Baseball America's Top 10 Yankee Prospects Revealed

(New prospect list means time for a new Jesus Photoshop)

And prospect day continues here at AB4AR.  Probably as a way to temper the buzz that was sure to come once I started to drop hints about the AB4AR list, Baseball America has released their Top 10 Prospects list for the Yankees this year.  That list is as follows:

1) Jesus Montero
2) Manny Banuelos
3) Dellin Betances
4) Gary Sanchez
5) Mason Williams
6) Dante Bichette Jr.
7) Ravel Santana
8) Austin Romine
9) J.R. Murphy
10) Slade Heathcott

My quick thoughts:

- No surprise in the top 3.  Montero, ManBan, and Betances are pretty much the unanimous top 3 across the board anywhere you look, which probably explains why every team is asking for at least 2 of them in any trade for a starter.

- I get Sanchez at 4, but I still think Austin Romine is being undervalued a bit because of his lower ceiling.  Sanchez is still a long ways away from the show; Romine has already been there.  In my book that makes him a higher-ranking prospect.

- In that same vein, I can understand being high on Bichette and Santana, but to rank them solidly in the top 10, ahead of Major League-ready guys like Romine, is a bit of stretch.  If BA really projects Romine as a .270 hitter with 10-15 HR and good defense in the Majors, that should be enough to rank him higher than 2 guys who have yet to play a full professional season.

- In THAT same vein, it's crazy to me how David Phelps and Adam Warren keep getting overlooked.  These are guys who have succeeded at every level of the Minors and could step in and pitch in the Majors tomorrow.  How that track record gets factored in less than a good short season is beyond me.

- With the inclusion of Santana, the Yankees are suddenly stacked with high-ceiling OF prospects.  Williams and Heathcott have been on the radar for a while, but now there's 3 guys in the top 10 who could be future CFers.  It should be interesting to see how fast or slow the Yankees move these 3 this year if they perform well, especially considering C-Grand's contract will be coming up in the near future.