Greedy Pinstripes Top 28 Prospects List: #4

We're into the Top Four ladies and gentleman. Top Four Yankees Prospects. This is bitter sweet because I never want Prospects Month to end but it's also an absolute ton of work. It's worth it though. Anyway, the Yankees fourth best prospect on our list is none other than Mr. Jorge Mateo!


Here is the write up from Kyle McDaniel on Sanchez:

Jorge Mateo, SS

Current Level/Age: RK/19.6, 6’0/190, R/R
Signed: IFA at age 16 on January 28, 2012 out of Dominican Republic by NYY for $250,000

Hit: 20/50+, Game Power: 20/45, Raw Power: 45/45+, Speed: 80/80, Field: 45/55, Throw: 55/55

Scouting Report: The Dominican shortstop was a low profile signings in January 2012 and jumped on the prospect scene this season with a breakout stateside debut in the GCL.  Mateo has grown an inch and added 25-30 pounds since signing and 2014 wasn’t even his first strong performance: he hit 7 homers and stole 49 bases in 299 plate appearances in the Dominican Summer League in 2013.  Scouts were telling me about Mateo early in the GCL season with his 80 speed attracting a lot of attention, but his breakout GCL season was ended early by a broken finger. I didn’t see Mateo until instructional league in Tampa, which is where the above video was shot.

Mateo runs a 4.0 in the first clip of the above video; a top-of-the-scale 80 time on the 20-80 scouting scale. He exceeded my expectations by showing true 80 speed and enough arm, range and hands to have a real chance to stick at shortstop with a surprising amount of pop in batting practice.  Still just 19, Mateo was more than just a live body with some bat speed, showing surprising feel at the plate by working counts and battling against pitchers years older than him.

Given his age and low level of competition so far, there’s still some risk and things for him to work on. He’s good defensively but isn’t a the super-smooth Gold Glove type, so he’ll need to continue to hone his instinct and footwork, but the tools are there to be a solid defender. Mateo loads his hands a little too high and his foot is often off the ground at contact (both fixable issues), but he has the bat control and feel for his swing to make a healthy cut work.  He should probably shorten his swing a bit from his current Alfonso Soriano-type cut, but there’s a lot of talent here, so you don’t want to interfere with it too much.

Summation: Mateo likely heads to Low-A next year in what will be one of the most anticipated full-season debuts in baseball due to his buzz, upside and lack of experience stateside.

Upside: .285/.350/.440, 12-15 homers, plus plus base running, solid average defense
FV/Risk: 50, High (4 on a 1-5 scale)
Projected Path: 2015: Low-A, 2016: High-A, 2017: AA/AAA, 2018: AAA/MLB

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3.
4. Jorge Mateo
5. Robert Refsnyder
6. Gary Sanchez
7. Jacob Lindgren
8. Ian Clarkin
9. John Ryan Murphy
10. Luis Torrens
11. Tyler Austin
12. Bryan Mitchell
13. Miguel Andujar
14. Eric Jagielo
15. Jake Cave
16. Austin DeCarr
17. Tyler Wade
18. Juan DeLeon
19. Dante Bichette Jr.
20. Domingo German
21. Slade Heathcott
22. Nick Rumbelow
23. Jose Ramirez
24. Ramon Flores
25. Gosuke Katoh
26. Chasen Shreve
27. Taylor Dugas

28. Johnny Barbato