Prospects!

Over at River Avenue Blues, Mike Axisa ranks the Yankees Top 30 Minor League ballers. Check it out. He does a good job of providing a short but informative summary on each guy. One thing that you’ll notice – if you haven’t already been aware – is that the Yankees’ system is short in terms of high impact talent that is close to contributing . Obviously, Jesus is knocking on the door and, with a strong 2010, he could soon be kicking it down. He’s the only one though. It is a little frustrating when you read reports about how deep Boston’s system is and you see the results of Tampa Bay’s player development on the field. However, Mike makes a good point in a different post when he says “the Yankees goal is to be the best team in the Majors, not to have the best farm system”.  Of course, having a good system can play a big role in sustaining success at the Big League level but, having a “good system” for the Yankees does not necessarily mean that they have tobbe stocked full of MLB-ready five star talent at all times.  The Yanks’ system had started to get some depth and surplus and they used it to bring in some quality pieces.  Naturally, as a whole, their system is going to take a hit compared others but, nobody will be talking about that if/when they are hoisting the 2010 World Series trophy.

Another trend you’ll notice throughout the rankings is a number of college pitching prospects.  Adam Warren, Graham Stoneburner and Caleb Cotham are three intriguing ones because they still have some potential to tap into and some ceiling to reach – something that is not often the case with college players drafted in later rounds.  I doubt that those three will develop into top-of-the-rotation arms but we will be able to consider them successful if they are able to provide the Yankees with any sort of production on the Big League staff or bring back some value in a trade.

Like I mentioned earlier, we do not have much high impact talent ready to contribute in the short term but we still have a lot of intriguing players throughout the system that could develop into legitimate prospects with some more experience and seasoning.  Guys like Slade Heathcott, J.R. Murhpy, Manny Banuelos, Jose Ramirez, Kelvin Deleon, Bryan Mitchell, etc. fit that mold and will certainly be fun to track throughout the Minors.

Tags: Adam Warren, Bryan Mitchell, J.R. Murphy, Jesus Montero, Jose Ramirez, Kelvin Deleon, Manny Banuelos, Slade Heathcott