Yanks To Get Aggressive With 2013 1st Rounders?

(Courtesy of somebody)

This almost slipped through the cracks last week, but with AB4AR Prospect Week right around the corner I figured I had to swing back and address it.  VP of player ops Mark Newman spoke to the media last week on a wide range of prospect-related topics.  Most of it was updates on players' health and confirming whether or not guys would be ready to start the season, standard stuff.  The one interesting bit of news was related to the plan for 2013 1st rounders Eric Jagielo and Aaron Judge this season.  According to Newman, the Yankees could start both of them at High-A Tampa this year, and if not, there's a very good chance both at least start in Low-A Charleston.

Eric Jagielo Makes Baseball America's Top 20 NYPL Prospects List

It's not nearly as flashy as the 6 players they put on the GCL Top 20 list, but the Yankees did sneak 1 of their own onto Baseball America's Top 20 NY Penn League Prospects list that was released yesterday.  To no one's surprise, that player was 2013 1st round draft pick Eric Jagielo, who BA ranked as the 6th best prospect in the league.

After a slow start to his pro career, Jagielo really picked it up late in the season and finished with a .266/.376/.451 batting line (.390 wOBA, 153 wRC+), 6 HR, 27 RBI, and an 11.9% BB rate in 218 PA.  The BA scouting report commented positively on Jagielo's "smooth" swing and polished approach, typical for a college hitter in a short-season league, and said he should be able to stick at third base long term.  There weren't many other worthy Top 20 candidates on the SS Staten Island roster, but Jagielo's ceiling makes the lack of other representation less of an issue.

Jagielo should get his first taste of full-season ball next year and the Yankees really need him to produce and advance quickly.  Their continued lack of 1st round pick results has become a huge problem.

Jagielo's Right About His Opportunity, And Not For The Reason You Think

The Yankees' 2013 1st round draft picks held a conference call with the media yesterday, and while almost every beat writer tripped over himself and each other trying to keep the "Ian Clarkin doesn't like the Yankees" theme going, I found what Eric Jagielo had to say much more newsworthy:

“I definitely see an opportunity.  That was the biggest thing, hoping I would be drafted by some team that I can see myself in the future at the big-league level at third base. With everything I've read, there’s not much (standing in the way)."

That may sound cocky to some, and maybe it is to a certain degree.  It's also 100% right and it's exactly what I want to hear Jagielo saying.  And no, it has nothing to do with Alex Rodriguez, another idiotic non-story that the MSM beat into the ground on Thursday night.