Thursday, January 30, 2014

Keith Law's Top 11 Yankees Prospects


Here are Keith Law's Top 10 11 Yankees prospects. If you have a subscription to ESPN Insider, you can read the the whole thing here.
  1. C Gary Sanchez (68th overall)
  2. OF Tyler Austin (85th overall)
  3. OF Mason Williams (87th overall)
  4. C J.R. Murphy
  5. OF Slade Heathcott
  6. OF Aaron Judge
  7. LHP Ian Clarkin
  8. 3B Eric Jagielo
  9. RHP Luis Severino
  10. 1B Greg Bird
  11. RHP Jose Ramirez (Law said he is #11 in the write-up)
How important was last year's draft to the Yankees? Whew.

Injuries hit the Yankees pretty hard, and not just at the pro level. Austin, Williams, Heathcott, Judge, Clarkin, and Gabe Encinas all missed time due to some ailment. However, Heathcott is the only one of that group with true injury concerns. 

JR Murphy and Gosuke Katoh both had great seasons. I'm guessing Katoh was kept off the list since he's not only young, but his upside isn't as high as the other three from last year's draft that did make the list. 

Although he's #5 on the list, Law doesn't think Heathcott will make it. Slade has had all sorts of injury concerns, and had work done on his knee after trying to play on it all season. Keith notes that not only can't Heathcott run, but his reads in center were poor. He even quotes one Yankees scout as saying Slade is a "crazy person".

Law picks a sleeper for each team, and the guy he chose for the Yankees was Luis Torrens. Torrens was signed in 2012 and turned into a catcher, where he's done very well. He has great hands, and great overall defense. He may not hit for much power, but Torrens' looks like he'll hit well for average and on-base percentage.

Hopefully the Yankees do well in their international spending, which they've said they're going to spend big on. The farm could definitely use the boost, that way the big club doesn't have to go and spend another half a billion dollars in the offseason.

6 comments:

  1. Well here we go. One of my favorite topics. First, I'm a little ashamed. I didn't know who Severino was. I had to look him up. Not bad. Good looking list. One change I would make is putting Jagielo in front of Clarkin and Judge. Jagielo had a decent pro debut, and 13 home runs in the Cape Cod league goes a long ways in my book.

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    1. This looks a whole lot different from my list...

      I am a lot higher on Rafael DePaula than most. Also agree with you Jeff, for Jagielo to be below Judge and Clarkin is a joke. I don't even have Judge in my top 10

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    2. I'd add a few other names too. Take off Judge and Clarkin. Judge hasn't even taken a swing yet, and Clarkin pitched like 10 innings of rookie ball. I think O'Brien should be there. And I think Turley has earned a spot.

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    3. Turley is def Top 15, probably not Top 10 though.

      Clarkin is on the list due to his projections. Judge I don't get, unless you buy into the Giancarlo Stanton comparisons.

      O'Brien is high on my list but he strikes out a little more than I like.

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  2. The 1st 5 we all know about!
    I think 1B Greg Bird has now learned how to hit with a wood bat, he strikes out a bit too much but he walks a lot also! As far as hitting goes it looks as though he can cut down on his SOs as he matures, his other hitting numbers are very good. Too many errors at 1st but he is still young and learning that position. Much too low grade!
    DePaula is going to make it in the BP some day, I think...IF, he can stay healthy!
    OF Slade Heathcott, put a fork in him, he is done, to many good up-coming OFers coming up!
    3B Eric Jagielo, 6 HRs last year not fully adjusted to the wood bats yet, check on him next year!
    RHP Luis Severino, I don't have any reports on him but, will try to get something. The same with RHP Jose Ramirez.

    Dat be Dat folks!

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    1. Bird was drafted as a catcher so his defense will come in spurts.

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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)