NY minor league prospect news (2017 edition)

jon abbey

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And Tate promoted to Trenton, good for him.

Also thought this was pretty cool, Dan Federico got a scout to talk anonymously about a bunch of Yankee prospects again, I will cut and paste the Miguel Andujar one because it's very exciting:

Dan Federico‏ @RealDanFederico
Andujar: "Potential 3-hole hitter. Consistently hits the ball on the screws. Shows HR power, rarely swings & misses." (1/2)

"He's a better hitter than Judge & Frazier. His defense continues to improve and he has a cannon arm. Potential All-Star!" (2/2)
 

Wingack

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I think Cash made him basically untouchable. I really like what I hear of him and from what I have seen in the brief looks we have had of him.

I would love to see him up soon. Guy swings it.
 

terrynever

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Andujar may be the Yankees' answer to Devers.

Torres seems destined for second base in 2018.

And more on the way. Abbey's under-30 lineup on the horizon.
 

jon abbey

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Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs posted an updated NY top 10, nice to see the respect for Dillon Tate but Andujar should be at least a couple spots higher IMO:

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

New York Yankees

1. Gleyber Torres, SS
2. Clint Frazier, OF
3. Chance Adams, RHP
4. Estevan Florial, OF
5. Justus Sheffield, LHP
6. Dillon Tate, RHP
7. Albert Abreu, RHP
8. Miguel Andujar, 3B
9. Tyler Wade, UTIL
10. Jorge Guzman, RHP

Guzman is sitting 96-100 with relative ease and showing slider feel. Tate and Abreu are dominant at times and wild at others. Florial’s explosive, unpolished physical tools have allowed him to dominate the low minors. Wade and Andujar have made their big-league debuts and project as long-term contributors of some kind. Also of note is 2B Nick Solak, who has reached Double-A in his first full season after hitting .300 with Tampa, and RHP Luis Medina, who is having trouble harnessing his upper-90s lighting in the Appy League.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/updated-top-10-prospect-lists-al-east/

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

If you cross-reference it with the recent updates to the mlb.com (http://m.mlb.com/prospects/2017?list=nyy) and the RAB (http://riveraveblues.com/2017/08/2017-post-draft-top-30-prospects-158552/), it becomes clear that NY's top tier currently is about 13 guys deep, the 10 listed here plus Acevedo, Solak and Freicer Perez, 12 once Clint Frazier graduates with enough ABs, presumably in September. I am not counting Sauer and Schmidt until they actually pitch (Sauer actually does have a few innings in rookie ball already, but you get my point).
 

jon abbey

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Domingo German with an impressive AAA start, going over 100 pitches for the first time in his career, 7 4 0 0 2 9 on 102 pitches. He will get a shot to compete for the big league rotation next spring.
 

jon abbey

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Current #1 on the list of 'guys Jon wants to see ASAP', Miguel Andujar was 3 for 4 today with a double and a HR, .899 OPS in 190 PAs in AAA now, he is still 22.

Not sure he will get many ABs this year with Headley's revival, but they'd better give him every chance to win the 3B job next spring, although Torres factors in also (I have him at 2B, pushing Castro out the door when he's ready), and Headley and Castro are still under contract. I think because you never heard Andujar rumored at all in July (so seemingly off-limits from Cashman) and the fact they haven't played him anywhere else besides 3B means that they are as optimistic about his upside as I am.

http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?player_id=609280#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL
 

jon abbey

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jon abbey

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Domingo Acevedo is shut down for the season because of innings issues, he is at 133 after 93 in 2016. He has a lot to build on with his great stint in AA, a 2.38 ERA in 14 starts and a 82/17 K/BB ratio in 79 innings, impressive control from someone who can touch 103.

On the flip side, Justus Sheffield and Ronald Herrera are both close to returning from injuries and should both be in the Trenton postseason rotation if all goes well.
 

jon abbey

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IL stats from 2017 for two outfielders:

Rhys Hoskins (born in March 1993): .284/.385/.581 (401 ABs)
Jake Cave (born in December 1992): .342/.383/.591 (257 PAs)
 

jon abbey

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Kyle Holder was NY's first round pick in 2015, a superior defensive SS who NY hoped would learn to hit. He showed few signs of this until recently but here are his OPS splits by month this year in AAA (he is 23):

April: .393 (yikes!)
May: .542
June: .610
July: .749
August: .941
 

jon abbey

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Some tweets from a scout about Florial and Albert Abreu:

Dan Federico‏ @RealDanFederico 16m16 minutes ago

I spoke with a scout that was in Tampa. He loved what he saw in two #Yankees young prospects. I think fans will like what he said...

  • "I loved Florial before the deadline and love him even more now. Unquestionably the highest-ceiling prospect in the system."
  • "He gets better every time I see him play. If he stays healthy and on this pace, he'll be the Yankees starting CF in 2019, no doubt."
  • "Abreu is right behind Perez and Sheffield in terms of SP prospects for me. All three of his pitches (FB, CH, CV) has plus potential."
  • "FB is overpowering and has late life, CV is in the Betances range, CH has a nice sink to it. Gives up minimal contact."
  • "Most importantly, he's an incredible athlete, has great poise on the mound and is in control. Abreu is going to be pretty damn good.
 

jon abbey

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Wow, Tampa's season ended today, so NY promoted Florial to AA for the rest of their postseason, so at 19, he'll be alongside Clint Frazier in the outfield, who is rehabbing there.
 

jon abbey

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Justus Sheffield is making his way back for some late season work, and tonight he (4 innings) and newly promoted Taylor Widener (5 innings) threw a combined no-hitter in game 3 of the AA playoffs, Trenton up 2 games to 1 now.
 

jon abbey

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Clint Frazier is just 2 for 17 in his rehab games in AA, so he will probably stay in Trenton and play the championship series there, which starts Tuesday (Trenton closed their series out today, 3-1, and is going for their second straight league title next week).
 

jon abbey

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Scranton eliminates Lehigh Valley (PHI's AAA team) with a 1-0 win, they win the series 3-1 and play Durham (TB's AAA team) in the league championship, Scranton like Trenton is going for their second straight league title.
 

jon abbey

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Both the AA and AAA championship series start tomorrow, and since Clint Frazier got brought back to the bigs, NY just activated Florial for the AA series (he had been with the team since Tampa was eliminated, but inactive until now), exciting for him and for Trenton fans.
 

jon abbey

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Florial went 1 for 4 tonight, he was the first teenager to play for Trenton since Manny Banuelos in 2010, the first position player since Jesus Montero in 2009 (and yes, both of those guys ended up being duds).

Also, Jim Callis made a list of who he is guessing will be MLB's top 10 prospects a year from now, Gleyber Torres is #2 and when Callis retweeted the list, he added:

"I always have a lot of fun with this story. Pained me to leave Estevan Florial outside the future Top 10."

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/254004168/looking-ahead-to-the-2018-top-10-prospects/?topicid=151437456
 

Wingack

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It has become plainly obvious that the Yankees valued Florial higher than Rutherford.

Also, Torres won't be eligible to be on a list next year, because he will have been in the majors too long.
 

jon abbey

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We'll see, Castro and the rejuvenated Headley are still under contract, and Miguel Andujar is still a factor. I'd personally prefer to see a 2B/SS/3B of Torres/Didi/Andujar, but not sure when or how or even if that will happen.
 

jon abbey

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Scranton and Trenton both lose, Trenton's season is over and Scranton is down 2 games to 1 in their 5 game series.
 

Wingack

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We'll see, Castro and the rejuvenated Headley are still under contract, and Miguel Andujar is still a factor. I'd personally prefer to see a 2B/SS/3B of Torres/Didi/Andujar, but not sure when or how or even if that will happen.
At-bats will be there. Torreyes, Wade and Frazier got a lot of at-bats this year.
 

jon abbey

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With Moncada, Devers and Rosario all graduated, Gleyber Torres today takes over the #1 prospect slot on the mlb.com list. I don't know if he'll be there when they redo things in January, but he could be. Not sure if Jesus Montero made it to #1 or not, but it's been a while since the Yankees have had the top guy.

http://m.mlb.com/prospects/2017
 

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jon abbey

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The AFL starts today. In addition to these six players, the Yankees also sent the above-mentioned Billy Mckinney, and two relatively unknown pitchers from Trenton: Cody Carroll, and Andrew Schwaab. All the Yankee prospects are playing for Scottsdale.
Actually at the last minute they switched from Tate to Albert Abreu, Gittens also isn't going. I didn't hear any reasons why yet.
 

jon abbey

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Sheffield with a dominant debut in tonight's AFL opener, 5 1 0 0 0 6 on 60 pitches and he's out now. Billy McKinney hit a 3 run HR and Estrada and Florial are 3 for 6 combined, great Opening Day for NY prospects (the game is still in the sixth).
 

Wingack

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That is exciting to read even though I don't expect that to be the case.

One of the more exciting things is that a couple of the young pitching prospects are going to be able to help the big team next year. I wonder if they leave a spot open for them to battle it out, or sign a Jamie Garcia type to a one year deal hoping that one of the next wave of (Adams, Acevedo, Sheffield) really explode on to the scene.
 

jon abbey

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They will definitely not do the latter, pretty sure. It's not the thread for this, but they have 3 or 4 SPs in place (Severino. Gray, Montgomery, Tanaka maybe with the optout) plus possibly CC before you even get to the kids. If they sign someone from outside, it will be a big money deal like Darvish or possibly Otani, but they really don't need a veteran placeholder who will just clog things even more.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Going to be an interesting off season for the Yankees because pretty soon they are going to have to make a 5 quarters for a dollar trade to consolidate some of their talent.
 

Wingack

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They will definitely not do the latter, pretty sure. It's not the thread for this, but they have 3 or 4 SPs in place (Severino. Gray, Montgomery, Tanaka maybe with the optout) plus possibly CC before you even get to the kids. If they sign someone from outside, it will be a big money deal like Darvish or possibly Otani, but they really don't need a veteran placeholder who will just clog things even more.
But you do need bodies. Whether it is someone on a one year deal, or someone invited to camp, a veteran will be brought in.
 

jon abbey

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Going to be an interesting off season for the Yankees because pretty soon they are going to have to make a 5 quarters for a dollar trade to consolidate some of their talent.
This is true, and I am excited to get into the specifics once their season ends.
 

jon abbey

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But you do need bodies. Whether it is someone on a one year deal, or someone invited to camp, a veteran will be brought in.
Did they do that this past season? That's a genuine question, but I don't think so (although every writer all offseason said they needed to). They went with the in-house group of Severino/Montgomery/Mitchell/Cessa/Green for spots #4 and 5 and for guys to fill in behind them, and they are much deeper now than they were then, to the point where Mitchell and Cessa can be dumped. Domingo German looks ready if needed, Adams maybe too, and Acevedo and Sheffield right behind them.
 

Wingack

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Did they do that this past season? That's a genuine question, but I don't think so (although every writer all offseason said they needed to). They went with the in-house group of Severino/Montgomery/Mitchell/Cessa/Green for spots #4 and 5 and for guys to fill in behind them, and they are much deeper now than they were then, to the point where Mitchell and Cessa can be dumped. Domingo German looks ready if needed, Adams maybe too, and Acevedo and Sheffield right behind them.
Yeah, I just looked at their spring training roster. Doesn't look they brought anyone in. However, they did go out and get a guy like Jamie Garcia for depth mid year, so even teams with loaded rosters bring arms like that in for innings/depth. I could see them not doing it, but I wouldn't be surprised if they went out there and got someone.
 

jon abbey

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That's true but that was after losing Pineda for the season, and still I think if Billy Beane agrees a day earlier, the Garcia trade doesn't happen. Cashman wanted Gray without giving up Florial, and he didn't mind giving up Littell/Enns (guys who would have needed protecting this winter) for the leverage on Beane. Once they got Gray, Garcia was pretty extraneous (although they used him to cut down Montgomery's innings a bit, German could have done that also).
 

Wingack

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That's true but that was after losing Pineda for the season, and still I think if Billy Beane agrees a day earlier, the Garcia trade doesn't happen. Cashman wanted Gray without giving up Florial, and he didn't mind giving up Littell/Enns (guys who would have needed protecting this winter) for the leverage on Beane. Once they got Gray, Garcia was pretty extraneous (although they used him to cut down Montgomery's innings a bit, German could have done that also).
Fair point. I'm just saying, having extra starters isn't a bad thing (provided they are serviceable of course) look at the Dodgers.
 

jon abbey

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Yankee prospects are killing it in Arizona so far, Florial is 3-4 today with a single/double/triple and Kyle Holder (NY's 1st round pick in 2015, fantastic fielding but dubious hitting SS) is 3-4 with a triple and a HR, OPS up to 1.238. Estrada and McKinney are also hitting well, Sheffield and Abreu have both been dominant through 2 starts, and Cody Carroll hasn't given up a run yet in relief.
 

jon abbey

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Jim Callis today:

"I've enjoyed three days of Arizona Fall League action as I write this, and so far the most impressive prospect I've seen is Yankees right-hander Albert Abreu. Acquired from the Astros in the Brian McCann trade last offseason, Abreu displayed three plus pitches -- including a fastball that reached 98 mph -- in a Tuesday duel with Pirates righty Mitch Keller."

Keller is the #18 overall MLB prospect, FWIW.

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/259062896/pipeline-inbox-cubs-alzolay-on-top-100-list/