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 ESPN 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. Without further delay, here's the top 30 prospects in the Yankees farm system:
| Rank | Name | POS | Born |
| 1 | Aaron Judge | RF | 1992 |
| 2 | Jorge Mateo | SS | 1995 |
| 3 | Gary Sanchez | C | 1992 |
| 4 | James Kaprielian | SP | 1994 |
| 5 | Wilkerman Garcia | SS/3B | 1998 |
| 6 | Domingo Acevedo | SP | 1994 |
| 7 | Dustin Fowler | CF/RF | 1994 |
| 8 | Rob Refsnyder | 2B/LF | 1991 |
| 9 | Ian Clarkin | SP | 1995 |
| 10 | Tyler Wade | SS | 1994 |
| 11 | Jacob Lindgren | RP | 1993 |
| 12 | Drew Finley | SP | 1996 |
| 13 | Brady Lail | SP | 1993 |
| 14 | Miguel Andujar | 3B | 1995 |
| 15 | Luis Torrens | C | 1996 |
| 16 | Mason Williams | CF | 1991 |
| 17 | Hoy-Jun Park | SS | 1996 |
| 18 | Slade Heathcott | CF | 1990 |
| 19 | Luis Cessa | RP | 1992 |
| 20 | Kyle Holder | SS | 1994 |
| 21 | Abiatal Avelino | SS/2B | 1995 |
| 22 | Ben Gamel | RF | 1992 |
| 23 | Thairo Estrada | SS | 1996 |
| 24 | Trey Amburgey | OF | 1994 |
| 25 | Jordan Montgomery | SP | 1992 |
| 26 | Leonardo Molina | CF | 1997 |
| 27 | Jeff Degano | SP | 1992 |
| 28 | Chance Adams | RP | 1994 |
| 29 | Dermis Garcia | 3B | 1998 |
| 30 | Austin DeCarr | SP | 1995 |
I tend to agree with this board and in fact the first 6 picks match what I ended up with last Fall. I was way low on Fowler, which happens every year in some way or another. Sometimes when you're reading the tea leaves you just mis-interpret how well guys are liked or not liked. I thought two years ago the industry was relatively high on Jaron Long and ranked him 30th in my postseason rankings. Then the pundits weighed in and it was clear that was nowhere close.
I also do separate rankings for hitters and pitchers, which can be found here. First the hitters:
| Rank | Player | Position | Born |
| 1 | Aaron Judge | RF | 1992 |
| 2 | Jorge Mateo | SS | 1995 |
| 3 | Gary Sanchez | C | 1992 |
| 4 | Wilkerman Garcia | SS/3B | 1998 |
| 5 | Dustin Fowler | CF/RF | 1994 |
| 6 | Rob Refsnyder | 2B/LF | 1991 |
| 7 | Tyler Wade | SS | 1994 |
| 8 | Miguel Andujar | 3B | 1995 |
| 9 | Luis Torrens | C | 1996 |
| 10 | Mason Williams | CF | 1991 |
| 11 | Hoy-Jun Park | SS | 1996 |
| 12 | Slade Heathcott | CF | 1990 |
| 13 | Kyle Holder | SS | 1994 |
| 14 | Abiatal Avelino | SS/2B | 1995 |
| 15 | Ben Gamel | RF | 1992 |
| 16 | Thairo Estrada | SS | 1996 |
| 17 | Trey Amburgey | OF | 1994 |
| 18 | Leonardo Molina | CF | 1997 |
| 19 | Dermis Garcia | 3B | 1998 |
| 20 | Jhalan Jackson | OF | 1993 |
| 21 | Juan de Leon | CF/RF | 1998 |
| 22 | Nelson Gomez | 3B | 1997 |
| 23 | Tyler Austin | RF/1B | 1991 |
| 24 | Miguel Flames | C/3B | 1997 |
| 25 | Diego Castillo | SS/2B | 1997 |
| 26 | Brayan Emery | RF | 1998 |
| 27 | Donny Sands | 3B | 1996 |
| 28 | Carlos Vidal | LF | 1995 |
| 29 | Angel Aguilar | SS/3B | 1995 |
| 30 | Alexander Palma | RF | 1995 |
And now, the pitchers:
| Rank | Player | Position | Born |
| 1 | James Kaprielian | SP | 1994 |
| 2 | Domingo Acevedo | SP | 1994 |
| 3 | Ian Clarkin | SP | 1995 |
| 4 | Jacob Lindgren | RP | 1993 |
| 5 | Drew Finley | SP | 1996 |
| 6 | Brady Lail | SP | 1993 |
| 7 | Luis Cessa | RP | 1992 |
| 8 | Jordan Montgomery | SP | 1992 |
| 9 | Jeff Degano | SP | 1992 |
| 10 | Chance Adams | RP | 1994 |
| 11 | Austin DeCarr | SP | 1995 |
| 12 | Domingo German | SP | 1992 |
| 13 | Cale Coshow | SP/RP | 1992 |
| 14 | Ty Hensley | SP | 1993 |
| 15 | James Pazos | RP | 1991 |
| 16 | Nick Rumbelow | RP | 1991 |
| 17 | Jonathan Holder | SP | 1993 |
| 18 | Jordan Foley | SP/RP | 1993 |
| 19 | Chaz Hebert | SP | 1992 |
| 20 | Nestor Cortes | SP/RP | 1994 |
| 21 | Vicente Campos | SP/RP | 1992 |
| 22 | Caleb Smith | SP/RP | 1991 |
| 23 | Johnny Barbato | RP | 1992 |
| 24 | Nick Goody | RP | 1991 |
| 25 | Tyler Webb | RP | 1990 |
| 26 | Simon de la Rosa | SP | 1993 |
| 27 | Josh Rogers | SP | 1994 |
| 28 | Gilmael Troya | SP/RP | 1997 |
| 29 | Alexander Vargas | SP | 1997 |
| 30 | Luis Cedeno | SP/RP | 1994 |
Any thoughts? Let me know at @thebronxempire on Twitter. I love the conversation. Have a good day!
