Top 38 Prospects: New York Yankees
Below is an analysis of the prospects in the farm system of the New York Yankees. Scouting reports are compiled with information provided by industry sources as well as from our own (both Eric Longenhagen’s and Kiley McDaniel’s) observations. For more information on the 20-80 scouting scale by which all of our prospect content is governed you can click here. For further explanation of the merits and drawbacks of Future Value, read this.
All of the numbered prospects here also appear on The Board, a new feature at the site that offers sortable scouting information for every organization. That can be found here.
Rk | Name | Age | Highest Level | Position | ETA | FV |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Estevan Florial | 21.2 | A+ | CF | 2020 | 50 |
2 | Jonathan Loaisiga | 24.2 | MLB | RHP | 2018 | 45+ |
3 | Deivi Garcia | 19.7 | AA | RHP | 2021 | 45+ |
4 | Antonio Cabello | 18.3 | R | CF | 2023 | 45+ |
5 | Roansy Contreras | 19.2 | A | RHP | 2022 | 45 |
6 | Albert Abreu | 23.3 | AA | RHP | 2019 | 45 |
7 | Everson Pereira | 17.8 | R | CF | 2023 | 45 |
8 | Anthony Seigler | 19.6 | R | C | 2022 | 45 |
9 | Luis Gil | 20.7 | A- | RHP | 2021 | 45 |
10 | Clarke Schmidt | 22.9 | A- | RHP | 2020 | 45 |
11 | Luis Medina | 19.7 | R | RHP | 2022 | 45 |
12 | Kevin Alcantara | 16.6 | None | CF | 2024 | 40+ |
13 | Trevor Stephan | 23.2 | AA | RHP | 2019 | 40+ |
14 | Osiel Rodriguez | 17.2 | None | RHP | 2022 | 40+ |
15 | Nick Nelson | 23.2 | AA | RHP | 2020 | 40 |
16 | Raimfer Salinas | 18.1 | R | CF | 2023 | 40 |
17 | Anthony Garcia | 18.4 | R | RF | 2023 | 40 |
18 | Alexander Vargas | 17.3 | None | SS | 2024 | 40 |
19 | Josh Breaux | 21.3 | A- | C | 2021 | 40 |
20 | Ryder Green | 18.7 | R | RF | 2023 | 40 |
21 | Josh Stowers | 21.9 | A- | CF | 2021 | 40 |
22 | Oswaldo Cabrera | 19.9 | A | 2B | 2021 | 40 |
23 | Antonio Gomez | 17.2 | None | C | 2024 | 40 |
24 | Ezequiel Duran | 19.7 | R | 2B | 2022 | 40 |
25 | Matt Sauer | 20.0 | A- | RHP | 2021 | 40 |
26 | Thairo Estrada | 22.9 | AAA | SS | 2019 | 40 |
27 | Garrett Whitlock | 22.6 | AA | RHP | 2020 | 40 |
28 | Pablo Olivares | 21.0 | A+ | CF | 2021 | 40 |
29 | Michael King | 23.7 | AAA | RHP | 2019 | 40 |
30 | Yoendrys Gomez | 19.3 | R | RHP | 2022 | 40 |
31 | Juan Then | 19.0 | R | RHP | 2022 | 40 |
32 | Frank German | 21.4 | A- | RHP | 2021 | 40 |
33 | Freicer Perez | 22.9 | A+ | RHP | 2021 | 40 |
34 | Oswald Peraza | 18.6 | R | SS | 2022 | 35+ |
35 | Roberto Chirinos | 18.4 | R | SS | 2022 | 35+ |
36 | Ronny Rojas | 17.4 | R | 2B | 2022 | 35+ |
37 | Angel Rojas | 18.2 | R | SS | 2023 | 35+ |
38 | Dermis Garcia | 21.1 | A | 1B | 2021 | 35+ |
Other Prospects of Note
Grouped by type and listed in order of preference within each category.
Tools Goofs
Juan De Leon, RF
Alexander Palma, RF
Isiah Gilliam, LF
Miguel Marte, SS
Stanley Rosario, LF
Isaiah Pasteur, CF
De Leon got $2 million in the 2014 July 2nd class and still has the loud tools — 70 bat speed, 60 raw, 55 speed, 60 arm — that had scouts so excited, but his conditioning and quality of play have fluctuated. Palma, 23, signed for $800,000 in the 2012 July 2nd class and was having a breakout year at Hi-A until he broke both his fibula and tibia. Much of his 2017 season was lost to injury, as well. He’s a 55 runner with above-average hit and raw power, and the power was starting to play in games. Gilliam has 65-grade raw power from both sides of the plate but is limited defensively and instinctually. Marte signed for $200,000 in 2017 and was arguably the best Yankees prospect in the DSL. He’s a legit shortstop with a plus arm, plus speed, instincts, and some contact skill. Rosario is a poor man’s version of Anthony Garcia; he takes a healthy hack but there’s not a whole lot else yet. Pasteur was a 13th rounder in 2018 out of George Washington (he transferred from Indiana) and he’ll turn 23 next season so he’ll need to perform, but he’s an 80 runner and freak athlete with a weird swing and a chance to play the infield.
Potential Reserves/Platoon Types
Hoy Jun Park, SS
Diego Castillo, SS
Ben Ruta, LF
Jason Lopez, C
Saul Torres, C
Park, recently passed over in the Rule 5 Draft, originally signed out of Korea for $1,000,000. He’s a bit passive at the plate and doesn’t have much game power, but he’s a plus runner with some contact skills and can play at least an average shortstop. He turns 23 in April. Castillo is a gritty, plus makeup shortstop with great instincts and middling raw tools. Ruta is a grinder reserve outfield type who one scout compared to Sam Fuld. Lopez is a prototypical potential backup catcher who converted from the infield, and it looks like he’s going stick back there, but probably not have much offensive impact. Torres has a 70-grade arm and is a 50 or 55 defender with 50 raw power, but has a lot of trouble making hard contact.
Power Arms with Likely Bullpen Futures
Glenn Otto, RHP
Domingo Acevedo, RHP
Chance Adams, RHP
Raynel Espinal, RHP
Alexander Vizcaino, RHP
Otto was a reliever at Rice (winces) who the Yankees wanted to develop a changeup and try to start, but he missed nearly the whole season with a blood clot issues in his shoulder. He’s up to 96 mph and flashes a 70 curveball in short stints, so relief wouldn’t be such a bad thing, but it sounds like they’ll give starting one more try. Acevedo has solid middle relief stuff and command but can’t stay healthy. He’s up to 98 mph and could be a two-pitch reliever (the changeup is the best secondary). Adams was drafted as a power reliever and was asked to start, and his stuff held up for a while, but then it slowly backed up last year. It may now make sense to put him in the bullpen and see if it bounces back. Espinal was passed over in the Rule 5 Draft but he’s got a funky three-quarters delivery, a good slider, and his velo was up last year, as was his K%. Sources we spoke with have varied opinions of Vizcaino’s secondary stuff, which could just be evidence of inconsistency. His fastball is into the upper-90s, sitting 93-97, and he’s shown an above-average slider.
Starter Types at the Lower Levels
Miguel Yajure, RHP
Denny Larrondo, RHP
Jhonatan Munoz, RHP
Rony Garcia, RHP
Nolan Martinez, RHP
Dalton Lehnen, LHP
Harold Cortijo, RHP
Yajure (pronounced yah-HOOR-ray) has command of above-average offspeed, which gives him a chance to be a backend starter. Larrondo is a 16-year-old Cuban who signed for $550,000 last summer. He sits 89-92 mph with touch and feel, is athletic, and can spin it. Munoz is a 5-foot-11 bulldog reliever with solid average stuff. He came right at hitters and had success in 50-pitch outings during extended and short-season ball last year. Garcia is another potential backend starter who’s up to 95 mph with a solid average curveball. Martinez was an overslot third rounder in 2016 but has had trouble adding weight and staying healthy, so his above average stuff has backed up. Lehnen is a finesse lefty who may benefit from a new weapon, perhaps a cutter, a pitch this system has more of than is usual. Cortijo is 5-foot-9 and has a fringy slider but he’s up to 95 mph and gets good extension, and he has an above average changeup.
System Overview
Perhaps no team’s talent cup runneth over quite like the Yankees. Since 2015, they have had 11 players selected from their org in the Rule 5 draft and made countless trades sending away viable major leaguers who couldn’t crack their 40-man roster. As they’ve enacted this 40-man churn, the Yankees have specifically targeted players far away from the big leagues, guys who don’t have to be added to their crowded 40-man for several years.
Because more and more teams have placed value on certainty and player proximity to the majors, the Yankees have been able to flip a bunch of relievers in their mid-20s for young, high-variance players who have sizable upside if things click. Our prospect asset values put big numbers on 50 FV or higher guys, and the Yankees only have one of those, so they won’t rank highly in our farm system rankings. But they definitely have the most of the high ceiling, high-variance sorts, including a few who, as we point out in the scouting reports, could be Top 100 caliber by midseason, giving the Yankees a high likelihood of moving into the top half of systems during 2019, barring trades.
When we spoke with scouts who were excited about talent from the low levels of this system, we asked why their team hadn’t traded for one of those players. The answer? The Yankees won’t discuss them. Their 40-man crunch, big payroll, and talented major league roster have driven the youth movement at the lower levels. This is interesting to contrast with the Rays, who have one of baseball’s smallest payrolls, have stocked their big league team with pre-arbitration talent, and have a farm system clogged with prospects at Double- and Triple-A.
A few other teams have begun to experience a similar 40-man crunch (San Diego and Tampa Bay come to mind) but the Yankees have been employing this methodology for a few years now, and it has had a drastic impact on the shape of their farm system. This, combined with a strong international program and a willingness to acquire additional pool space in recent years, has helped lead to a whopping 58% of the players on this prospect list being teenagers. On average, this is the youngest farm system we’ve written up so far, with players in the 35+ FV or better tiers averaging 20.2 years old, two years younger than in most other systems.
Last year’s Brandon Drury saga is a great example of why that strategy is necessary. Perfectly fine big leaguers are hard for the Yankees to roster right now. They have stars, who will need to be usurped by other players of similar caliber. 25-year-old relievers and utility infielders may be viable big leaguers, but they don’t often suddenly turn into stars. Some of these teenagers might.
thanks guys for the work. For me this verifies how bias the international draft is. Look at this list most are international signees. And there is history there as well. Penalize the Braves for their shenegigans and yet the biggest culprit and the innovators of under the table dealing are the Yankees. MLB need to make some changes. Fund these academies so it can have a legimate drafts….
What is the complaint here? The Yankees do a good job signing international prospects, therefore…bad? I see no evidence the Yankees have broken any rules like the Braves under Coppolella. Maybe they should, ya know, be commended for doing a good job at scouting and development? Especially since they never have high draft picks (down with drafts, btw)
Not sure why you’re pounding the table for this considering there are a handful of teams that barely, if at all, utilize or even sign guys from the carribean.
There’s been a base level of under-the-table dealings in Latin America for years (mostly the fact that players not eligible to sign until 16 are in reality locked up by 14) but I’ve never seen any evidence the Yankees are particularly bad actors in that space.
Consider, instead, their name recognition advantage. The D.R. doesn’t have a home team, all they see are akin to national broadcasts, which means their Yankees exposure is even more disproportionate than what we see here in the U.S. They’re one hour past the East Coast time zone, so Dodgers/Giants games don’t start until 11 p.m. Dominican time. Dominican TV is all East Coast, all the time. Consider also where the largest concentration of Dominican immigrants live in the United States. It’s New York and Miami, and nobody really loves Miami. So Dominicans’ U.S. relatives root for their home teams, and those connections mean something. And of course, the Yankees win, obnoxiously consistently.
Put it all together and the Yankees (and to a lesser degree the Red Sox and Mets since they also get tons of media exposure) have a massive structural advantage that has nothing to do with wealth or underhanded dealing. These kids sign between 14 and 16. Some of them have little choice, going where the money’s greatest or where their buscons tell them to, but what would you expect a kid with any say in the matter to do when faced with roughly equal offers? Tiebreaker goes to the handful of teams that are basically synonymous with baseball on the island.
That’s just pure speculation based on nothing. The conclusion you’re asking to draw is that the Yankees are able to sign players for less money than other teams, and there’s no evidence that is the case.
No it’s not. I specifically said when the money’s roughly the same and referred to the advantage as a tiebreaker. I don’t think players regularly take discounts to play for the Yankees, but I think the Yankees have pretty much the best chance of any team to get any player who they decide to bid competitively for.
And it’s based on more than you think. In a previous life/career, I lived in the DR and worked on the periphery of this world. I’ll acknowledge my experience is nothing more than anecdotal but only a few teams get consistent coverage before the postseason because there’s no such thing as local coverage.
Fair point, east coast and especially New York teams have an advantage with DR and maybe even Venezuelan players. Not dissimilar to west coast advantage with Japanese and Mexican players. I realize you didn’t raise the issue but it kind of becomes an inane topic…
I actually think the Marlins have a chance to really improve their DSL operations and become the #1 player in the Dominican. Playing so close to home and in a very Latino-friendly environment should give them the edge.
what are you even talking about? yankees have been consistently losing out on top guys in every class who had prearranged deals before they even got a foot in the door.
Yes, I am aware that the Yankees don’t sign every top player on the international market.
The top of the market is its own animal, especially since bonus pools began. Each team basically needs to pick their 1, maybe 2 top-rated guys and go out and get them. There’s a lot more action in the low to mid six figures though where relationships and cache matter a ton, and I think that’s where the Yankees really thrive.
They’re also just a really well run organization with really talented people top to bottom, including international scouts, so there’s that too.
that’s not even the point which is disputing this guy’s assertion that yankees cheat the rules in IFA.