Amazing! Patience from Yanks at deadline

We're in Brian Cashman's 14th season as Yankees general manager, amazingly. But it's only his sixth real season atop baseball operations since George Steinbrenner finally gave him the powers commensurate with other people holding his title.

The virtues of patience, discipline and self-sufficiency have been preached by Cashman, and often observed, when the Yankees weren't dumping money on the likes of CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Rafael Soriano.

Now, however, we've reached a new point of tension in this saga. The non-waivers trade deadline came and went yesterday without a single transaction executed in the Bronx. The solutions to any problems, more likely than not, will come from the inside. Cashman, in a contract year, will bet on his body of work and on the farm system he and his lieutenants built.

"I like our team. I'll continue to look for ways to make it better," he said after the Yankees beat Baltimore, 4-2. "And I think that we have some very talented young kids that might come up here and be interesting in their attempts to make it better at some point."

He was referring to Ivan Nova, who won Saturday night in his return to the big leagues after spending nearly four weeks with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. To lefty Manny Banuelos, whom the Yankees promoted from Double-A Trenton to Scranton on Sunday. To young catcher Jesus Montero, who finally might get a chance to show off his bat in the majors.

To the very jewels the Yankees have developed for a moment like this -- when the internal options are better than the external ones.

Ubaldo Jimenez? The Yankees didn't value him as an ace, and Cleveland did. Hiroki Kuroda? Even if he had waived his no-trade clause, which he refused to do, the Yankees didn't want to give up major pieces for an impending free agent who might not have even brought back draft picks as compensation.

Wandy Rodriguez? The Yankees communicated with Houston about him Sunday, but it seemed fueled more by curiosity than a sincere desire to get him.

Francisco Liriano? The Twins' asking price fell far more in line with what Liriano once was than what he is now.

"At some point," Cashman said, "you have to reflect that what you've got is pretty good."

Freddy Garcia pitched well again Sunday, raising his record to 10-7. We're now in August, and Garcia and Bartolo Colon -- great low-risk signings by Cashman -- are on track to post their best campaigns since . . . well, since before Cashman gained his current powers. Colon hasn't been this good since 2005, Garcia since 2004.

"I don't know where we'd be without them," Joe Girardi said.

"I'm in no-man's land" when it comes to projecting both veterans going forward, Cashman admitted.

Is this a championship roster? It doesn't feel like one, right? Then again, it doesn't feel like a team with a 64-42 roster, eight games up in the loss column over the Angels (59-50) in the wild-card standings.

Maybe Cashman can make a surprising acquisition during the waivers period before Sept. 1. The better bet might just be that Nova blossoms all the way into a postseason roster spot. And that Montero helps the offense. And that maybe even Adam Warren contributes a solid start or two.

Cashman's job very likely is safe regardless of how the playoffs go -- and assuming he wants to return -- yet the October results can help determine his leverage with ownership.

The emphasis on development is a proven baseball business model. We just haven't seen it put to this sort of test in the Bronx before.