When Bryan Hoch, who covers the team for MLB.com, asked Yankees GM BrianCashman to name the best one, his answer came from a sea of choices. He chose Orlando Hernandez.
A few months after Hernandez defected from Cuba late in 1997, he signed a four-year contract worth $6.6 million. It was a large, risky investment at the time, even for a Cuban superstar, as he was 32 years old and had never thrown a Major League Baseball pitch.
“El Duque” went 12-4 in his rookie season and posted a 3.13 ERA, before performing masterfully in the American League Championship Series and the World Series.