided that maybe we would have some cover here. It was a risk, no question, but it was a risk I was willing to take.

"In Gary's case, I talked to him. He's a great player. We would have loved to have kept him, but we got Abreu and Gary showed no interest in playing first base and he said he wouldn't do it. So I told him my only alternative is to make a trade."

Sheffield told this reporter in spring training that he would have signed with the Red Sox if Cashman had not picked up his option, and he thought that was the reason Cashman did it.

"I picked up the option because he's an asset," said Cashman. "When you pick up or sign players that are assets, do I let him become a free agent or do I make the best deal I can make? I felt that there was no doubt that a trade was available to me. And that's better than getting nothing. I spoke to all the clubs except Boston and I worked out a deal that we could live with."

It didn't all go smoothly. The Yankees offered a reported $30 million in the posting for Matsuzaka and finished third.

"We were comfortable with the process," Cashman said. "He's a great pitcher. A lot of teams had interest in him and rightfully so. All you can do is put your best foot forward and then find another way."

DH fields some questions

A few questions for Cleveland DH Travis Hafner:

Given the season you and David Ortiz had last season, do you feel in the future DHs will receive more consideration for the MVP?

TH: "DHs have had good years the past few years. Ortiz was second in MVP, and Frank Thomas, [Jim ] Thome, and [Jason ] Giambi . . . there are hitters who made noise in the MVP voting. I think it's definitely a possibility down the road.

"To be honest, though, I don't even worry about that. I just want to win. Individual honors are great, but if you don't win, what good are they?"

That must have been the way you felt last season playing for the Indians.

TH: "It wasn't easy, but as a professional you have to keep doing your job. You always want to hit, and I feel I've improved the last few years in that situation. You want to keep working hard and improve as a player. Even if you're hitting .300, you can do more.

"The big thing in this game is to be as consistent as you can. We had high expectations. But hopefully we can learn from that and really turn things around. Even when things aren't going well, you owe it to your teammates and to the fans to take your job seriously."

Do you allow yourself to think what the numbers might have been if you hadn't been hurt (broken hand on hit-by-pitch)? You finished Sept. 1 with 42 homers, 117 RBIs.

TH: "It would have been great to finish that year out. When you're having a good season and swinging the bat well, you obviously want to. It was unfortunate. I wasn't able to, but that's behind me now and I have to focus on this year."

I know you're a big WWE fan. Any thoughts of getting into it after baseball?

TH: "I may step into the ring once or twice, but not as a career. I love it, though."

Your contract talks?

TH: "I'd love to get something done, but it's out of my hands."

Will any other pitchers wind up like Clemens?

We asked players, general managers, and agents about Roger Clemens's special schedule (show up in June) and whether any of them -- or anyone else -- would angle for it in the future.

Mike Mussina: "No. I think most of us feel like we want to be able to play the game from the beginning of the year. In his circumstance, he's done well, but what if you don't do well? What if you have three months of below-average pitching? That doesn't help anybody out. Right now, I think it's a unique case."

John Smoltz: "No."

Mariano Rivera: "No. I don't think they'd let me. I wouldn't ask."

Tom Glavine's agent, Gregg Clifton: "Tom wouldn't let me bring it up in talks with the Mets."

Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski: "I don't think this will be a common occurrence."

White Sox GM Ken Williams: "I only look stupid; I'm not really. Hell, yes. I would take a big-game pitcher like him in June, July, August. I'd take him for my alumni game in December if it helped me win."

Indians GM Mark Shapiro: "I would assume it would have to be a very special pitcher under very unique circumstances. Not sure how many Hall of Famers would come along with his résumé, but I guess it would benefit guys that want to prolong their careers and could still make a difference to a pennant race. Pedro Martínez, after his contract, for instance."

Diamondbacks GM Josh Byrnes: "I could see other pitchers going this route on occasion. Pedro is a good example. He certainly would want every perk afforded to another star pitcher."

Pirates GM Dave Littlefield: I think he is the exception. This job teaches you to be open-minded."

Red Sox GM Theo Epstein: "I'm not sure it will catch on with other pitchers. With salaries the way they are now, most guys are set for life. Removing the financial incentive, it would require a special player with real competitive fire." (Special note: When asked whether Curt Schilling had asked for it, Epstein said those conversations were private.)

Clemens's agent, Randy Hendricks: "If they don't have physical problems, I would expect them to play a full season. If, on the other hand, they run into problems like Roger has, injuries such as groin pulls, hamstring pulls, wear-and-tear type injuries, I think they will consider a shortened season in order to be at their peak for the playoffs."

Etc.

Touching the bases
Apropos of nothing: 1. The new Shea Stadium is further along than the new Yankee Stadium, but construction is moving rapidly on both for openings in 2009. 2. Worst fielder? Indians reliever Roberto Hernandez. Two touches, two errors this season. 3. Orioles lefty reliever John Parrish struck out 13 of the first 26 batters he faced this season. 4. Future Hall of Famer Craig Biggio struck out trying to lay down a bunt Wednesday. That hadn't happened since he entered the league in 1988. 5. The Devil Rays have the most African-American players (5) among major league teams.

Pass the Excedrin
Johnny Damon says he still gets severe headaches as a result of his collision with Damien Jackson in the playoffs in Oakland in 2003. "I still get my neck cracked, too," he said. "I think that year was the last time I was really healthy, too. And then that happened. I still don't remember so much from that."

To mark the 56th year on the job for legendary Yankee Stadium PA announcer Bob Sheppard, the team's media relations staff included the lineup card from his first game in last week's notes. On April 17, 1951, the Red Sox sent out this lineup against New York: CF Dom DiMaggio, RF Billy Goodman, LF Ted Williams, 3B Vern Stephens, 1B Walt Dropo, 2B Bobby Doerr, SS Lou Boudreau, C Buddy Rosar, P Billy Wright. The Yankees' order: LF Jackie Jensen, SS Phil Rizzuto, RF Mickey Mantle, CF Joe DiMaggio, C Yogi Berra, 1B Johnny Mize, 3B Billy Johnson, 2B Jerry Coleman, P Vic Raschi.

Milton's Rich Hill is starting out as the best pitcher in the National League. The 27-year-old Cubs lefthander is 3-0 with a 0.41 ERA (one earned run in 22 innings) after shutting out the Braves Thursday night in Atlanta. The only blemish has been Milwaukee outfielder Corey Hart's solo home run back on April 6. He's starting to live up to the Barry Zito comparisons, showing an amazing curveball. "I just feel really comfortable," said Hill. "I'm just pitching my game right now. I just need to be consistent every time out."

One reason the Red Sox stayed away from Washington's Chad Cordero is his penchant for being a heart-attack closer. So far, that's been the case. Cordero blew a save Wednesday against Philadelphia and through that game had allowed 16 base runners (six walks) in seven innings and had a 5.14 ERA. While he might be an attractive arm at the trading deadline, the Nationals want a boatload for him.

You can see why old-timers shake their heads at the modern obsession with pitch counts. There have been many examples of starters coming out much too early this season, and for what? To protect their arms? Injuries are more abundant than ever. If 95 pitches are too many, what will it be in the future, 85-pitch limits? On Thursday, the Yankees couldn't have hit Indians starter Fausto Carmona with 10 bats. But he reached the 97-pitch mark after six and was gone. The Yankees won the game by scoring six runs in the ninth. The Sox were struggling against Roy Halladay Thursday. He went 7 1/3 innings, 95 pitches, and was gone. In both cases, the bullpens blew the game. It'll be interesting to see how extended Daisuke Matsuzaka gets. He was a 130- to 140-pitch guy in Japan, but the Red Sox seem to be cutting him off 20-30 pitches shy of that.

Hall of Fame outfielder Paul Waner's No. 11 was never retired by the Pirates. For years, it slipped through the cracks of regime after regime. But finally, under Dave Littlefield's watch, the Pirates will rectify a longstanding oversight and honor Waner July 21, on the 55th anniversary of his induction into the Hall of Fame. Waner batted .333 with 3,152 hits from 1926-45 . He was known as "Big Poison."

It's been hard enough for White Sox general manager Kenny Williams to keep everyone under contract, but now Mark Buehrle tosses a no-hitter, which will only add to his price tag. Or will it? Buehrle is 28, has a 98-66 record, and has been a workhorse the last six years, throwing more than 200 innings each time. But one baseball official said, "You'd love to have a guy like that on your staff, but he's not a No. 1. A solid No. 2. So where do you go with him? Don't get me wrong, he'll get great offers because he's a lefthanded pitcher, but he's not the ace of your staff, or shouldn't be."

After the Twins lost Francisco Liriano, you might have felt sorry for GM Terry Ryan, who had to fill in the rotation with the likes of Sidney Ponson and Ramon Ortiz. Feel sorry no more. At Rochester, Ryan has his first- and second-round picks from the 2005 draft, Matt Garza and Kevin Slowey, who may be only a phone call away. Slowey, a second-round pick, is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA, with 11 strikeouts and no walks in 11 2/3 innings. He stuffed Pawtucket Thursday with nine strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings. Garza, the Twins' top pick in '05, is 0-1 with a 2.77 ERA and got valuable time in the majors last season. The Twins wanted him to go back down to work on things. Many wrote off the Twins this season and made Cleveland the sexy pick in the AL Central, but Minnesota is pretty good.

Nick Cafardo's e-mail address is cafardo@globe.com