2015 Preseason Yankees Top 30 Hitting and Pitching Prospects

by: Ben Embry

As I mentioned yesterday in my top 30 overall prospects list, the top 30 lists for hitters and pitchers can be an interesting deep dive.  Just like the overall top 30, this is a weighted average of several sites, the citation for which you can find in yesterday's post.  The hitters list is first:

Rank	Player	Position	Born
1	Aaron Judge	RF	1992
2	Greg Bird	1B	1992
3	Jorge Mateo	SS	1995
4	Gary Sanchez	C	1992
5	Rob Refsnyder	2B/LF	1991
6	Luis Torrens	C	1996
7	Eric Jagielo	3B/1B	1992
8	Miguel Andujar	3B	1995
9	Tyler Austin	RF/1B	1991
10	Tyler Wade	SS	1994
11	Jake Cave	CF	1992
12	Abiatal Avelino	SS	1995
13	Mason Williams	CF	1991
14	Ramon Flores	CF/RF	1992
15	Leonardo Molina	CF	1997
16	Jose Pirela	2B	1989
17	Gosuke Katoh	2B	1994
18	Angel Aguilar	SS	1995
19	Slade Heathcott	CF	1990
20	Dante Bichette, Jr.	3B	1992
21	Thairo Estrada	SS	1996
22	Kyle Roller	1B	1988
23	Ben Gamel	RF	1992
24	Alexander Palma	RF	1995
25	Mark Payton	CF	1991
26	Dustin Fowler	OF	1994
27	Chris Breen	RF	1994
28	Michael O'Neill	CF/RF	1992
29	Taylor Dugas	CF/RF	1989
30	Yonauris Rodriguez	SS	1997

Dante Bichette, Jr. had a nice bounce back season in 2014, hitting .271/.352/.410 with 9 HR in 402 AB before his promotion to AA.  He was close to falling off the list and becoming a non-prospect but his showing in 2014 helped bring him back to almost cracking the overall top 30 again.

I also mentioned yesterday that I tend to be more interested in the younger July 2 guys who have a lot of potential but are super raw.  I find them more compelling then your stereotypical 26 year old corner infielder playing in AAA.  Yonauris Rodriguez is one of those young July 2 kids that I find interesting.  Last August, Baseball America had this to say about Rodriguez: "[He] landed a $570,000 bonus on July 2, 2013 mainly on the strength of his defense. With a live, wiry frame, he projects as a true shortstop with smooth hands, good range and reads off the bat.  The pleasant surprise has been Rodriguez’s hitting, which several clubs thought would need time to come around. Instead, he has been one of the better hitters in the Dominican Summer League, batting .315/.435/.427 in 89 AB. The power isn’t there yet, and it might never be part of his game, but Rodriguez is a more advanced, more complete player than scouts were projecting him to be when he signed."

Now for the top 30 pitching prospects:

Rank	Player	Position	Born
1	Luis Severino	SP	1994
2	Ian Clarkin	SP	1995
3	Jacob Lindgren	RP	1993
4	Domingo German	SP	1992
5	Bryan Mitchell	SP	1991
6	Austin DeCarr	SP	1995
7	Ty Hensley	SP	1993
8	Jose Ramirez	RP	1990
9	Brady Lail	SP	1993
10	Chasen Shreve	RP	1990
11	Johnny Barbato	RP	1992
12	Nick Rumbelow	RP	1991
13	Tyler Webb	RP	1990
14	Jose Vicente Campos	SP/RP	1992
15	Rookie Davis	SP	1993
16	Danny Burawa	RP	1988
17	Domingo Acevedo	SP	1994
18	James Pazos	RP	1991
19	Branden Pinder	RP	1989
20	Simon de la Rosa	SP	1993
21	Jordan Foley	SP/RP	1993
22	Jordan Montgomery	SP	1992
23	Caleb Smith	SP/RP	1991
24	Daniel Camarena	SP	1992
25	Nick Goody	RP	1991
26	Jonathan Holder	SP	1993
27	Alexander Vargas	SP	1997
28	Anderson Severino	SP	1994
29	Orby Tavares	SP	1994
30	Nestor Cortes	SP/RP	1994

You may notice that there's a helluva lot of relief pitchers (RP) on this list. The Yankees have insane bullpen depth in the minors for what is easily their strong suit in the big leagues. Even Nick Goody at 25 I think has a decent shot to make it to the major leagues one day. It's kind of interesting that only one year ago Mark Montgomery was their top RP prospect; not only is that no longer the case, he's been purged off the pitchers list completely.  He didn't receive a single vote from any of the ten lists I used in my rankings.

Well, that was a fun exercise! I'll do one again mid season and one at the end of the season. I'll now turn my attention to the big club for a while and then it'll be time to look at the draft.  Have a good day!

2015 Preseason Yankees Farm System Top 30 Rankings

by: Ben Embry

Ladies and gentlemen, it's prospect season!  And every high profile baseball publication/website is in the process of issuing their Top 100 overall and top 10 system rankings.  I like to publish my own and have been doing so for the past few seasons.  Before I reveal my top 30 prospects in the Yankees system let me make this disclaimer: I'm not a scout, nor am I pretending to be one.  These rankings do not reflect my personal opinion but rather the collective opinions of publications like Baseball America and Fangraphs as well as other blogs dedicated to the Yankees such as River Ave Blues and Bronx Baseball Daily.  My only involvement is doing a weighted average of the source material, the links/citations to which can be found below.  Without further delay, here's the top 30 prospects in the Yankees farm system:

Rank	Name	POS	Born
1	Luis Severino	SP	1994
2	Aaron Judge	RF	1992
3	Greg Bird	1B	1992
4	Jorge Mateo	SS	1995
5	Gary Sanchez	C	1992
6	Ian Clarkin	SP	1995
7	Rob Refsnyder	2B/LF	1991
8	Jacob Lindgren	RP	1993
9	Luis Torrens	C	1996
10	Eric Jagielo	3B/1B	1992
11	Domingo German	SP	1992
12	Miguel Andujar	3B	1995
13	Tyler Austin	RF/1B	1991
14	Bryan Mitchell	SP	1991
15	Tyler Wade	SS	1994
16	Austin DeCarr	SP	1995
17	Jake Cave	CF	1992
18	Ty Hensley	SP	1993
19	Abiatal Avelino	SS	1995
20	Jose Ramirez	RP	1990
21	Mason Williams	CF	1991
22	Ramon Flores	CF/RF	1992
23	Leonardo Molina	CF	1997
24	Jose Pirela	2B	1989
25	Brady Lail	SP	1993
26	Chasen Shreve	RP	1990
27	Gosuke Katoh	2B	1994
28	Angel Aguilar	SS	1995
29	Slade Heathcott	CF	1990
30	Johnny Barbato	RP	1992

Severino was amazingly left off one top 100 list this year, that being Keith Law's. In fact, Severino didn't even make the "next 10" supplemental list. Safe to say Keith is the low man on Luis, who has been ranked as high as 23.  Law has stated Severino is destined to the bullpen due to his delivery and slight frame.  While he's not the only person who has suggested this notion, he's the most convinced of it.  All I can say is I hope the others who disagree with him are right.

Judge has the makings of an absolute masher right now who can hit for average and get on base at a fair clip. Plus he has good athleticism for RF and should be a plus defender there, (he played CF in college at Fresno State).  I think he's more likely to make his potential than Severino.

Gary Sanchez took a bit of a tumble as he again failed to have a true break out season that scouts and fans want to see. He's always had critics for his defense and now makeup questions are starting to surface.

As much as he's fallen, it's nothing compared to Mason Williams, Gosuke Katoh, and Slade Heathcott.  It was actually debatable this offseason whether Williams should've been protected from the Rule V draft, (he was). I suspect unless he turns it around he won't be on the 40-man roster when it comes time to decide who to protect.  Katoh has taken the Dante Bichette Jr. path: put up impressive numbers the summer you're drafted, be ranked high in organizational rankings, then fall on your face in low A. Katoh could take some solace in the fact that DBJ has climbed back up the system rankings from almost being purged to landing just outside the top 30.  Heathcott was actually released this winter to make room for others on the 40 man roster. Don't ask me why but I actually have more faith in Heathcott making it to New York than I do Williams. I think it has to do with the canyon like gap in their personalities.

My personal favorites right now are Luis Torrens and Leonardo Molina. I guess I tend to be more interested in the high ceiling but raw July 2 kids that we sign every year.  Torrens is actually making good on the lofty rankings bestowed upon him prior to his signing.  He's shown to actually be a very good defensive catcher despite his relative inexperience there. Unfortunately he experienced a shoulder injury this winter that will prevent him from playing this season.  Molina had a disappointing debut season last year but it was an aggressive assignment for someone who didn't turn 17 until almost the end of the season.  Molina is an absolute tool shed CF and I have a good feeling about his sophomore campaign.

The team has added more depth to the farm system over the offseason with 3 additional prospects, (German ranked 11th, Shreve 26th, and Barbato 30th), and traded one, (Banuelos, previously 13).  Shreve was a part of the package the Yankees received for Banuelos. 

I actually track 65 players with another 20 or so that I kinda keep in the back of my mind as possibilities.  With that in mind, I'll have top 30 hitters and pitchers lists tomorrow. 

I opted to not include last summer's IFA class in the rankings. The two previous years I did this, I waited until mid-season after they had played about a month in rookie league ball.  Unless something changes between then and now, Juan de Leon and Dermis Garcia will likely be ranked in the 20s with the others falling somewhere in behind them.  Including what could be anywhere from 7-10 draftees from June's draft, There should be 20 players (give or take a couple) to add to my tracking list for mid-season.  And because NY's drafting at 16, there's a good chance one or two of those will be in the top 10, (if they go chalk, that is).

FanGraphs (Kiley McDaniel)

MLB.com (Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo)

Baseball America (Josh Norris)

ESPN (Keith Law)

Baseball Prospectus (Chris Mellen)

Bowman Scout

Pinstripes Plus (Patrick Teale)

Bronx Baseball Daily (Greg Corcoran)

River Ave Blues

Pinstripe Alley (Staff)

Ok, tomorrow I'll have my top 30 lists for hitters and pitchers. That's always fun for a good organizational deep dive. Until then, have a good day!