Yankees 2022 prospect thread.

[drt1010]

A look back at the Yankee prospects in the 2018 Baseball America Top 100
Six Yankee farmhands featured in Baseball America’s Top 100 prospects in 2018.
By Kevin Winterhalt@TheOneKevinW Jan 23, 2023, 2:30pm EST

Five years ago today, an article appeared on the YES Network’s website. Baseball America had published its annual list of the top 100 prospects in baseball, and the YES Network broadcast that news to the fandom that might have missed it in BA. Only the Atlanta Braves had more players show up in the top 100 than the Yankees, though three other clubs managed to match New York’s plethora of prospects.

Five years later, with five Yankees making the cut in the 2023 version of BA’s annual rundown. it’s worth taking a look back to see how their 2018 counterparts fared in the last half-decade.

https://www.pinstripealley.com/2023/...l-albert-abreu

PS. Torres was not actually a NY home grown talent. Yankees acquired Torres for Chapman from the Cubs.
Cubs ship No. 1 prospect Torres plus McKinney, Crawford, Warren to Bronx.

[dayners81]

Jerson Alejandro signed with the Yankees in this signing period and the organization believes he’s one of the best overall pitchers in this class. He throws 98 with a plus changeup and good command at 6-foot-6 and 255 pounds."

Yankees have a ton of under 20 power arms

[Phoba Rama]

Jerson Alejandro signed with the Yankees in this signing period and the organization believes he’s one of the best overall pitchers in this class. He throws 98 with a plus changeup and good command at 6-foot-6 and 255 pounds."

Yankees have a ton of under 20 power arms

Thanks for the info. This is the year we find out if the farm is going to really start producing for the Yanks or not.

Volpe
Peraza
Cabrera
Florial
Dunham
Wells
Pereira
Dominguez
Chaparro
Hardman
Sweeney

That's a lot of talent, all Double-A and over, and that excludes pitching. If they don't get a couple of solid major leaguers out of this group they should probably just give up and trade all of their prospects from now on lol.

[dayners81]

Thanks for the info. This is the year we find out if the farm is going to really start producing for the Yanks or not.

Volpe
Peraza
Cabrera
Florial
Dunham
Wells
Pereira
Dominguez
Chaparro
Hardman
Sweeney

That's a lot of talent, all Double-A and over, and that excludes pitching. If they don't get a couple of solid major leaguers out of this group they should probably just give up and trade all of their prospects from now on lol.

I completely agree, actually I think they need to get atleast 3-4 guys who are above avg everyday players. With 1-2 becoming AS. I also think with the trade value of that group, we should get back atleast 1 really good player in a trade. If this group including Jones flops I'm trading everyone as soon as they get value

[dayners81]

Thanks for the info. This is the year we find out if the farm is going to really start producing for the Yanks or not.

Volpe
Peraza
Cabrera
Florial
Dunham
Wells
Pereira
Dominguez
Chaparro
Hardman
Sweeney

That's a lot of talent, all Double-A and over, and that excludes pitching. If they don't get a couple of solid major leaguers out of this group they should probably just give up and trade all of their prospects from now on lol.

BTW, I checked on the kid in this tweet and it sounds like he's a bigger Medina with much better command. He's been 96-98, but they think with his build they can get that sitting velo up. The CU is closer to plus, plus and he has a good feel for spinning the ball. They believe they can get him throwing a plus off speed pitch.

Sounds like this kid should have been 7 figure kid and it sounds like the Yanks got him for less than 100k

The pitching guys in the system are as or more excited about this kid than any other pitcher they drafted or signed this yr.

[Phoba Rama]

BTW, I checked on the kid in this tweet and it sounds like he's a bigger Medina with much better command. He's been 96-98, but they think with his build they can get that sitting velo up. The CU is closer to plus, plus and he has a good feel for spinning the ball. They believe they can get him throwing a plus off speed pitch.

Sounds like this kid should have been 7 figure kid and it sounds like the Yanks got him for less than 100k

The pitching guys in the system are as or more excited about this kid than any other pitcher they drafted or signed this yr.

Sounds awesome. Pitching is so tricky. So many factors when they are that young. The most important is probably health. Hoping this kid stays healthy and is able to control his pitches. Those two things seem to be the only ones that could limit him

[Phoba Rama]

https://twitter.com/jbrophybaseball/...aqYNm9sow&s=19

99.7 mph with control. Exciting

[Kinkotheclown]

https://twitter.com/jbrophybaseball/...aqYNm9sow&s=19

99.7 mph with control. Exciting

I love the comments.
A guy said, yeah,, but he had 19 walks in 33 innings

Brophy
I don't judge someone solely on stats. I prefer to make a judgement on seeing their performances in person.

Snap! He dropped the eye test on that dude!

[Phoba Rama]

I love how so many of these types of videos are emerging. Don't even need to wait for BA or one of these big scouting sites to catch wind of a player anymore.

[dayners81]

Sounds like the first thing Sabean and Minaya did was recommend Sweeney move to 3rd base. The Yankees have now announced Sweeney will make the switch to 3rd

thats a really good start.

To me that also means they see him in their long term plans. If he weren't in there long term plans. they would leave him at SS for the extra value.

So reading tea leaves a bit, they see a scenario of an infield of Wells C) Rizzo 1st) Volpe 2nd) Peraza SS) Sweeney 3rd.
They also have Dom, Pereira, Dunham, Chapparro that have had success in AA and could also be ready at some point this yr. It will not happen but thats basically an entire lineup above AA.

The Yankees made a smart move listening to Minaya and Sabean on moving Sweeney to 3rd base. It will be interesting to see what other recommendations they make and what other moves ae coming

[Kinkotheclown]

Sounds like the first thing Sabean and Minaya did was recommend Sweeney move to 3rd base. The Yankees have now announced Sweeney will make the switch to 3rd

thats a really good start.

To me that also means they see him in their long term plans. If he weren't in there long term plans. they would leave him at SS for the extra value.

So reading tea leaves a bit, they see a scenario of an infield of Wells C) Rizzo 1st) Volpe 2nd) Peraza SS) Sweeney 3rd.
They also have Dom, Pereira, Dunham, Chapparro that have had success in AA and could also be ready at some point this yr. It will not happen but thats basically an entire lineup above AA.

The Yankees made a smart move listening to Minaya and Sabean on moving Sweeney to 3rd base. It will be interesting to see what other recommendations they make and what other moves ae coming

I am really happy they have done this. If his bat is as advertised and he can now add a bit of weight? He could be a good player with legit power from the left.

What I think is interesting is the report that Judge was fielding balls at 1b. I do not think that is a part of any short term plan (3-4 years). but once Rizzo is gone and if they don'e end up with the Japanese kid, could Judge become a real option at 1B? Seems it would save his body and he's a huge target at 1b.
That would allow for another OF.

[dayners81]

Baseball america came out with there top 30 Yankees.
Arias has an 80 grade arm
Mayea has 80 grade speed

[Kinkotheclown]

Baseball america came out with there top 30 Yankees.
Arias has an 80 grade arm
Mayea has 80 grade speed

Is Mayea playing in the system this year?
I love his swing. Very quick. No wasted moment.
I really hope they get him a bit more focused on hard contact and gap to gap, rather than HRs

He is a guy who I think could move through the farm, very quickly.
Like we could see him by 2024-2025

[dayners81]

Is Mayea playing in the system this year?
I love his swing. Very quick. No wasted moment.
I really hope they get him a bit more focused on hard contact and gap to gap, rather than HRs

He is a guy who I think could move through the farm, very quickly.
Like we could see him by 2024-2025

Sounds like Mayea will at least start in the DSL in May-June.

How many 80 grade SS arms do you remember seeing? That kid from the Reds that threw a ball 99 across the diamond has an 80 arm, but I can't think of any others. Arod when he was playing SS??

Both Arias and Mayea have the type of talent that could allow them to fly through the system if things go correctly. Arias has a lot more competition to win an INF spot going forward than Mayea has competition for CF.

Whats really exciting is Greg and I did an interview with our top IFA source and this kid they have an agreement with Wandy Asigen is another SH SS. All the talent evaluators I've spoken with think Asigen has the best tools and highest ceiling of any IFA player they have ever signed.

Another evaluator told me he expects Asigen to actually be what we hoped Dom would be as a prospect, except at SS.

[dayners81]

My dream 2025 lineup
Most if not all of the top 100 prospects lists have dropped and the new scouting reports are out. In addition, we’ve obtained some new scouting reports from advanced scouts we talk to; so we have a bit more information to project these guys.

There are 6-7 consensus top 100 prospects in the system. This includes Anthony Volpe, Jasson Dominguez, Oswald Peraza, Austin Wells, Trey Sweeney, Everson Pereira and Spencer Jones. The best news is all of these guys with the exception of Jones are at Double-A or higher. That means they are all within striking distance of reaching the MLB.

Now to be fair, the likely hood of all these guys making to the Yankees roster is slim, but certainly not unrealistic

1. Volpe RHB, 2B

Early in his career Volpe should be the new prototype lead-off hitter. He puts the bat on the ball, gets lots of hard contact and has good power. What also helps him in his lead-off profile is his elite ability to steal bases. Last year he was the first player since Andruw Jones in 1995 to record a 20 homerun, 50 stolen base season.

Defensively at shortstop he has quieted his critics. In fact, with a move to second base, I think he will immediately become one of the best in baseball defensively.

2. Dominguez SH LF/CF

Dominguez really changed the conversation about him after being promoted to High-A and hitting over .300. Then, after moving to Double-A, he had one of the most impressive playoff runs we’ve seen in quite a while. He had a two homerun game, one from each side, and a 6RBI game. Some people are quick to dismiss this kid because they feel he should be even more advanced than he is. He’s a full year of development behind because he missed what would been his first year of development due to the COVID-19 lost season. The same can be said for just about every player in the minors though, but it should be noted by the people that complain he hasn't made the MLB before hiss 20th Bday.

He is another power/speed guy similar to Volpe. Dominguez has the power from both sides of the plate to keep pitcher honest and the speed and ability to steal bases that will keep pitcher off balance. He will likely get a lot of very, very good pitches to hit in front of Judge

Defensively, he doesn’t get the best reads or routes in centerfield that will allow him to stay there longterm. That said, I’ve been told that since working with Bader in Double-A, he has improved that a lot and is working on it hard this winter. Maybe he stays in center, at least to start his career. He could also just as easily end up in left field where the Yankees have a long term need to fill.

3. Judge RHB RF

I’m a bit old school, preferring my best all around hitter batting third. I still think by the 2025 season Judge will still be putting up big numbers and having pitchers scared to pitch to him.

4. Murikami LHB 1B

Murikami plans on coming stateside in 25. He will be an unrestricted FA and will be able to choose his team. When asked about where he would like to play he specifically mentioned the Yankees as a preferred destination. He also wears #55 to honor his childhood hero, Matsui. Matsui also helped us sign Tanaka. In Murikami’s age 22 season all he did was win the triple crown and break the NPL HR record with 56hrs. The left hand power is absolutely huge and perfect fit for Yankee Stadium. The Yankees want to get back into the Asian market in a big way and this is the guy to do it. IMO he is a must get for the Yankees. They don’t have a true, top 1st baseman prospect in the system and Rizzo will be gone by then. He also would be the perfect addition age wise to this new "core"

5. Stanton RHB DH

Stanton will be toward the end of his career and if he can stay healthy should still have the power to launch 30hrs. We’ll see what happens with this, but for me this might be the only big hole in the lineup at that time.

6. Jones LHB CF/LF

Jones ceiling is over the moon, but we still need time to see him develop before we get more excited than we already are. He could easily challenge Dominguez for the #2 spot in the lineup, but he doesn’t have the stolen base chops at this point Dominguez does. In my opinion he has the highest ceiling in our entire system. Jones has the profile and athleicism to hit anywhere in the lineup, having he and Judge batting 1-2 would be kinda fun.

Defensively, most expect him to stick in centerfield, but could end up in left. I think this kid has a chance to be a superstar, but I need to see a bit more against better competition.

7. Wells LHB C/DH

The bat with Wells has never been the question and this kid just flat knows how to hit. He’s probably the safest bet in our system to hit 30 doubles and 30 homeruns. Wells also can run much better than your typical catcher; he’s a perfect 32/32 in stolen bases in his Yankees career.

Defensively, where he is going to play has always been the question. Many scouts and analyst are now saying he has improved enough behind the plate to be at least average defensively. The arm is still average, but he is working tirelessly to improve that aspect of his game. If he can stick defensively, Wells’ bat would instantly make him one of the top offensive catchers in baseball. While he’ll never be considered an elite defensively, if he can be league average or better, that would be a massive win for the Yanks offensively.

8 Sweeney LHB 3B

Sweeney has made some adjustment to his swing and many scouts believe this is the best left-handed swing in our system. Thats quite a statement with Wells, Dominguez, Jones, Cabrera and Dunham in the system. He makes a lot of hard contact with exit velocities up to 110 mph plus. He has 30 homerun power with an equal amount of doubles.

Defensively, at 6-foot-4, 220-pounds, his body is better suited for third base. He has all the tools to be an above avg to plus third baseman. The range would be above average as would the arm.

Another strong contender for this spot would be Roderick Arias. While probably a year too soon, if the talent translates to production, he could be knocking on the door by then.

9. Peraza RHB SS.

Peraza would likely hit lead-off on other teams, but with all the fire power listed above him he makes the perfect second lead-off hitter for the Yankees. The bat is more above average than plus right now, but as we’ve seen in his small sample at the MLB level he certainly didn’t look outmatched. The bat and power have improved every year as he continues to develop. Where he’s going to standout the most is on the bases. He has plus or better speed and is starting to develop good reads and jumps off pitchers. He should be a consistent 40 stolen base threat throughout his career. Peraza best tools will be his arm and glove. He is one of the best pure shortstops I’ve seen in a long time. I think we’ll see him win multiple gold or platinum gloves in his time with the Yankees.

10. Cabrera SH UTL

He wouldn’t likely be a starter for the Yankees if this all came to reality. That doesn’t diminish his value whatsoever. I would see his role playing all over 5-6 games a week at multiple positions and heavily contributing to the offense, especially from the LH side.

For me this is a very well comprised circular lineup with power, speed, contact and is LH heavy as it should be to take advantage of Yankee Stadium. Another factor for me is that being Left hand heavy should also help us in the playoffs when we see more premium right handed pitching.

I could also see Arias and Delgado possibly making this team by then. If Peraza performs anywhere close to expectation, I think Arias would end up at third base instead of Sweeney, which could actually be an upgrade. Arias has better barrel awareness and contact skill, with plus, plus speed and probably more power than Sweeney. He also has projects to have a better glove and already has a plus plus arm. That said he’s so far away it’s better to temper expectation until we see what he does stateside. Delgado is in a very similar position with his development. All the tools are there, like Arias, to be a superstar.

Now, at this point you’re probably saying, great dream, but the Yanks will never be able to develop that many prospects that get to the MLB. You are probably correct. That said, with the exception of Jones, all the prospects have at least reached Double-A and had success at that level. If a guy can excel in Double-A, which everyone of these guys have, in most cases that mean you should be able to project some level of success in the MLB.

These also aren’t your average prospects, all of these guys have been ranked as top 100 prospects this season. We also have Pereira who is another Top 100 prospect and succeeded in Double-A

We know we need a long term answer at shortstop. Peraza is the favorite to fill that role this year.

Volpe is the golden child of our farm system. Hal has mentioned he see’s Volpe and Peraza as the future of our middle infield. Torres is at second base right now and make no mistake is a very good player, but with it sounding more and more with every scouting report that Volpe is destined for second base, it’s looking less and less likely that Torres is a long term piece. We’ve also heard multiple time that the Yankees are willing to move him. My guess is that if Volpe has a very good spring training and Peraza wins the shortstop job, they will more aggressively look to move Torres then. It’s also very plausible that the Yankees want Volpe to get more reps in Triple-A and look to hold him down to gain that extra year of control. One way or another I don’t think Torres will be around past the trade deadline.

We also know that long term we have a big need at third base after this yr. Sweeney should spend this year in Double or Triple-A but this time next year he should be MLB ready. He’s made big improvements on both side of the ball and the bat profiles well at third. Most importantly for me is he’s a quality left handed bat that profiles very well in Yankees Stadium and helps bring more balance to the lineup.

Wells bat is already very close to being MLB ready, as we all know where he is going to play has always been in question. With these new reports and analytics showing how much he has improved behind the plate, he should end up at least avg defensively. Having a left handed offensive minded behind the plate for us would be absolutely huge. There is a real chance we could see him up this yr in catching tandem with Trevino. Again add another potential .280 plus hitter that could hit 30 doubles and 30 homeruns from the left side would be a huge win for us.

We know the Yankees have a huge hole in left field they need to fill long term. They have been heavily resistant on trading Dominguez to get that long term solution. I believe they want him to be a long time fixture in our lineup. He tore up High-A, quickly adjusted to Double-A and had a huge post season against the best competition he’s ever faced. If he starts this year like he finished last year, he could be that big upgrade in left field we’ve been searching for for years. I believe he will be on our roster no later than mid summer in 24.

Bader in center is in a walk year. He looked fantastic in his debut and playoffs for us. That was a bit of a surprise because he wasn’t the offensive force for St. Louis as we saw with us.

I would love for Jones to be the long term solution in centerfield, but we need to see a much larger sample size, as well as seeing how he does in Double-A before we get to excited. In my opinion, Jones is one of a few guys in the system that have superstar ability. Athletically he very closely matches the #2 overall prospect right now in Corbin Carol. The biggest difference, Jones is about 9 inches taller. The one and only real downside with Jones is he is very tall at 6-foot-7 which gives him very long levers( arms and legs) which always means the swing can get long and have some holes in it. The scouts that I’ve talked to said he was quick to make adjustments once he started his professional debut.

Defensively, most think he will stick in center long term and be a plus fielder with a plus arm. He could also end up in a corner outfield position if someone else steps up and is better defensively.

There are two legit sleeper candidates that I have talked about for the outfield, Pereira and Duhnam, both already have excelled in Double-A.

Pereira has the higher ceiling being a consensus top 100 prospect. He’s put up huge numbers over the last couple years, but he’s also missed a lot of time to injury. He’s also a very legit option in CF/LF in the next couple of seasons. If he can cut the K% down to below 20, he becomes a much more realistic long term option.

Dunham, is someone who gets overlooked a lot. I think that is going to change this year. He spent most of last yr in the middle of the Double-A lineup and put up solid numbers. New reports are saying the Yanks have decided to not only give him time at all three OF positions, they are also going to give him sometime at first base. He’s a solid all around player, with descent speed, above avg defensively and above avg at the plate. While he doesn’t quite have the speed Gardner did, Dunham reminds a lot of Gardy. He’s a gritty, hard nosed, max effort guy who loves to get his uniform dirty. Having plus power from the left hand side doesn’t hurt his chances either. While not a star, I won’t be shocked if he carves out an nice, long career.

Now, the final and perhaps most important piece to this lineup, Murikami. I think he is almost up there with Cole and Judge as a must sign, cost be damned.. At age 22, all this kid did was hit 318/458/711/1.168 with 21 doubles and set the NPL home run record with 56.

His left handed power is tailor made for Yankees Stadium and coming over for his age 25 season, he’ll be just entering his prime years. Rizzo will be gone and the one and only position we don’t have any legit top prospect is at first base. What should make the pursuit of Murikami easier, is that we were the only team have specifically named when talking about where he would like to play. He also has said he would like to follow his mentors footsteps, Hideki Matsui, to the Yankees.

He also gets the Yankees back into the Asian baseball market again and in a huge way. The Yankees lost about 50 M plus from that market since Tanaka left, Murikami would easily help them surpass that. So whatever he cost’s, he’ll basically pay for himself.

Many scouts that have watched him, believe he already is in the conversation for the best left handed hitter in all of baseball.

If most of this happen, IMO, the Yankees will be in a great place to surpass Houston as the best team in the American League and well on their way to multiple World Series appearances with this new “core”

Cashman has backed himself into a corner with his legacy. If a number of these prospect don’t turn into at least above-average regulars, it will seal IMO what’s left of Cashman’s multi decade Yankees career.# Team NyynewTVPospects