Its really staggering how baseball just refuses to learn from the past.

In the mid 1990s the Mets had three futures aces coming up through their farm system: Paul Wilson, Jason Isringhausen and Bill Pulsipher.

Pulsipher and Wilson made zero impact, while Isringhausen survived the ordeal and became a fairly successful closer.

But, the fact is that all three of them were rushed to the majors, put into various roles and the New York Mets organization was shocked and flabbergasted when all three of them fell to injuries and were unsuccessful.  No one could understand how not one, not two, but three future aces all failed to live up to their promise.  Again, Isringhausen went on and found second life as a closer, but all three of them were supposed to be perennial all-stars.

For those who had not yet followed baseball in the mid-90s close enough to remember, just take a look at the New York Yankees of 2008.

In the role of Paul Wilson is Philip Hughes.  A big, young, strong kid with electric stuff.  Hughes is on the disabled list for the second time in his career and he’s only made 19 career starts.  At 22 years old, he was expected to be the Yankees No. 3 starter and he’s responded with a stunning 0-4 record and an ERA of 9.  That’s right, he’s given up 22 earned runs in 22 innings.  But, that’s immaterial because he’s out until at least the All-Star break.

In the role of Jason Isringhausen is Joba Chamberlain.  In their infinite wisdom, the Yankees decided to move Chamberlain out of the bullpen and stretch him out into a major league starter.  That’s a smart move.  Let us bare in mind that part of Chamberlain’s initial success is, in part, due to the fact that no one sees him more than once in a game.  Chamberlain has not had to make adjustments to hitters that have found success against him.  Keep an eye on him first time he goes through a lineup for a second and third time and see how he fares.

Taking a young pitcher who is still finding his way in the majors and throwing him out of his element into something new exposes a complete lack of logical thinking on the part of the Yankees organization.  Do they really think Chamberlain is going to have the success that Kennedy and Hughes couldn’t find? A pitcher who hasn’t started once in the major leagues and has a grand total of 15 career starts at the minor league level.

In the role of Bill Pulsipher is Ian Kennedy.  Kennedy a fine young pitcher who doesn’t have overpowering stuff, but very good command and certainly has the potential to be a fine major league starter.   Kennedy doesn’t have 200 professional innings to his credit, yet was expected to win 10-12 games and provide an ERA of 3.5 to 4. Of course, Kennedy hasn’t learned how to get a lineup of major league hitters out, so its not so surprising he hasn’t found success at the major league level.

The sad part is, its too late, at least for this season.  You can’t send the three of them down and let them develop anymore.  The  Yankees just have to hope they right their ships on their own.  And, unfortunately, its not the fault of the pitchers.  They put their trust in an organization that ruined them.

Perhaps 10-15 years from now when another franchise is blessed with three future aces, they’ll remember what happened to the Yankees Big 3.