My Yankees Top 20 Prospects

The Yankees are a baseball team that has been criticized over the past few seasons for their lack of commitment to the farm system and their usage of money to win games. The truth, however, is that that reputation is on its way out the door, because the Yankees are showing a new commitment to the talent that is being drafted or brought in through international scouting.

Note: I am not an expert on the Yankees, nor do I pretend to be. I am merely posting my opinion based on all the scouting info I have read and what I have seen of these players

1. Joba Chamberlain (right) - The most hyped-up Yankee prospect in many years, he clearly has talent. The only question with Joba is when, not if, he’ll ascend to stardom.
2. Ian Kennedy – Some people are down on his talent because he doesn’t display as much upside as some prospects out there, but the facts are: He will be a 23-year-old starter with excellent control, at the major league level, who has had success at every level he has pitched at. You don’t find prospects much better than that.
3. Jose Tabata - The 19 year old phenom is entering the territory where he needs to start producing to move up anymore. The natural talent that we all know he has is going to kick in sometime soon and hopefully we will see him rise rapidly through the ranks.
4. Austin Jackson - After struggling to start off the season, A-Jax was promoted to Tampa, causing outcry among prospect watchers; he responded by going on fire and playing better than he had ever played before.
5. Alan Horne - Some prospect watchers call this young man overrated and say that he just got lucky. However, the former first round pick has talent; the key for him is staying healthy, and in 2007 he managed to achieve that.
6. Jesus Montero - The main question with this young talent is whether he can stick at the grueling position of catcher. He will never be a defensive-oriented catcher, but if things work out for the best he could be a successful offensive-minded catcher.
7. Dellin Betances (Right) - He hasn’t really done much in the time that he has been in the Yankees system, but he’s young, and is likely experiencing what I like to call, “Tall Pitcher Syndrome” - tall pitchers generally take longer to experience a breakthrough than do shorter pitchers.
8. Francisco Cervelli - Cervelli had an interesting 2007 season, starting off very strong and then dying down as the end of the season came around. Because of this, many questions about his durability have risen. I am more than optimistic that this young talent will be able to take over the position of catcher for Jorge Posada, and fill in the job admirably.
9. Jeff Marquez - Call me crazy, but he’s a young pitcher with good upside, close to the majors, and the potential to be a major league starter. He is the player in the Yankees organization who I’d say is most likely to be traded sometime soon as he gets passed by more prospects, but I would be more than happy to have him in the system.
10. Juan Miranda - The Cuban first baseman still has a ways to go to reach the major leagues, and he is already kind of old for prospect status, but I believe that there is a good likelihood that sometime in the next few seasons he will take over the first base position for the Yankees.
11. Zach McAllister - A young pitcher with a good arm for getting ground balls and a huge amount of upside. The Yankees have so much young pitching depth, and even in an organization as packed as the Yankees have, this 20-year-old next season is one of the top prospects.
12. Andrew Brackman - He has given us more than enough reason to worry that he may never even reach the majors, but he has so much upside that there is still the possibility that he becomes a right-handed Randy Johnson. And that’s just amazing.
13. Humberto Sanchez - I’m more than a little bit worried by his spotty injury history, but he has the potential to be a front-end starter or an amazing reliever.
14. Mark Melancon - If you asked me which player had the best chance of becoming and elite closer for the Yankees, the answer would be Mark Melancon. He needs to recover from Tommy-John Surgery, which is a feat in of itself.
15. Carmen Angelini - A major talent out of the draft last year, he could become an elite prospect very soon with a strong performance.
16. George Kontos - His 2007 season was not amazing, but you have to be impressed with his 101-30 K-BB ratio, and he’ll be 23 next season in most likely High-A Tampa.
17. Brett Gardner (Right) - He is very close to the majors and will likely be either a bench player for a contender or a starter for a non-contender.
18. Dave Robertson - Overwhelmed at every level he played at last season, starting in Single-A Charleston and ending up in Double-A Trenton. He could start the season in Trenton in ‘08 and finish in the bigs. His 113-32 K-BB in 84.1 innings as a 22 year old is just plain dominant.
19. Brad Suttle - His performance so far has been more than underwhelming, and he lost third base with the new contract given to A-Rod, but he has good upside and could be a big trade-bait candidate.
20. Ryan Pope - His performance in Low-A was strong but not as dominant as it could have been for a 21 year old; however, scout Carlos Gomez, who analyzes player mechanics, was in love with the mechanics Pope brought to the table, which is a big deal considering how stingy Gomez was with giving out the kind of praise Pope got.

Honorable mention would go to Daniel McCutchen, who I think is a big breakout candidate.