Yankees shut out of Baseball America’s top 20 EL prospects

October 9, 2012 by Mike Axisa 15 Comments

Just like the Short Season NY-Penn League and the Rookie Gulf Coast League, the Yankees did not place anyone on Baseball America’s top 20 Double-A Eastern League prospects list. In the subscriber-only chat, Matt Eddy said RHP Brett Marshall was one of the final cuts. He also singled out OF Zoilo Almonte for his power and OF Abe Almonte for his ability to be a speed-oriented fourth outfielder down the road. The Yankees placed five total prospects on the Low-A South Atlantic League and High-A Florida State League lists.

The next and final list of interest to Yankees fans is the Triple-A International League, which will be released Friday. That will be another shutout because Empire State was a very veteran team this year once LHP Manny Banuelos got hurt and RHP Dellin Betances crashed. IF Corban Joseph and RHP Chase Whitley are interesting but hardly top 20 material. Ditto RHP Adam Warren.

TomH

Is there some sort of consolation buried in these reports somewhere?
- Ted Nelson
  
  They had 3 guys almost make the list. Top prospects aren’t the only prospects with value. A cost controlled 4th OF, 5th SP, or RP can also have a whole lot of value.
  
  Not many teams are going to have top talent at every level. The Yankees have good talent throughout their system. Austin, Mason, and Sanchez took huge steps forward this season, but everyone wants to focus on the negative.
  - bpdelia
    
    ted i normally agree with you but it was a rough year. id say sanchez stepped forward but not hugely. williams gumbs and austin all did progress nicely but banuelos campos and pineda was tough to handle. no ones fault. shit happens but dissapointing nonetheless. /lthe system still has heathcott,sanchez,williams as possible all stars. gumbs and austin as potentialbl above average starters. a plethora of real nice back end and RP prospects, some nice role player potential regulars in joseph, adams and the almnlontes. banuelos campos,paniagua and of course pineda are hugely important going forward. all are very young still. if one of them hits near a ceilling and banuelos comes back strong enough to hit his fifth starter floor things look good. but this current group is VERY VERY important in light of the cba amateur and luxuryvtax issues. still optimistic though
    - Ted Nelson
      
      Overall I think that the Yankees have a good farm system. A lot of talent. Consistently restocked since Opp took over. This year didn’t go particularly well, but it also didn’t go nearly as poorly as a lot of people insist.
      
      I mean you identify several top prospects, a lot of almost MLB ready potential contributors, some high upside guys who are injured, and overlook the lower levels which have a lot of talent… what more are you looking for? That’s a strong system.
      
      I think we disagree on what potential is vs. expectations. Austin is getting ranked higher than Mason and Sanchez… if he’s not a potential star I don’t know who is. Guys like Joseph, Romine, Murphy, and Adams all still have potential to be above average starters.
      
      Pitchers get injured. It’s disappointing, but people are blowing it out of proportion. In a lot of cases I think that’s because they only know about 5 names in the farm system and pinned all their hopes on those 5. A guy like Turley keeps developing, but people don’t mention that. Phelps has a pretty solid rookie year in which he contributes to the division win, but people want to freak out about the A-ball P years away who hurt his elbow. And Pineda isn’t a prospect. He would have been in his second full season.
      
      There is a ton of young talent down further. Guys who could pull a Gumbs or Austin this year. Guys like Bird, Hensley, Aune, Camarena, Cote, Gallegos, Andujar, Ravel, Bichette… Then there will be another group after that one.
      - bpdelia
        
        fair enough. i agree things do look very promising still. its just the pineda campos hanuelos troika that hurt. but yeah the system is strong. a team like the yankees is goiglng to be able to buy stars. starting non starsñ backend starters, roll players and relievers are crucial. and they have done a great job there. for me biggest plus of the year was heathcott. youce got 3 excellent OF prospects, a great catching prospect and gumbs all profressing perfectly.
        
        on that note it would be nice to see gumbs occassionally go back to playing ss. the original move had more to do with culver i believe but im on my positional flexibility being the next huge change in pro sports soap box. fumbs has the atleticism to play all 3 up the middle spots. inagine the value in that.
        but we agree the folks who blast this farm system clearly were not aluve between the years of 1979-1992. honestly between righetti y and williams every single good prospect utterly flamedbout (pat and roberto kelly) was injured (andre robertson etc) or was traded ( sigh drabek, rijo, buhner, mcgriff i could keep going for a long time.> guys like us who watched this team during the mid eighties to early 90s appreciate this incredible run a bit more i think.
Andy Pettitte’s Fibula

These chickens are gonna come home to roost in 2014 and 2015 when the Yankees are gonna become a 2nd division team if they stick to the $189 budget.
- Ted Nelson
  
  Watch out for the sky chicken little.
The Moral Majority is Neither

I think everyone felt happy about the Yankees being a top 10 system last year, and then Banuelos, Campos and Betances plus a buzz-free draft killed it.

Its nice to have a deep and interesting farm, but fans prefer rankings where our prospects are better than other teams’ prospects.
- Ted Nelson
  
  I would say 2012 was their most critically acclaimed draft in years, and their recent drafts have produced prospects like Mason, Austin, Montgomery, etc.
  
  I would say that’s the problem…
  - RetroRob
    
    Ted, I’m not sure what you’re saying here, although I think we might be agreeing.
    
    Are you saying the problem is in putting too much faith in the initial reports on drafts?
  - The Moral Majority is Neither
    
    I liked the 2012 draft and I like the system overall, but I think these league rankings are useful for assessing how you are doing relative to other teams. I think most organizations have long lists of interesting prospects when you look deeper and if you want a top five system then you need to do ok on these lists to show separation from the pack.
RetroRob

This is a fireable offense. Fire Billy Connors!
RetroRob

This is a fireable offense. Fire Billy Connors!
- RetroRob
  
  Apologies for the double post, especially since I hadn’t even finished typing.
  
  More seriously, it seems like the Yankees have a good percentage of their better players in the high A, now drifting in AA. Not too concerned about the lack of depth at AAA since they traded their top prospect in Montero for Pineada, and then lost Banuelos to injury and graduated Phelps. More concerned about the lack of high-end prospects on the low end. Hopefully that’s just a short-season read and some of these players take a step forward next season.
viridiana

I agree with Ted and other optimists here. Worth noting that Yanks have several high-potential pitchers who did not make lists for reasons that should not apply after this year. Hensley did not pitch enough. Same with Cote. DePaula did not pitch in US. Campos and ManBan obviously on DL. That’s five guys with pretty good talent — four are potential league Top 10s, I would think.