Aaron Judge Ranks 45th On Keith Law's Midseason Top 50 Prospects List

Keith Law released his midseason top 50 prospect rankings list today, the update from his preseason top 100.  The lone Yankee representative was Aaron Judge, the 22-year-old outfielder who's made a lot of noise in A-ball this season after an injury prevented him from starting his pro career in 2013.  Judge has hit .321/427/.523 in 386 plate appearances, three-quarters of which were spent at Low-A Charleston, with 13 HR, 54 R scored, 61 RBI, and 59 BB.  He did not make Law's preseason top 100.

When describing Judge and his performance so far this season, Law had this to say:

"Judge is a beast at 6-7 and 230 (or more) pounds, but with a surprisingly short path to the ball for a guy his size and plenty of loft in his finish for power. He's also quite mobile for someone his size and should be an above-average or better defender in right, with plenty of arm to stay there as well."

Basically touched on all 5 tools in those 2 sentences and had positive comments about all 5.  Judge has impressed many with his patient approach and compact swing, potentially raising the ceiling of his hitting tool that had been in question.  Right now, he profiles as a guy who will hit for a lot of power, some average, and provide above-average defense, all things the Yankee lineup could use.  Law acknowledges this by saying Judge "could be the middle-of-the-order bat the Yankees have tried to develop for years."

Catching Up With The 2014 AB4AR Top 30

(Do it, Luis.  Do the damn thing.  Courtesy of MiLB.com)

The completion of the draft marks an unofficial checkpoint of sorts for the Minor League season.  With a fresh crop of players ready to join the organizational ranks, start their pro careers, and insert themselves into the prospect conversation, the timing is perfect to look back at the crop of pre-existing prospects and gauge how they've performed over the first few months.

The 2013-2014 edition of the AB4AR Top 30 was released on the final week of January.  A lot has happened to those 30 players since then, some good, like Rob Refsnyder's Double-A breakout, and some bad, like Jose Campos' Tommy John Surgery.  Here's a quick check-in on all 30 prospects to see where they sit and how they're trending towards the second half of this season.

Yankee Farm System Ranked 20th In Terms Of "Impact" By FanGraphs

I almost let this slip through the cracks, but Tony Blengino of FanGraphs went through an exercise last week ranking each MLB team's farm system in terms of impact.  Blengino defined "impact" as the number of players who "project as likely above average major league regulars," so it doesn't come as a shock that the Yankees ranked in the lower tier of this exercise.

The only true "impact" player that Blengino identifed was Gary Sanchez, although he did also tab Tyler Austin as a potential "non-impact MLB regular".  As was the case with most other organizational rankings this past offseason, the Yankees' strong group of lower-level prospects that could turn into "impact" players in the next few years kept them from falling further down the rankings.

Not the most clearly defined or statistically-supported method, but an interesting read nonetheless if you're looking for a different prospect evaluation method.

MLB.com Releases Its Top 20 Yankee Prospects List

Prospect season is all but over now the start of the regular season is approaching and teams are starting to make their first spring roster cuts.  MLB.com gave us one last list to look over yesterday when they released their top 20 Yankee prospects list for 2014.

The list is predictable headlined by Gary Sanchez, who MLB.com rated as a 60 (out of 80) prospect overall.  The rest of the top 5 is, in order: Mason Williams, Slade Heathcott, J.R. Murphy, and Eric Jagielo.  The only "surprise" is Luis Severino at 10, which isn't much of one given what he's done since coming stateside, and the second half of the top 20 featured fellow young'ns Gosuke Katoh, Luis Torrens, Abiatal Avelino, and Miguel Andujar.

If you've got the time, definitely check this list out in greater detail.  It's got stats, write-ups, and individual tool grades for each player and it's all free.

P.S.- Check out the AB4AR Top 30 too.

Yanks Well Represented On Baseball America's "Also-Rans" Prospect List

It's been a little less than 2 weeks since Baseball America released the 2014 edition of its "Top 100 Prospects" list, a list that didn't include many Yankee prospects.  Only 2 of their players made the list and 1 those 2 was Masahiro Tanaka, so there was really only 1 true "prospect" to make the cut.

Yesterday, BA gave a further look inside the process that led to the final determination of their top 100 with the release of their full list of "also-rans".  This list included every player who made at least 1 appearance on one of the voters' top 150 lists and that list had a much greater accumulation of Yankee farmhands than the final 100, 9 to be exact.  J.R. Murphy, Slade Heathcott, Mason Williams, Greg Bird, Luis Severino, Eric Jagielo, Aaron Judge, Ian Clarkin, and Gosuke Katoh all made an appearance on 1 top 150 list or another, exemplifying the high amount of "almost there" fringe top prospect talent that the system does have.

It's been talked about at length by everybody at some point this offseason, but the Yankees could very well make the jump into the top 10 of next year's organizational rankings if this second tier of prospects and a few guys returning from injury combine to have a strong 2014 campaign.

P.S.- The complete 2013-2014 AB4AR Top 30 in your grillmix again.  Live it, learn it, love it.

Yanks Put 2 In Baseball America's Top 100 Prospects

For some reason I thought Baseball America had already released its Top 100 Prospects list for 2014, so shame on me for being wrong.  It was actually released this morning, and unlike most of the other major top 100 lists the Yankees were represented by more than 1 player on this one.  The first was Masahiro Tanaka, who BA ranked as the 4th best prospect in baseball, and the second was Gary Sanchez at 35.

Personally I don't consider Tanaka a true "prospect" because of the time he spent playing in the NPB, but that's just me.  If you do consider him one, then it's almost impossible to not rank him in the top 5.  Sanchez at 35 is a pleasant surprise since he was 57th on this list last year and didn't exactly light the world on fire in 2013.  As I've said before, it just speaks to how highly scouts think of his natural talent and potential ceiling.

Yanks Put Only 1 In FanGraph's Top 100 Prospects

Marc Hulet of FanGraphs released his top 10 Yankee prospect list last week.  Yesterday he unveiled his top 100 prospects list for all of MLB and to no one's surprise the Yankees were not well represented, putting only 1 player on that list.  Naturally that player was Gary Sanchez, who came in 44th.  I know I always get real Yankee-centric on these posts, so if you're interested, Hulet's top 3 was Byron Buxton, Xander Bogaerts, and Oscar Taveras.  If you don't know who those guys are, look 'em up.

Rather than focus again on how poorly this reflects on the current state of the Yankee farm system, I'd instead like to touch briefly on what this and the other top 100 rankings say about Sanchez.  Let's be honest, the kid didn't have a "great" year in 2013, yet he still shows up on every top prospect list out there and shows up in the top half on most of those lists.  Everyone recognizes how much talent there is in Sanchez and how much time he still has to develop that talent at such a young age for his level.  If this can be the year that Sanchez starts to put everything together at the plate, he's an easy top 20 prospect next year and a fringe top 10.

P.S.- First of multiple post-Prospect Week plugs, here's the 2013-2014 AB4AR Top 30 again, headlined by Sanchez, in case you were on an extended vacation that week.

Marc Hulet Releases His Top 10 Yankee Prospects List

He's a little late to the party, but Marc Hulet of FanGraphs released his annual top 10 organizational prospect rankings for the Yankees today.  Like most of the other more mainstream evaluators, he considers the Yankee system to be "middle of the road" right now.  He also gave them praise for their recent drafts and strong international scouting that has filled the lower levels with more young talent.  Click the link to read his full takes on each of his top 10 players.  For the quick and dirty version, here's that top 10:

1) Gary Sanchez
2) J.R. Murphy
3) Eric Jagielo
4) Mason Williams
5) Slade Heathcott
6) Aaron Judge
7) Ian Clarkin
8) Greg Bird
9) Jose Ramirez
10) Tyler Austin

Most of the usual suspects, although this is definitely the highest I've seen Jagielo ranked anywhere.  Can't argue with that top 2 though.  What's that saying about great minds... ?

P.S.- Perfect time for a shameless plug.  If you haven't already, check out the AB4AR Top 30 from last week.

The Complete 2013-2014 AB4AR Top 30

(Courtesy of the AP)

It's Sunday, which means it's the end of Prospect Week 2014.  I didn't get to quite as many tools rankings as I wanted to, but the most important part of the week, the 2013-2014 AB4AR Top 30, was covered in full.  As I mentioned earlier, this year's list had a high amount of turnover, almost half of last year's Top 30 was replaced by new guys.  On the one hand, that may say something about the Yankees' inability to develop the talent they draft.  On the other, it may mean a turnaround of that trend is on the horizon with a big influx of new, young talent.  If you missed any of this week's Top 30 portions, or if you just want to peruse through them again, here's your chance.  From 30-1, the entire 2013-2014 AB4AR Top 30:

2013-2014 AB4AR Top 30 Prospects: 10-1

(Courtesy of MiLB.com)

This is it, the top 10.  The cream that's risen to the top of the Yankee farm system.  For the first time in a few years, it feels like the organization's top prospects are actually close to breaking into the Majors.  There's high-level pitching, a lot of high-level hitting, and a smattering of lower-level guys with major upside to balance things out.  From seeing some of the mainstream top 10 lists that have already come out, I can tell you that mine's pretty different and there are more than a few names on the AB4AR list that didn't show up anywhere on the others.  I stand by my selections though, and truly believe that these are the 10 best players in the Yankee farm system right now.  If you missed either of the first 2 days, here's Part I here and Part II here.  After the jump, the third and final part of the 2013-2014 AB4AR Top 30.

Keith Law Ranks His Top 11 Yankee Prospects

I really have to hand it to Keith Law.  Guys really knows how to upstage a small timer like myself.  Good old Keith decided it was a good idea to have his prospect week while I was having my prospect week, and he continued it yesterday by releasing his top 11 Yankee prospects list.  The list, for those without Insider access, is as follows:

1) Gary Sanchez
2) Tyler Austin
3) Mason Williams
4) J.R. Murphy
5) Slade Heathcott
6) Aaron Judge
7) Ian Clarkin
8) Eric Jagielo
9) Luis Severino
10) Greg Bird
11) Jose Ramirez

I'm going to withhold all comments on Law's list, and instead use it as an introduction to the final third of this year's AB4AR Top 30.  You can see his top 10 right here and my top 10 will be coming out in a few short hours.  Law's been stealing thunder all week, but come 11 AM Central time we'll see whose Prospect Week and top 10 list is really #1.

2013-2014 AB4AR Top 30 Prospects: 20-11

(Courtesy of MiLB.com)

10 down, 20 to go.  Yesterday marked the first official installment of the 2013-2014 AB4AR Top 30 and it was a wide range of players.  From high-level guys who were relative unknowns just a year ago to low-level guys for whom the sky is the proverbial limit, there was a little bit of everything in the bottom third.  Today we move into the middle third of the rankings and as you'd expect everything is a little better in this group.  There's still a nice mix of new faces and holdovers from last year, but the new faces are ones that put up big numbers to earn their spot and, in some cases, did it at higher levels than rookie ball.  The familiar faces all experienced some kind of leveling out of their production in 2013, but not enough to totally wash away their prospect status.  After the jump, dive right in to the middle third of this year's Top 30.

Yanks Put 3 In Keith Law's Top 100 Prospects

Continuing his efforts to upstage AB4AR Prospect Week 2014, Keith Law released his list of Top 100 Prospects on ESPN.com yesterday.  As was the case with the organizational rankings, the posts are Insider-only but the important thing for Yankees fans is the inclusion of 3 of their own on the list.  Gary Sanchez came in at 68 (down from 18th last year), Tyler Austin at 85 (down from 52nd), and Mason Williams at 87 (down from 35).

Austin staying on the list was a bit of a surprise.  He's taken a big fall on most other rankings after his down year but Law is still high on his overall hitting makeup.  Law also gave another positive review of Sanchez's defense, and stated that he still believed Sanchez could be an MVP-caliber player if he puts it together at the plate and maximizes his power potential.  For a team that came within 1 spot of being in the bottom third of the overall org ranks, it was nice to see 3 players make this list.

2013-2014 AB4AR Top 30 Prospects: 30-21

(Courtesy of Bryan Green's Flickr page)

I'm pretty sure I've used some variation of this as the intro the last 2 times I've started officially releasing my prospect rankings, but screw it, I'm doing it again.  After all the games, all the injuries, all the research, all the ranking, re-ranking, and re-re-ranking, all the hints dropped, all the plugs at the end of old posts, all the Facebook reminders, and the last 2 days of lead-ins, we've finally come to this moment, the unveiling of the first third of the 2013-2014 AB4AR Top 30.  This first group has a lot of new faces and a few familiar ones.  It's got players still scratching the surface of their potential, players still struggling to reach their potential, and players whose potential could already be shrinking.  After the jump, spots 30-21 of this year's AB4AR Top 30.

Keith Law Ranks Yankee Farm System 20th In MLB

Keith Law released his list of farm system rankings on ESPN.com yesterday.  The top 3 teams were the Astros, Twins, and Pirates, and the Yankees came in at 20th.  It's an Insider-only article, but if you don't have access here's what Law had to say about the Yankee system:

"It seemed like everyone who mattered in this system got hurt in 2013, and of those who didn't most had disappointing years. The good news is every one of the injured prospects should be healthy to start 2014 (except Slade Heathcott, for whom 'healthy' is an abstract concept), but it also means the Mason Williamses and Tyler Austins of the system will run out of excuses if they don't hit."

Nothing we didn't already know there.  The bulk of the Yankee system had a down year, but they've got enough talent and enough depth to move back up in the rankings if a few guys turn things around in 2014.  Law also cited the "strong" 2013 draft class as an upgrade to the system.  For what it's worth, Law had the Yankees 10th in his 2013 rankings.

2013-2014 AB4AR Top 30 Prospects: Just Missed The Cut

(Courtesy of MLB.com)

Yesterday I looked back at the baker's dozen from last year's AB4AR Top 30 who will not be a part of the 2013-2014 edition.  Now that we're done living in the past, today we can start to look towards the future with the 5 players who missed the cut for this year's Top 30.  For all the talk about how bad the Yankee farm system is right now, the one thing they do have is depth.  More than 1 of the guys who didn't make my top 30 cut are going to show up on other prospect lists around the Yankosphere and there are a couple who could become top 10-15 guys if they stay on track.  After the jump, the 5 players who just missed making the 2013-2014 AB4AR Top 30.

2013-2014 AB4AR Top 30 Prospects: Those We've Lost

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

I thought there was high turnover from the first Top 30 to last year's when 9 new players made the cut.  From last year to this year the turnover was even higher, 13 players to be exact.  That's almost half of last year's list gone and replaced by new faces.  That seemed high to me at first, but when I considered all the factors that led to the high turnover rate it's not as drastic as it seems.

There are a handful of players no longer eligible for this year's list because they're on other teams and there were multiple players who were no longer eligible due to Major League service time in 2013.  When you eliminate them, the number of guys who dropped off due to age and/or subpar production this year is reasonable.  When you consider the influx of young talent that joined the system this year in the form of 3 1st round picks and a healthy collection of young international players, the higher turnover becomes more than reasonable.  After the jump, the 13 players who, for a number of reasons, won't be appearing on the 2013-2014 Top 30.

Yanks Not Well Repped In Latest Top Prospect Lists

The big dogs of the baseball scouting world are releasing their annual top MLB prospects lists and so far it's been a disappointing showing for the Yankees.  On Friday, they landed 2 on MLB.com's Top 100 for 2014.  Gary Sanchez was ranked 47th after being 27th on the 2013 list, and Mason Williams was ranked 75th after being 37th the previous year.

Today it's Baseball Prospectus unveiling their Top 101 for 2014 and the Yankee representation is even slimmer.  Just 1, Sanchez, coming in 85th.  Regardless of how you feel about the Yankee system or prospects in general, that's not good.  It speaks both to the lack of top tier talent currently in the Yankee system and the generally "blah" year that most of their top guys had.  The good news?  They still have a bunch of players with top 100 upside.  Just need them to start playing like it.

Baseball Prospectus Releases Its 2013 Top 10 Yankee Prospects List

Last week it was Baseball America unveiling its top 10 Yankee prospects for 2013.  This week it's Baseball Prospectus.  They took the cover off their 2013 top 10 earlier today and there are some surprises at the top.  The entire write-up is for subscribers only, but here's how the list shakes out:

1) Gary Sanchez
2) Jose Ramirez
3) J.R. Murphy
4) Slade Heathcott
5) Tyler Austin
6) Mason Williams
7) Greg Bird
8) Eric Jagielo
9) Ian Clarkin
10) Aaron Judge

No surprise with Sanchez at the top again, and the love for J.R. Murphy after his strong 2013 season continues.  What really shocks me here is Jose Ramirez making it all the way to #2.  He showed flashes of brilliance again this season, starting with an impressive Major League Spring Training.  Once again, though, they were just flashes and he struggled to maintain consistency and his health.  I don't see how you can take a guy who pitched just 73.2 innings this season and has pitched fewer innings every year since becoming a pro in 2010 and rank him higher than guys like Murphy, Austin, and Williams, but that's just me.

P.S.- The AB4AR Top 30 is coming...

Baseball America Releases Its 2013 Top 10 Yankee Prospects List

You know it's getting close to prospect season when the end-of-year top prospect lists come out.  Today marked the first significant step in the beginning of that process as Baseball America unveiled its top 10 Yankee prospects for 2013.Without further ado, here it is:

1) Gary Sanchez
2) Slade Heathcott
3) Mason Williams
4) J.R. Murphy
5) Eric Jagielo
6) Aaron Judge
7) Ian Clarkin
8) Greg Bird
9) Luis Severino
10) Gosuke Katoh

My thoughts after the jump.