NY minor league prospect news (2019 edition)

jon abbey

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NY (possibly temporarily) loses Nick Green in the rule 5 draft to ARI, a bit surprising as he has barely pitched over high A and is 24 in March, but he is talented. He is the third player NY got from TEX in the Carlos Beltran deal, Tate went to BAL in the Britton trade and Swanson went to SEA in the Paxton trade.
 

jon abbey

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NY has lost three guys in the minor league part of the rule 5 so far, including hard-throwing Anyelo Gomez to BOS just now.
 

jon abbey

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Heh, Hendry is patiing himself on the back a bit too much there, bragging that they picked Judge at #32 so they will get a "helluva player" at #30 this year, but meanwhile they picked big duds right before and after Judge in that 2013 first round, Eric Jagielo at #26 and Ian Clarkin at #33 (Clarkin a LHP when the next pick was Sean Manaea, ugh).
 

jon abbey

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Danny Borrell is one of NY's two minor league pitching coordinators, meaning he helps oversee develop of all of their young arms without being tied to one minor league team. He joined Twitter a couple of weeks ago and quickly became a fun follow for Yankee fans, as he has been posting clips of different pitchers and describing their repertoire without saying who they are. He's done seven or eight this week including at least one whose name I never remember hearing before (Tanner Myatt, NY's 11th round pick last summer from a tiny school named Florence-Darlington Tech in South Carolina, he is 6'7" and touches 98-99), definitely worth checking out the clips he has posted as we wait for Cashman to make moves.

https://twitter.com/DBo_Yankees
 

jon abbey

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Not sure this is a good thing in the big picture, but I've noted before how many teenagers are on NY's prospect lists, they've done great work in the last couple of drafts and IFA classes. It's awesome to have all this young talent, but the farther away guys are, the less likely they'll actually make it in the end, and even in the best case scenario, they're far away. That being said, NY is poised to climb the farm rankings again in the next couple of years, since none of these guys will graduate.

Kiley McDaniel‏ @kileymcd

I'm narrowing down our NYY prospect list & currently 21 of 40 players (53%) are teenagers. TB has a similarly solid international/draft programs (their list comes out tomorrow) but have 26% teenagers on their list. Mets are notable for exciting low level prospects & are at 28%.

 

jon abbey

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The Fangraphs list I mentioned above has now been posted, 21 of NY's 38 prospects are teenagers. Definitely worth reading through closely when you have time if you're a NY fan, but here is the summary at the bottom:

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System Overview

Perhaps no team’s talent cup runneth over quite like the Yankees. Since 2015, they have had 11 players selected from their org in the Rule 5 draft and made countless trades sending away viable major leaguers who couldn’t crack their 40-man roster. As they’ve enacted this 40-man churn, the Yankees have specifically targeted players far away from the big leagues, guys who don’t have to be added to their crowded 40-man for several years.

Because more and more teams have placed value on certainty and player proximity to the majors, the Yankees have been able to flip a bunch of relievers in their mid-20s for young, high-variance players who have sizable upside if things click. Our prospect asset values put big numbers on 50 FV or higher guys, and the Yankees only have one of those, so they won’t rank highly in our farm system rankings. But they definitely have the most of the high ceiling, high-variance sorts, including a few who, as we point out in the scouting reports, could be Top 100 caliber by midseason, giving the Yankees a high likelihood of moving into the top half of systems during 2019, barring trades.

When we spoke with scouts who were excited about talent from the low levels of this system, we asked why their team hadn’t traded for one of those players. The answer? The Yankees won’t discuss them. Their 40-man crunch, big payroll, and talented major league roster have driven the youth movement at the lower levels. This is interesting to contrast with the Rays, who have one of baseball’s smallest payrolls, have stocked their big league team with pre-arbitration talent, and have a farm system clogged with prospects at Double- and Triple-A.

A few other teams have begun to experience a similar 40-man crunch (San Diego and Tampa Bay come to mind) but the Yankees have been employing this methodology for a few years now, and it has had a drastic impact on the shape of their farm system. This, combined with a strong international program and a willingness to acquire additional pool space in recent years, has helped lead to a whopping 58% of the players on this prospect list being teenagers. On average, this is the youngest farm system we’ve written up so far, with players in the 35+ FV or better tiers averaging 20.2 years old, two years younger than in most other systems.

Last year’s Brandon Drury saga is a great example of why that strategy is necessary. Perfectly fine big leaguers are hard for the Yankees to roster right now. They have stars, who will need to be usurped by other players of similar caliber. 25-year-old relievers and utility infielders may be viable big leaguers, but they don’t often suddenly turn into stars. Some of these teenagers might.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/top-38-prospects-new-york-yankees/
 

jon abbey

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NY is rumored to have landed the top international player in the upcoming July 2 class, Jasson Dominguez, with a reported $5M bonus.

=================

Jasson Dominguez, OF, Dominican Republic
Team: Yankees

Dominguez has an exciting level of explosiveness, athleticism and loud tools, with 60s and 70s scattered across his tool set. He's a bursty athlete with well above-average speed and arm strength, excellent bat speed and big power from both sides of the plate coming from his muscular, 5-foot-11, 195-pound frame. Scouts highest on Dominguez raved not only about his tools, both about his ability to both hit and hit for power in games. With Dominguez having premium tools, athleticism and offensive game performance, several scouts consider him the best overall player in the 2019 class. Dominguez trains with Ivan Noboa and is expected to command a bonus of around $5 million.

=================

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/top-2019-international-prospects-to-watch/
 

jon abbey

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More on Dominguez from the Fangraphs guys, who will have him in NY's top 2 prospects once he is allowed to sign in July and somewhere from #100-#135 overall:

"Scouts throw around some big names when trying to wrap their arms around Dominguez’s package of tools: Yasiel Puig, Bo Jackson, and Yoan Moncada are the most common ones. Dominguez runs the 60-yard dash in anywhere from 6.19 to 6.30 seconds, and is a 70 or 80 runner depending on whom you ask. His frame (5-foot-11, 194 pounds, sculpted like a Greek god), easy plus arm, and quick feet are catching-friendly, and scouts that have seem him try the position say he could probably do it full-time, but it sounds like most evaluators (and likely the Yankees) will develop him in center field to let his bat move more quickly. Some scouts think Dominguez’s hands could work in the infield, but he has very few reps there.

The bat speed and power are obvious, so optimistic scouts see a plus hitter with at least plus raw power and plus game power. Dominguez has already hit some balls 110 mph in batting practice, and his righty swing has now caught up with his natural lefty swing in terms of contact traits."

More at the link:

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/updated-july-2-prospect-rankings/
 

jon abbey

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Third straight post on Dominguez, sorry, but he really seems to be a big deal, not just the top prospect for this year, but one of the top couple prospects at this age in recent years, ahead of Soto and Acuna and Vlad Jr and most others. From today's Fangraphs chat:

=================

Sam: Just in terms of ceiling, because this can be apples to oranges, but how does Jasson Dominguez compare to former top IFA’s in recent years?

Kiley McDaniel: I can look to Eric on this, too. I think Wander Franco is the only other 50 FV J2 guys before he played a pro game in recent memory, right?

Kiley McDaniel: Maitan was close, I bet Sano might have been

Kiley McDaniel: Gary Sanchez was probably a 45/45+

Kiley McDaniel: I think Vlad was a 45 b/c of the frame and we needed to see performance, but then he made a huge jump after his pro debut

=================

Also:
=================

Matt: If Jasson dominguez was on the list now where would he be?

Kiley McDaniel: We didn’t go thru the exercise yet, but he isn’t the last guy and may actually crack the top 100

=================

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2019-top-100-prospects-chat/
 

jon abbey

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NY (possibly temporarily) loses Nick Green in the rule 5 draft to ARI, a bit surprising as he has barely pitched over high A and is 24 in March, but he is talented. He is the third player NY got from TEX in the Carlos Beltran deal, Tate went to BAL in the Britton trade and Swanson went to SEA in the Paxton trade.
ARI returns Nick Green, Cashman wins his minor gamble of leaving him unprotected. I had Green protected on my own list, but the difference is my way he’d be clogging a 40 man spot and now he is not.
 

jon abbey

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Opening day for high A Tampa, Casey Mize (#1 overall pick in 2018 for DET) against Clarke Schmidt (NY’s #1 pick in 2017, 16 overall). Through 3 1/2, no one for either team has reached base and 11 of 21 have struck out.
 

jon abbey

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Heh, in the 4th, Schmidt struck out the leadoff batter, but the ball got by the catcher and the runner reached. So Schmidt struck out the next three guys, the two pitching lines through 4 are 4 0 0 0 0 8 (Schmidt) and 4 0 0 0 0 7 (Mize).
 

jon abbey

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From a '10 bold prospect predictions for 2019' article today on mlb.com:

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Yankees have at least three Top 100 pitching prospects by season’s end


While the Bombers’ farm system didn’t crack our preseason list of the Top 10 farm systems, it also didn’t miss by much. The Yankees’ Top 30 list features few, if any household names right now, but make no mistake -- their farm is absolutely loaded with high-ceiling arms.

Which three have the best chance of cracking the Top 100 this year? Well, take your pick, really, because there are plenty of candidates. Albert Abreu (No. 3) and Deivi Garcia (No. 4) arguably have the most name recognition, but there’s a growing list of others -- namely, Clarke Schmidt (No. 5), Roansy Contreras (No. 10), Luis Gil (No. 13) and Luis Medina (No. 14) -- on the rise and poised to help the organization push through a starting-rotation turnover.

https://www.mlb.com/news/2019-predictions-for-mlb-s-top-prospects?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage

Schmidt is the exciting one at this second to me, he is going to shoot up the system quickly if he stays healthy.
 

jon abbey

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Dunno, and that page is pay only, but they weren't top 10 anywhere, I don't think. Much of their current talent already graduated (Clint Frazier) or is still in their teens and not playing in the US yet, so the system overall is around the middle (15) in most current rankings. Jasson Dominguez sounds like he will be an instant borderline top 100 prospect, so that will help when he officially signs in July.
 

jon abbey

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Schmidt getting blasted tonight in his second start, maybe I need to pump the brakes there a bit.
 

jon abbey

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Shawn Semple is a 2017 11th round SP and is not a big prospect as far as I know, but his first two long relief outings in low A are worth noting:

5 0 0 0 1 10
4 3 1 1 0 11

21 Ks in 9 innings!!
 

jon abbey

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Chance Adams shelled again, they need to get him out of the rotation, make him a reliever or trade him. It's too bad, he looked so good in 2017, but he didn't get called up because of 40 man concerns, he had arm trouble that winter and has never recovered.
 

jon abbey

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Dermis Garcia, one of the most touted international signings in the class of 2014, is leading the high A Florida State League in RBIs with 15 (13 games, 49 ABs), .812 OPS. It seems like he has been around forever but he just turned 21 in January.
 

jon abbey

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NY’s #17 prospect, 20 year old Matt Sauer, is getting TJS.
 

jon abbey

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Shawn Semple is a 2017 11th round SP and is not a big prospect as far as I know, but his first two long relief outings in low A are worth noting:

5 0 0 0 1 10
4 3 1 1 0 11

21 Ks in 9 innings!!
They have to move this guy up, he has pitched four times this year, each time 4 or 5 innings.

5 0 0 0 1 10
4 3 1 1 0 11
4 0 0 0 0 5
4 1 0 0 1 4

4 hits in 17 innings, and 30/2 K/BB ratio!! He doesn't throw hard, he is 23 years old despite being a 2017 draft pick, but it seems like he has to be moved up soon.
 

jon abbey

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Ben Ruta has never been a big prospect, a 24 year old speedy corner OF who was a 30th round pick in 2016. But he is a hit machine so far this year in AA, 23 for 52 so far for a .442 BA which leads all of AA and AAA. NY's OF is so thin right now that he may make himself an option if he keeps this up.
 

jon abbey

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19 year old Deivi Garcia was promoted to AA after 33 Ks in 17.2 innings in high A, he is making his AA debut right now.

Also, Chris Gittens is a 25 year old 2014 draft pick, a 6'4", 250 pound 1B. He has had injury issues throughout his career but is healthy now and is destroying AA so far, a league-leading 1.261 OPS including 2 more HRs last night.

http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?player_id=656467#/career/R/hitting/2019/ALL
 

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19 year old Deivi Garcia was promoted to AA after 33 Ks in 17.2 innings in high A, he is making his AA debut right now.

Also, Chris Gittens is a 25 year old 2014 draft pick, a 6'4", 250 pound 1B. He has had injury issues throughout his career but is healthy now and is destroying AA so far, a league-leading 1.261 OPS including 2 more HRs last night.

http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?player_id=656467#/career/R/hitting/2019/ALL
He is 25, in his fifth year of pro ball. He should be destroying AA. I wouldn't be getting to excited about a 25th man.
 

jon abbey

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He is 25, in his fifth year of pro ball. He should be destroying AA. I wouldn't be getting to excited about a 25th man.
I mean, I said all that, but he is still leading the league in OPS and I thought it was worth noting. The chances of him making the bigs are still pretty small, Mike Ford and Ryan McBroom are still ahead of him, and Bird will be back in AAA once he is healthy.

Also, his "fifth year of pro ball" is a bit misleading, because of injuries he only had 1000 total ABs coming into this season.
 

jon abbey

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This one is just for @thestardawg... :)


"Chris Gittens has gone deep for Trenton tonight. That’s his 5th in the last 5 games. Now has 7 for the season."
 

jon abbey

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Again, Gittens really isn't a prospect and the bar for power hitting 1B to make it is extremely high, but here is the full list of guys who have over a 1.300 OPS currently at all levels:

Cody Bellinger (MLB) 1.367
Yordan Alvarez (AAA) 1.390 (this guy is ridiculous, I have talked about him here already this season, in the HOU system)
Ty France (AAA) 1.385 (he has been called up to the Padres)
Chris Gittens (AA) 1.303
Luis Robert (high A) 1.432 (big prospect, promoted to AA this week)

That's it, five guys in five levels.
 

jon abbey

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Ben Ruta is a borderline prospect, I saw him listed somewhere as NY's #31 prospect. He is a corner OF who was a 30th round pick in 2016, and like Gittens, he is crushing so far this season. His is more about average than power though, 4-4 tonight has him up to .420 for the season, 34 for 81.
 

jon abbey

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Josh Stowers and Josh Breaux were both second round picks last summer (Breaux by NY and Stowers by SEA, the prospect they got indirectly for Sonny Gray), and both are in the top 20 of most NY prospect lists. They are hitting 3rd/4th for low A Charleston and both are doing very well. Stowers is a fast OF with 8 SBs in just 88 ABs and a .845 OPS, Breaux is a catcher who just hit 4 HRs in 4 games and is up to a .901 OPS, Stowers is 22 and Breaux is 21.

http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&player_id=663618#/career/R/hitting/2019/ALL

http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&player_id=677007#/career/R/hitting/2019/ALL
 

jon abbey

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Luis Gil is a 20 year old Dominican SP (21 in a few weeks) who was the player NY got from MIN for Jake Cave in March 2018. He is in his first season of full-season ball at low A Charleston this year, and has a 0.82 ERA through 33 innings, just 3 earned runs allowed. He has given up just 1 earned run in his last 5 starts combined, 25.2 10 5 1 11 39. Tonight he had six scoreless innings with no walks, a couple more of those and he should get promoted to Tampa.

http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?player_id=661563#/gamelogs/R/pitching/2019/MINORS
 

jon abbey

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Not really a prospect, but Cashman's most recent waiver wire claim, Breyvic Valera, a 27 year old IF/OF utility player, is absolutely torching Scranton since getting there. He homered for the third time in four games today and is rocking a .393 BA and a 1.414 OPS.
 

jon abbey

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Valera has been literally the best hitter at any professional level since Cashman grabbed him a couple of weeks ago. Since my prior post, he hit a grand slam last night and is 3-3 so far tonight with another HR, 6 HRs in 36 ABs, .417 BA and a ridiculous 1.516 OPS.

Before this, he had 24 HRs in his entire minor league career, 3363 ABs, keep in mind that his strength is his contact ability (more walks than Ks career) and his defensive versatility (he can play anywhere except C and maybe CF).
 

jon abbey

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Valera 8 for 15 since my above post, but mostly singles, so BA with Scranton is up to .444 (24-54) and OPS is 'down' to 1.420. Again, he is a 27 year old in AAA and not a real prospect, but he is on NY's 40 man and this kind of roll needs to be noted.
 

jon abbey

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Estevan Florial is finally active after fracturing his wrist in spring training, playing for Tampa starting tonight.
 

jon abbey

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They have really wanted to protect him, he needs to build value again now anyway.
 

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Draft is tonight. Yankees look to be angling for some bats early on at picks 30 and 38 (from the Reds).

Yankees also may have the inside track on Al Leiter's kid. He is a strong college commit, but word is the Yankees are the only team he would sign with.
 

jon abbey

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Single and a 3 run HR for Florial in his first two ABs, both off a rehabbing Ervin Santana.
 

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Single and a 3 run HR for Florial in his first two ABs, both off a rehabbing Ervin Santana.
Wasn’t more than a decade ago when Yankee prospects usually fizzled. Eric Duncan and the like. Now there is a very good success rate. Law of averages or just better player development? I vote the latter.
 

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Wasn’t more than a decade ago when Yankee prospects usually fizzled. Eric Duncan and the like. Now there is a very good success rate. Law of averages or just better player development? I vote the latter.
I agreed to sacrifice my first born if we got 10 good years of prospect development.
 

jon abbey

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Matthew Allan has slipped a lot, wonder if NY will jump on him.