Ian Desmond and the New York Yankees?

Earlier on during our annual Prospects Month I discussed the state of the Yankees farm system and specifically showcased New York's plethora and stable of upcoming shortstop prospects. I broke all these shortstops down to future shortstops, assuming they stay in this organization, and future third or second baseman, again assuming they stay here in the Bronx, but the Texas Rangers gave me something else to think about when they signed former Washington Nationals shortstop and second baseman Ian Desmond. The Rangers did not sign Desmond to replace Elvis Andrus at short or to take over in the infield at all though, the team has plans of having him play in left field in Arlington Park in 2016. Is this something the Yankees could conceivably be doing with all their shortstop talent they have down on the farm?

Truth be told the Yankees have a ton of outfield prospects as well but none of them are the "can't miss" or blue chip prospects that every team covets. Ben Gamel won the MiLB Player of the Year Award in 2015 and Mason Williams, Dustin Fowler, Slade Heathcott and others look to be very usable and capable MLB pieces going forward but outside of Aaron Judge the Yankees are lacking true impact and game changing talent. Could the Yankees use all their shortstops to build a complete team full of versatility and flexibility? In a word, yes!

For the sake of consistency and not contradicting myself I will leave the likes of Jorge Mateo, Thairo Estrada, Hoy-Jun Park and Wilkerman Garcia at the shortstop position since we kept them there in previous posts here on the blog. This leaves, and this is obvious an incomplete list but I picked the most notable shortstops left in the organization, Cito Culver, Abi Avelino, Tyler Wade, Vince Conde, Angel Aguilar and Kyle Holder as potential outfielders for the club. Could any of them hack it? No pun intended.

Culver's biggest issue as a Yankees prospect has been his inability to hit, not to defend, and you need a certain amount of offense out of any outfielder leaving Culver on the outside looking in once again. Meanwhile Avelino is a small guy standing at 5'11" and weighing in at 186 lbs and has seemingly shown little in the power department hitting just seven home runs in four professional seasons. Avelino is just 21-years old but it seems unlikely he'll ever have the bat to carry him in the outfield at the Major League level. The same can be said for Wade and Holder, although Holder is still considered raw with the bat and elite defensively in the middle infield, but Angel Aguilar may have a true shot.

Aguilar is just 20-years old and has already shown a patience at the plate that could lead towards big power numbers and a higher batting average. Aguilar also has the frame for an outfielder standing at 6'0" and 170 lbs. with plenty of time still to grow into his frame and add power. As a member of the Gulf Coast Yankees Aguilar played center field, albeit for a single game, and did not look out of place giving the Yankees a glimmer of hope if they choose to move the talented middle infielder to the outfield. The Yankees need to move someone, probably multiple people, off the shortstop position to make room for them all and Aguilar may be the best bet to move from the shortstop position to the outfield.

The Future of the Yankees System - The Second Baseman

Earlier today we looked at the state of the Yankees farm system and specifically the state of the Yankees organization as it relates to the shortstop position. This post will also focus on the Yankees shortstop position but with a little bit of a twist. In this post we will once again focus and showcase the Yankees prospects but the prospects that I don't believe will stick at the shortstop position, these shortstops will likely move to second base when all the dust settles. And not because these shortstops are necessarily bad or lacking in any facet of their game, no, but more so about just how stacked the Yankees system is at the position right now.

Abi Avelino has a ton of talent and is seemingly wasting it away in the Yankees system. That sounds harsh but it sounds worse than it really is. The Yankees have an absolute ton of talent at the shortstop position and were forced to move some of their talent to the second base position. Avelino was one of those shortstops that drew the short straw playing in 61 games at second base and 10 games at third base in 2016. That may be his future, especially the longer he sticks in the Yankees system.

Tyler Wade, a Top 10 Prospect to some and a bonafide top prospect in the Yankees system regardless of his ranking, also played 24 games at second base in 2015. Wade also played all over the infield during his brief stay with the Surprise Saguaros in the Arizona Fall League. His bat may not be strong enough to justify keeping him at the shortstop position and he may be forced to the second base position eventually anyway.

Another Yankees shortstop and another prospect that played a ton of games out of position in 2015. Vince Conde played a whopping 51 games at second base last season and even played another 16 games at third base out of necessity.

Angel Aguilar is the final Yankees shortstop prospect that may find a future at a position other than the shortstop position. That's not because Aguilar cannot handle the shortstop position, because he can, but because the Yankees simply don't have enough affiliates and enough shortstop positions to play all of their talented shortstops. Aguilar played 26 games at second base and 13 games at third base in 2015 behind the liked of Jorge Mateo, Wilkerman Garcia and Thairo Estrada.

The final prospect, and I am on the bench about this I assure you, is one of the Yankees first round picks from the 2015 MLB Draft Kyle Holder. Sure his defense is said to be elite and his defense is said to be MLB ready at this point but his bat leaves much to be desired. Can the Yankees truly get by with a future shortstop that hits .220 but plays a strong defense? Maybe on the bench, see Brendan Ryan, but as a starter they probably can't.

That's an absolute ton of talent. A trade is definitely coming.

Top Rookie Disappointments in 2015

Major League Baseball's 2015 season was quickly donned as the Year of the Rookie and the rookies that were called up did not disappoint. From Carlos Correa to Kris Bryant down to the 18 rookies that made their Major League debut in 2015 for the New York Yankees every rookie had an impact, some impacts a ton bigger than others. This is great for baseball, the future of the brand and the future of the game. Not every prospect made the immediate impact that they would have hoped and not every prospect, especially in the Yankees system, had a great 2015 season. The most disappointing prospect seasons are detailed here below.

Tyler Austin had the biggest disappointing season. Austin was thought to be knocking on the door to Yankee Stadium in the Bronx and instead ended the season being demoted to Double-A with the Trenton Thunder. Austin did turn heads back in his direction with a strong Arizona Fall League showing but that all came after he was designated for assignment and went unclaimed after being sent off the 4 man roster.

Dante Bichette Jr. was another big draft signing for the New York Yankees and the team has not been rewarded for their patience with Bichette Jr. as of yet. Bichette finished with a .226 batting average and just three home runs in 112 games. Bichette finished in Trenton alongside Austin.

Angel Aguilar (SS) had a great 2014 season with the club hitting .311 with seven home runs in the GCL but injuries hampered much of his 2015 season. Aguilar did not make his debut until April and was forced to learn new positions, second base and third base specifically, which along with the injuries may have led to his .229 batting average in 2015.

Juan De Leon was one of those big international free agent signings out of the Dominican Republic and he did not immediately live up to the hype. It was his first professional season but he did hit just .226 in the Dominican Summer League. De Leon was signed as a "polished" hitter and looked anything but that in 2015. The good news for him though, and the Yankees, is that he's just 18-years old.

Yankees Have $2.26M In International Spending Money for 2015/2016

The New York Yankees learned today that the team will have $2.26 million to spend in the 2015 - 2016 International signing period that starts on July 2. Since New York blew their cap out of the water during this signing period the Yankees cannot sign an individual player for more than $300,000 but the team still has a cap nonetheless. I think Mike Axisa of River Avenue Blues did the math and that means that the team can sign 7.5 players this signing period at $300K each without going over their spending limit.

Teams can trade up to half of their international cap by sending specific slot amounts, much like the draft is now slotted and capped, and New York may look to do that for the next two seasons since the team cannot make a big splash. Obviously this cash doesn't have all that much value but it is something, especially if it's used as a throw in and the difference in making a significant trade and not making a trade for instance.

This is not a doomsday scenario for New York though as the team signed Luis Severino for $225K, Jorge Mateo for $250K, Abi Avelino for $300K and Angel Aguilar for $60K in recent years.

ICYMI: Jorge Mateo 4th Best Prospect in GCL

The New York Yankees have two players in the GCL Top 20 prospects list from Baseball America and they are shortstop Jorge Mateo and shortstop Angel Aguilar. Mateo was ranked as the fourth best prospect in the GCL while Aguilar was ranked 15th. Both players were in their age 19 season in 2014.

Mateo hit .276/.354/.397 with 11 steals and Aguilar hit .331/.373/.536 with seven home runs.