In our ongoing assessment of how the Yankees ended up with their current rotation, we read this tidbit:

GM Brian Cashman said the Yankees never made an offer to Reds lefty Aroldis Chapman as an amateur.

The Reds were able to lock up Chapman for five years with a $16.25mil signing bonus and a measly $9mil in total salary (plus a $5mil player option in 2015). Chapman made his debut for the Reds in 2010 making 15 appearances out of the bullpen with a 2.03 ERA (1.35 FIP). He will likely begin the year as the Reds set-up man, but he was a starter for four years in Cuba and was a dominant strikeout pitcher in the Reds’ minor league system last year. Yet, Cashman couldn’t be bothered to even raise his hand at the auction?

The really strange thing about this neglect is that we’re always hearing about how Cashman signs guys because scouts get him under-the-surface information that apparently nobody else is detecting (as with Colon or Chan Ho Park). But these same scouts failed to pick up on the fact that this relatively cheap free-agent pitcher could throw a ball faster than anyone else in the world?

As we stated in our offseason verdict, you can’t just say, “well, no one was available this offseason, so this is the best the Yankees could do.” Plan ahead, son. This was a missed opportunity that could have changed the complexion of the Yankees rotation.