You didn’t think we would go all offseason talking fantasy
baseball and not talk about the New York Yankees, did you? Well if you did you
were wrong because today we focus on the Yankees specifically and some of their
players that can help you win your fantasy leagues. I know that if you’re
reading this you’re probably already pretty well versed in Yankees baseball so
we decided to throw a little bit of a twist into this post. It is Prospects
Month after all so we decided to look at what Yankees prospects and young guys
could potentially help you win your league either now or around June or July
when they are ready to come up to the Major Leagues.
Aaron Hicks is not a prospect by any means but he is a young
guy and a former top prospect out of the Minnesota Twins organization. While Hicks
is penciled into the Yankees bench role you have to think that he will get
plenty of at bats this season. Injuries happen and the Yankees have three
potentially injury prone outfielders out there in their starting lineup.
Manager Joe Girardi is also known for mixing and matching and is not afraid to
“give a guy a day” for rest giving Hicks plenty of opportunities. Hicks is
available at all three outfield positions and should see an uptick in
production as a platoon hitter against left-handed pitching and especially from
Yankee Stadium. In deeper leagues he may get you enough at bats and produce
enough to warrant him on your bench, in leagues with 10 players or less there
may be too much talent left on the board to justify taking a chance on him.
Luis Severino may not be a prospect either but in my eyes he
is a legitimate fantasy player that comes with a bit of risk. Severino enters
the 2016 season with just half a season of MLB pitching under his belt and a
presumed innings limit of some kind. While the Yankees are unlikely to hold
Severino under 150 innings barring any injuries or setbacks next season they
likely won’t let him see 200 innings either which may limit his fantasy value.
While I want to think Severino will be the Yankees ace in 2016 I have to be
realistic and think that he may regress a bit from his 2.89 ERA from last
season. Severino did struggle with his command and walks a bit in his small
sample size in 2015 and I believe that may become a bit more of a problem in
2016. That doesn’t mean he won’t give you 10-15 wins and an ERA in the
mid-to-high three’s though.
Finally I want to lump both Gary Sanchez and Aaron Judge
together because their cases for next season are quite comparable in my
opinion. While all signs seem to point to Sanchez being on the Yankees bench on
Opening Day 2016 it is all the more possible that he could also join Judge in
Scranton to start the 2016 season as well. These two storylines are comparable
because they are both one injury away from forcing the hand of Brian Cashman
much like Severino and first baseman Greg Bird did in 2015. Judge seems to be a
right fielder only in the Major Leagues, although yes he has played some center
field in Triple-A, meaning that an injury to Carlos Beltran, Jacoby Ellsbury or
Brett Gardner may lead to his name being called next on the Scranton Shuttle. Meanwhile
Sanchez could start on the bench and get ample at bats relieving both Alex
Rodriguez and Brian McCann (and possibly Mark Teixeira if they ask him to learn
first base like they did John Ryan Murphy) or he could be in Scranton with
someone like Austin Romine or Carlos Corporan backing up McCann. Either way he
likely won’t be a serious option out of spring training but may be more suited
for your watch list that you can reevaluate around June or July of 2016.
Also an honorable mention goes to James Kaprielian, the
Yankees first pick in the 2015 MLB First Year Players Draft. Kaprielian was
deemed MLB ready out of the draft and did nothing to make anyone think
otherwise in his first professional season. Kaprielian could be up by July or
earlier if injuries and ineffectiveness hit the club so keep an eye out on him
as well. He’s likely starting in the minor leagues but could be done with
Double-A within a month or two and could be in Triple-A by early June if the
Yankees get aggressive enough just in time for your late season fantasy push.
So there you have it, a few Yankees young guys and prospects
that could help you win your fantasy league or could help you for the future if
you have a keeper league. There was a reason we covered most every other team
and kept the Yankees out of the loop until now and now you know, we saved New
York for the first day of Prospects Month. Hope this helps and I hope you
enjoyed.
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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)