NY minor league prospect news (2022 edition)

billy ashley

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
1,228
Washington DC
Near the top 100 makes a lot of sense.

I know there was some pushback on the Arias thread about the risks that are obvious and shouldn't be ignored related to signing a 17-year-old international free agent in his signing thread but I suspect that was driven largely by the Rod-A nickname.

If Arias lived in Florida and was attending a prep school, with his skill set, he'd very likely be projected to go in the first round of his first eligible draft. There would be wide error bars as to where he might go in the first (as is the case with any prep infielder). Do those guys flame out and miss the first round entirely? Sure. Of course. But a lot of them end up in the top100 lists, the following year, too.

Like, let's say in that hypothetical there's a 50% chance that he's regarded next year somewhere along the lines of last year's excellent prep SS crop (Mayer, Lawlar, House, Watson) each of those guys are appearing on top 50 lists, right now. Mayer in most top 20s, Lawlar around 30. Borderline top 100 seems like a good placement balancing upside and risk.
 
Last edited:

Wingack

Yankee Mod
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 14, 2005
34,372
In The Quivering Forest
What I kind love about this list is that Deivi Garcia is just sitting back there at 19.

Obviously, he was a disaster last year and he could be cooked, but we thought differently of him a year ago after his 2020 season. But with a few mechanical changes he may be back up at the #2 spot on this list.

He is still just 22.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
What I kind love about this list is that Deivi Garcia is just sitting back there at 19.

Obviously, he was a disaster last year and he could be cooked, but we thought differently of him a year ago after his 2020 season. But with a few mechanical changes he may be back up at the #2 spot on this list.

He is still just 22.
Also Randy Vazquez at #20 just got named to the BP overall top 100 last week at #90.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
Keith Law loves Anthony Volpe, not in his top 100 last year but #10 on today’s list.

“Volpe worked hard during the pandemic to add strength, and it’s evident now that he had a few plus tools all along, including his ability to hit and to play shortstop. He’s making better quality contact and driving the ball at a better angle now too, while his understanding of the strike zone looks like it’s elite. He hit .294/.423/.604 between Low A and High A as a 20-year-old, with 27 homers and 33 steals in 42 attempts, while playing above-average to plus defense at short all year. He’s almost certainly the reason the Yankees haven’t gone after one of the big shortstop free agents this winter, and I think they’re right. He’s going to be a star, and very soon at that.”
 

Wingack

Yankee Mod
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 14, 2005
34,372
In The Quivering Forest
Keith Law loves Anthony Volpe, not in his top 100 last year but #10 on today’s list.

“Volpe worked hard during the pandemic to add strength, and it’s evident now that he had a few plus tools all along, including his ability to hit and to play shortstop. He’s making better quality contact and driving the ball at a better angle now too, while his understanding of the strike zone looks like it’s elite. He hit .294/.423/.604 between Low A and High A as a 20-year-old, with 27 homers and 33 steals in 42 attempts, while playing above-average to plus defense at short all year. He’s almost certainly the reason the Yankees haven’t gone after one of the big shortstop free agents this winter, and I think they’re right. He’s going to be a star, and very soon at that.”
Any other Yankees make his list?
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
Jasson at 78 (66 last year), Peraza at 95 (unranked last year).
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
Do you believe Anthony Volpe is targeted for MLB playing time in '23? .. or even a '22 callup in Sep?
I personally think Peraza is still ahead of him in terms of being ready and likely a better defender at SS (and already on the 40 man).

If I had to guess, I would say NY trades for/signs a defense-centric fill-in (I have been predicting/hoping for Kiner-Falefa since TEX signed Seager/Semien) and Peraza gets a shot mid-2022, then Volpe sometime in 2023, and there’s a real chance both are in the NY infield by the end of 2023. What this means for DJ and Gleyber, good question, as both will still be under contract then.
 

ThePrideofShiner

Crests prematurely
SoSH Member
Jul 16, 2005
10,687
Washington
I love the cutline on the photo with that story calling Randy Johnson a former Yankee. While true, I'm going to go ahead and assume that barely anyone would ever equate Johnson with the Yankees.
 

ThePrideofShiner

Crests prematurely
SoSH Member
Jul 16, 2005
10,687
Washington
The Athletic has a short Q&A up with Keith Law and Lindsey Adler about the Yankees farm system in advance of Law's release of his organizational rankings.

https://theathletic.com/3116216/2022/02/08/six-questions-with-keith-law-about-the-yankees-top-prospects-the-state-of-the-team-their-needs-and-more/

I thought the part about Dominguez was interesting. There is also insight into Volpe and Peraza, long term pitching plans and more.

What is the deal with Jasson Dominguez? How do you think fans should view mega-hype around a prospect when the process of player development takes multiple years and is often non-linear?

He was so overhyped. It’s such a social media thing. People chase clout by hyping guys, and if you’re wrong, who will even remember? That the pendulum has swung the other way, I think, and he might be under-hyped. He was 18 in Low A last year. If he had been born in the U.S./Canada/Puerto Rico, he would have started the year in high school and finished it in the Florida Man League. How many high school seniors could roll out into Low A and post a .346 OBP with a little power? It’s not just the caliber of competition; the game is just faster than anything he’d ever seen before. His tools are still there, and I still think it’s fair to question if he has the growth potential of most 18-year-olds, given how mature his body is and how much he’s already filled out, but I can’t see how anyone looks at his year and thinks it’s a disappointment. — Keith
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
I honestly don’t take either of those two very seriously, Adler seems like a nice person but I badly wish The Athletic had a more insightful Yankees writer.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
There are 4 more guys on that list who NY traded in the last year or so:

41- Roansy Contreras (Taillon)
68- Ezequiel Duran (Gallo)
87- Kevin Alcantara (Rizzo)
89- Josh Smith (Gallo)

No issues with any of those guys moving even if the guys they traded for haven't been difference makers, Contreras we knew was good when the deal happened and the other three are all blocked by similar prospects or very very far away (Alcantara).

Today Fangraphs posted their 'Picks to Click: Who We Expect to Make the 2023 Top 100" list and there are a bunch more Yankees on there:

Trey Sweeney
Roderick Arias
Everson Pereira
Ken Waldichuk

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/picks-to-click-who-we-expect-to-make-the-2023-top-100/
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
Mike Axisa made a chart, nine different Yankees on different top 100 lists. And the unanimous love for Volpe is exciting...

 

terrynever

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Aug 25, 2005
21,717
pawtucket
How you gonna play 3 shortstops at the same time? Especially with Jeter coming back?
Cashman and Jeter were not on good terms when No. 2 retired. I wonder if Jeter even wants to return in some capacity. Derek is not a person who looks back. Except on Old Timer’s Day, which is more about old teammates.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
Vargas isn't even in low A yet, and the answer to the joking question is that ideally you move them to 2B and 3B also. Right now I think it's possible that NY has the best SS minor league depth chart ever, 5 guys who are all top 100 prospects or close. Where they will likely start this season:

AAA: Peraza
AA: Volpe
high A: Sweeney (he seems likely to go to 3B but not yet according to articles this past week)
low A: Vargas
FCL: Arias

And that's not counting Oswaldo Cabrera, who plays all of SS/2B/3B, is on the 40 man already and was the AA league MVP last year before getting promoted to AAA at the very end of the year and hitting 5 HRs in 30 ABs there (1.716 OPS).
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
Jim Callis says that NY has the best batch of middle infield prospects in MLB:

“It's always interesting looking at farm systems in regards to specific position groups. In terms of second base and shortstop prospects, the Yankees stand at the forefront.

Anthony Volpe is one of the best prospects in baseball, Oswald Peraza is perhaps the most underrated shortstop on our end-of-2021 Top 100 Prospects list and Trey Sweeney (perhaps destined for third base) was one of the best college bats in the 2021 Draft. Roderick Arias was the top talent in the 2021-22 international class, Oswaldo Cabrera slammed 29 homers in the upper levels of the Minors last year, Alexander Vargas has four solid-to-plus tools ... I could go on, but you get the point.”

https://www.mlb.com/news/pipeline-inbox-anthony-volpe-leads-yankees-middle-infield-prospects
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
MLB.com finally released their own top 100 prospect list (they could not during the lockout) a few days ago and now today they did a 'Top Tools Among Top 100 Prospects*' list. Their best defender short list makes it seem like Peraza is their pick there for best defender among all the current top SS prospects, yowza.

"Best Defender: Adley Rutschman, C, Orioles (70)

Also in the running: Shea Langeliers, C, Athletics; Oswald Peraza, SS, Yankees; Nick Pratto, 1B, Royals."

https://www.mlb.com/news/best-tools-top-100-prospects-2022

*informally known as the Pierzynskis.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
Mike Axisa made a chart, nine different Yankees on different top 100 lists. And the unanimous love for Volpe is exciting...

MLB.com's list came out and it also follows this pattern, the top three guys and yet another different guy in 4th, Austin Wells at 96th. That's 10 guys on different top 100 lists, Cashman has a lot of ammo if he wants.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
A quick rundown:

The top three we all know.

Wells/Sweeney at 4/5 are their last two first round picks, at C and SS respectively currently, but more likely to end up at 1B and 3B respectively, Wells has been compared to Schwarber since before the draft, big lefty power bat.

Waldichuk/Schmidt/Wesneski are all older SPs (24-26) likely ready to contribute now or later this season, Waldichuk especially is one to watch out for although he is not on the 40 man yet.

Yoendrys Gomez at 9 is out with Tommy John for most or all of the year, I am surprised he still has a 40 man spot (he could go on the 60 day IL but that would mean starting his clock).

10-13 shows you how deep NY's system is right now, three of these guys are top 100 on at least one list and the fourth is the top 17 year old from this year's IFAs, Arias. Gil, Pereira, Medina, Arias, all with insane talent, Gil maybe the least of those four and we saw him last year dominate briefly.

14 is my man Oswaldo Cabrera who maybe will lose his Opening Day spot to a veteran so Cashman can stockpile more guys but he will get his chance. He exploded in his year 22 season last year, only 22 professional HRs before that in 1540 ABs but 29 last year in 467 ABs between AA/AAA, AA league MVP while splitting time between capably playing all of 2B/SS/3B.

OK maybe I will do more later but that is where it starts to thin out. I would move those around a little, maybe I will do one of my own at some point. Deivi and Florial all the way down to 29 and 30, both have stayed healthy and are pretty young, Baseball is tough.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
I feel terrible for Deivi and Florial. Somehow that feels like our fault, especially Deivi who last year was just a cliff dive.
They're both on the 40 man right now, they will get chances this season if they earn them, assuming they stick on the 40 man until Opening Day. I don't really get what happened with Deivi last year but he is still really young, Florial is an amazing athlete who needs to make more contact, not sure that's on the team.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
MLB Pipeline's Top Yankees Prospects by tool:

Hit: Anthony Volpe
Power: Jasson Dominguez
Run: Brandon Lockridge
Arm: Antonio Gomez
Defense: Oswald Peraza
Fastball: Luis Medina
Curveball: Clarke Schmidt
Slider: Hayden Wesneski
Changeup: Ron Marinaccio
Control: J.P. Sears

Marinaccio and Sears were last minute 40 man additions in November, Gomez is the very young hopeful future franchise catcher. We could see Lockridge in NY at some point this summer if he keeps up his 2021 progression, a fast CF who hit very well in AA last year.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
I nailed this on January 31 here when asked how NY would address SS:

If I had to guess, I would say NY trades for/signs a defense-centric fill-in (I have been predicting/hoping for Kiner-Falefa since TEX signed Seager/Semien) and Peraza gets a shot mid-2022, then Volpe sometime in 2023, and there’s a real chance both are in the NY infield by the end of 2023. What this means for DJ and Gleyber, good question, as both will still be under contract then.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
AAA Opening Day today, and with Schmidt and King making the team and Deivi and Gil just sent down today (and Medina in AA), Matt Krook gets the Opening Day start for Scranton.

NY took him from TB in the minor league rule 5 after 2020 and he was great last year, a 3.17 ERA in 76 innings after getting to AAA. He did not quite make the cut for the 40 man this winter and was left unprotected, and I think would very likely not still be with NY if they had not cancelled the rule 5 after the lockout, a prime Chaim candidate for instance. He is 27, 28 in October.

https://www.milb.com/player/matt-krook-640454
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
Well, he only played in AAA for the final week last season, but yeah you might recall I wanted him up over Andrew Velazquez down the stretch last year, he was already on the 40 man and it would have been nice to see him ahead of all the SSs hitting FA, but it turned out NY wasn't really interested in those guys anyway.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
Nice opener for Scranton, a 5-0 win against Syracuse, the Mets affiliate.

Offense: Peraza's HR is above, Cabrera doubled over the CF's head in the 1st, stole 3rd on the next pitch, and scored on an RBI single by Guzman. Florial added a 3 run shot later in the game:

View: https://twitter.com/MiLB/status/1511520762175369218


Pitching: Krook with an impressive 5 2 0 0 1 7 on just 56 pitches, and closer Greg Weissert finished it with a 2 0 0 0 1 5, both of these guys are worth keeping an eye on as far as guys not on the 40 man.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
Scranton goes to 2-0 with a comeback win, 2 in the 8th and 3 in the 9th to win 5-3.

SP Hayden Wesneski with an impressive 5 2 0 0 0 4 on 60 pitches (I believe he was perfect through 4), Florial with a game-tying HR in the 8th (2 in 2 games now) plus a 2B and a SB, and Shelby Miller of all people with the save.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
Since teams dropped to four affiliates apiece, NY now structures all their minor league lineups basically in order of who they care about the most, it is very helpful for following the system. All four teams have played now, this is the top of each lineup:

AAA:

Estevan Florial
Oswald Peraza
Oswaldo Cabrera

AA:

Anthony Volpe
{Elijah Dunham}
{Josh Breaux}

high A:

Trey Sweeney
Everson Pereira
Austin Wells

low A:

Jasson Dominguez
Alexander Vargas
Antonio Gomez
Anthony Garcia

Dunham and Breaux in parentheses as they are not on the prospect level of the rest of this list, Pereira should get a quick bump to AA if he starts off hot again, he is almost exactly the same age as Volpe and a talented defensive CF, he outhit Volpe as teammates in high A last year but not as many ABs. He (20) and Florial (24) are the young OFs on the 40 man, so they are affected by today's Judge developments.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
Is there any road to him getting playing time?
He’s on the 40 man, but NY also has more experienced guys like Locastro and Inciarte waiting too. He’ll get a shot sometime this year probably though.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
Actually I think Cashman would love to have all of Florial, Cabrera and Peraza on the 26 man roster by midseason, and there is a way to do this even with no injuries (and there are always injuries), but all need consistent AAA ABs for now.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
Peter Gammons talks a lot about Yankee relievers in his column in The Athletic today, this bit is interesting:

"Or, once in a while, it’s a junior at Southeast Louisiana like Will Warren last spring, who was throwing 91-92, changed his diet and body, got to 95-96, was drafted in the seventh round by the Yankees, learned one of the sweeper sliders in the Yanks’ Tampa pitching lab and now is one of the prizes of the Yankee system.

“Put it this way — if he were in this year’s draft, he might be the first pitcher taken,” says one Yankee scouting official. Can he get three-to-six outs in September? No one seems to doubt Miller or Bradley can do it."

Miller and Bradley are Bobby Miller (Dodgers) and Taj Bradley (Rays), both of whom are likely impact arms later this season.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
Blake Perkins is old for a prospect, turning 26 this September. He was a second round draft pick out of high school, a five tool CF who hasn’t been able to put it together as a pro previously. NY signed him off waivers in December and he is currently destroying AA, 4 HRs in the last three games, league player of the week, and a ridiculous 1.324 OPS in 41 ABs.

https://www.milb.com/player/blake-perkins-663368?stats=gamelogs-r-hitting-mlb&year=2022
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
Ken Waldichuk with the first major promotion of NY’s season, forcing his way from AA to AAA with a 1.26 ERA in six starts, a ridiculous 46 Ks in 28.2 innings. He had 163 Ks in 110 innings last year, an exciting lefty who has pushed his way up the depth chart.

https://www.milb.com/player/ken-waldichuk-686610