Anybody with an eye on the Yankee farm system knows Tyler Austin, Mason Williams, and Gary Sanchez. These three are the best and brightest in the minors for New York. People who watch the MLB Draft (which is must see TV in my house) have heard of Slade Heathcott, Ty Hensley, and Dante Bichette. As a service to you, I want to give you the names of thirteen players looking to take that next step and join the ranks of the Yankee farm-hand elite. This list is in no particular order.
1. Austin Aune (SS) – drafted in the second round of the 2012 draft and received the second biggest bonus of New York’s draftees behind Ty Hensley. Gave a solid performance in the GCL this year (.273 BA, .358 OBP, .410 SLG). Some scouts speculate he may need to move to the OF, which would hurt his value a bit. And for those of you who wondered like I did, I have heard his last name pronounced “oun”.
2. Greg Bird (1B) – drafted out of high school in the 2011 draft as a catcher, a mid-season move to 1B this year really seemed to make a huge difference for him offensively. He earned a late call-up to State Island and I believe he’ll be playing 1B from now on.
3. Jake Cave (OF) – like Bird, Cave received a big bonus and a lot of hype following the 2011 draft. A knee injury prevented Jake from playing in 2012 and thus far he only has one professional at-bat to his credit. 2013 will be a big year for the talented outfielder.
4. Miguel Andujar (3B) – Miguel received the biggest bonus of New York’s 2011 IFA class ($750,000) and started his career in the GCL, which was a sign the Yankee brass has a lot of faith in the young Dominican third-baseman. Statistically, the young man really struggled in 2012 (.232 BA, .288 OBP, .299 SLG) but I think he’ll really improve on that next year.
5, 6, and 7. Luis Torrens (C), Alexander Palma (OF), andYancarlos Baez (SS) – if you read Baseball America like I do, you’ll know how much they like Torrens and Palma, who were ranked 2nd and 4th respectively in their pre-IFA signing period rankings. Their signing bonuses were $1.3 million, $800 thousand, and $650 thousand, respectively.
8. Chris Breen (C) – Chris is a big bat-first catcher and so he was a natural fit for New York when they drafted him in the 12thround of 2012. His performance for the GCL Yankees trailed off after a nice start. As long as he doesn’t have to move from behind the plate, he should stay on our radar for the foreseeable future.
9. Omar Luis Rodriguez (SP) – Omar actually received the largest amateur signing bonus this year from the Yankees, ($4 million). He is a 19 year old Cuban defector who is best known for his performance in the 2010 World Junior Baseball Championship.
10. Rafael de Paula (SP) – Rafael signed with New York in 2010 but discrepancies with his age and identity resulted in a very lengthy visa process. Major League Baseball did not approve his signing until March 2012. As a 21 year old in the DSL, de Paula flourished (1.46 ERA, 12.41 K/9, .86 WHIP in 14 games started). Because he was playing with kids 4 years younger than him, I’ll take those numbers with a grain of salt but look forward to him making it to the US to play in 2013.
11. Jordan Cote (SP) – yet another talented high schooler from the 2011 draft, Jordan showed he was worth his big $725,000 signing bonus in his first professional season (0.98 ERA, 8.13 K/9, .90 WHIP in 27.2 IP).
12. Daniel Camarena (SP) – the fourth high schooler from the 2011 draft to make this list, Daniel is undersized for his position (6’ 200 lbs according to BA) but, like Cote, put up tremendous numbers in the GCL this year (1.02 ERA and .45 WHIP in 17.2 IP).
13. Rookie Davis (SP) – William, better known as Rookie, has a bigger frame than Camarena and a higher K/9 ratio (9.0 compared to 7.6) but his ERA and WHIP were also higher (2.65 ERA, and 1.24 WHIP in 17 IP).
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