Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Yankees Place Three In MLB's Top 100 Prospect List


MLB.com has released their annual Top 100 prospect list and three familiar faces are seen from the New York Yankees. Yankees prospects Gary Sanchez came in at #36, Mason Williams came in at #41, and Tyler Austin came in at #75. I never put much stock into MLB.com's rankings because sometimes they just plain ole do not get it right in my opinion but it is what it is. I personally would have Tyler Austin ranked ahead of Mason Williams after an injury shortened season and after Tyler raked in multiple affiliates last year but, again, it is what it is.

Yankees Farm System Ranks 14th In MLB


John Sickels of Minor League Ball has released his list ranking the Major League's best farm systems and the Yankees came in the middle of the pack ranking 14th best in 2013. The lower tiers of the farm system having guys like Slade Heathcott, Tyler Austin, Mason Williams, and Gary Sanchez to name a few put the Yankees on the map. We are obviously lacking upper level impact type prospects which is probably why we are only ranked 14th and not higher.

Pronk In Pinstripes?

According to Jon Heyman and Rob Bradford the Yankees and Travis Hafner are close to agreeing on a contract. No word on the details of the deal, but Pronk would be a pretty good DH against right-handed pitching.

Hafner was limited to only 66 games last season, but did put up a batting line of .241/.361/.437 against righties. It may not be the batting average I'd look for, but getting on base 36% of the time is a pretty good rate, not to mention the ability to hit 25+ home runs in a season.

Travis had surgery on the meniscus in his right knee last May, and seems to be okay as far as that goes. But it's his lower back that worries me, as he did have a bulging disc that cost him 40 games late last season. Actually, health issues have haunted him in 10 of his 11 MLB seasons, so it's really hard to count on him all season long. Perhaps being a platoon DH would help.

By the way, Pronk is strictly a DH, as he hasn't seen the field since playing 91 innings at 1B in 2007.