Here’s some links to kill the time until the Yanks take on their top prospects this afternoon…
Yankees top FanGraphs’ Organizational Rankings
At long last, the crew at FanGraphs revealed the top ranked team in their 2010 organizational rankings, and it’s none other than our beloved Bombers. It’s a short three part series that features discussions about the team’s current talent, it’s future talent, and an overall wrapup. “We talk about dominant eras in sports history,” said wrapper upper Dave Cameron of USS Mariner fame. “The Brian Cashman-era Yankees are going to take their spot someday, because with the way the organization is structured, they’re going to be scary good for the foreseeable future. This is what happens when you spend $200 million really, really well.”
As part of their Five Questions series, Dan Turkenkopf of The Hardball Times answer five of the most pressing questions facing the boys from the Bronx. He talks about the team’s potential vulnerability to lefthanded pitchers, the New Stadium, Jesus Montero, the budget, and perhaps the most pressing question of all: will they repeat?
Looking at the homerun rate at the New Stadium
We’ve talked about this ad nauseum, but I’m mentioning this here because it was written by our own Joe Pawlikowski and featured at ESPN’s TMI Blog. Essentially, after watching balls leave the park at an unfathomable rate last April, the number of homeruns hit at the New Stadium dropped off big time during the summer, especially once the Yankees’ pitchers figured out how to how to pitch in the place. It’s Insider only, but go check it out if you haven’t already.
BA’s three year talent rankings
The crew at Baseball America put together a set of rankings based on how much talent each team has produced in the last three years. The Diamondbacks predictably top the list after seeing players like Justin Upton, Mark Reynolds, and Brett Anderson come through their system, but the Yanks come in at number ten, not bad considering how they always get knocked for not producing players. Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes were the number four starter and primary setup man for a World Series Champion last year, respectively, and that’s no small feat.
The Mets, meanwhile, came in dead last. That’s what happens when the best player you’ve developed in the last three years is Mike Pelfrey.
BA’s prospect rankings by positions
Another Baseball America link for you, this time they’ve ranked all the prospects in the game by position. Jesus Montero was atop the catcher list, while Austin Romine came in at number 12 and Gary Sanchez number 22. The Blue Jays, Indians, and Giants were the only other teams with multiple catchers on the 25 man list, all with two. Slade Heathcott was number 12 among centerfielders, two spots ahead of Reymond Fuentes, who the Red Sox drafted one spot before the Yanks took Slade last year. Zach McAllister was 34th among right starters, Manny Banuelos 22nd among lefties.
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