Meet a Prospect: Rashad Crawford

We touched on this a bit earlier this morning in our check in post with this player but now we want to expand on that and officially welcome them to the team. Rashad Crawford was considered by some to be a “throw-in” type player and was the final piece in the deal that sent Gleyber Torres, Adam Warren and Billy McKinney to New York and Aroldis Chapman to the Cubs. We’ve met Torres, we’ve met McKinney and been reintroduced to Warren so now it’s Crawford’s turn to be introduced to the Yankees family. This is Meet a Prospect: The Rashad Crawford Edition.

Crawford is currently 22-years old, turning 23-years old in October, and comes from a long line of stellar and underrated prospects to come out of the Atlanta, Georgia area. The Chicago Cubs drafted Crawford in the 11^th round of the 2012 MLB Draft and the 6’3” 198 lb. outfield comes with a left-handed swing and a right-handed outfielder’s glove. I never fully understood that but okay.

Crawford’s biggest issuer at the plate has been his strikeouts throughout his career and those numbers have decreased in 2016 while his walk numbers have increased, both encouraging signs for a prospect. On the bases Crawford uses his great speed to steal bases with ease and has already eclipsed the 20 stolen base plateau this season while only being caught six times at the time of the trade.

Crawford is raw, not as “sexy” a name as Gleyber Torres or Billy McKinney but like I’ve said multiple times today he is far from a thrown in type prospect or organization filler. He has a lot to work on but he seems like a kid willing to put in the work to get better and sometimes that’s all you need. We’re rooting for you Rashad, welcome to the family.