The 2024 minor league regular season has come to an end. Thus, this will be my last Prospect watch of the year. The Yankees had some high-end prospects this year and most of them had good seasons. It’s going to be interesting to see how many of the young players get a chance to make the Show next season and if any of them are traded for improvements to the Big-League roster. Let’s see how they ended the 2024 campaign.
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Down on the Farm
We have entered the last month of the season. Minor league teams only have about two weeks of games left so this will probably be my penultimate trip down to the farm. I figure I will just wait for the season to end to give my final report on the Yankee prospects. So let’s dive in.
Continue readingDown on the Farm
Wow. It has been a long time since we checked in with the Yankees prospects down on the farm. There have been some big developments with the guys we have been following all season. At this point let’s not waste any more time and get right to it.
Continue readingDown on the Farm (and some Yankee stuff)
As we head into the All-Star Break (no Yankee Games for 4 days sucks!) it’s time to head on down to the farm and check in on some of the Yankees top prospects. With a little update on the big club heading into the break.
Continue readingUpdate From Yankee Land
It has been another fortnight so it’s time to head back down to Yankee Land and see what’s going on with the Bronx Bombers. Well, it hasn’t been good. The free fall continues for the Yanks and things don’t look like they are turning around. If there was ever a team that needed an All-Star break it is this one. Well, let’s get into it.
Continue readingAll Things Yankee
OK so I was going to write my next installment of Down on the Farm but I decided to make this an all-encumbering Yankee post instead. It’s for two reasons. 1) There is a lot of stuff going on with the Yankees right now that I want to talk about. And 2) Out of the 7 guys I have been following in the minors, 2 of them are hurt and one of them was called up to the Majors. So I really only had 4 guys to write about. I will do that at then end of this column after I cover what else there is to cover. So, let’s dive in.
Continue readingUpdate From Yankee Land
It’s been another fortnight since we last checked in with the New York Yankees. It’s another Monday off day and there’s a lot going on right now so let’s head back down to Yankee Land and see what’s happening with the Bronx Bombers. Since we last checked in the Yankees have gone 13-6 and are now 50-24 on the season. Baltimore refuses to lose baseball games and has moved back into a tie for first place after the Yankees went into Boston and dropped two of three. The Yankees are tied with Baltimore and the Dodgers for the best record in baseball (the Yanks have played and won 3 more games than the others two) but things are getting a bit shaky for the Boys in Pinstripes. Let’s dive in.
Continue readingDown On The Farm
I did not realize how long it has been since I did one of these. It’s been way too long. I really have to make it a more regular column. With that said, it is time to check in with the boys down on the farm. The Yankees minor leaguers who may not necessarily be their top prospects but are the ones I have chosen to follow this season. I have actually added a couple of guys to the list from the last time. We will stat with the five guys from the last column.
Continue readingDown on the Farm
One of the very many things I love about Baseball, and one of the few things Manfred can’t get rid of, is that they have a farm system. A true minor league. Basketball has the G League but it’s only one level and only 2 or 3 guys on the team are actually on the NBA clubs’ teams. The NHL has the AHL but again, it’s only one level and the best prospects play Major Junior hockey until they are 20 years old. With baseball, as soon as you are drafted and sign with the team (rather than go to college) you enter their minor league system. I love seeing who the Yankees have coming up through their system. I love following prospects and figuring out who is good and who isn’t. Sometimes I am better at it than Cashman is. I remember begging them to call up Severino when he was dominating the minors. Or looking forward to the big kid Judge who keeps mashing long balls on every level. I usually follow the top prospects but I love finding guys who come out of nowhere. Like when I was clamoring for Rob Refsnyder to get called up and looking forward to Garrett Whitlock getting the call. They are both productive players for the Red Sox now. So, here we are. Another season of Prospect watching. I have to preface this by pointing out that I am doing this mostly through stats and I don’t get to see these guys actually play. I always say the best way to tell if a player in any sport is good or not is to watch them play day in and day out. I just have no way of doing that so I have to rely on stats. So here we go…
Continue readingProspect Watch, the Beginning
Man do I love baseball. And man do I love the New York Yankees. We are a week into spring training and I am so excited for the season. I was actually disappointed the Yanks had an off day this week. Like, they couldn’t have just thrown a bunch of minor leaguers out there and had a game? Come on. Oh well.
While it’s cool to see guys like Judge and Cole back in the pinstripes, and new guys like Soto, Verdugo, and Strowman, make their debuts, what I really love about spring training is watching the young guys. I read about these guys all season long and I check out the box scores and their stays throughout the year but I never really get to see them play. I’ve seen Verdugo and Strowman and the other vets play. I know how Cole and Soto and the rest of the established players are going to play this year. There are really just three veterans worth watching this spring. Rodon, Cortez, and Rizzo. Rodon and Nester are the biggies. They need to be good this season for the Yankees to be serious contenders. Rodon needs to figure things out and Nester has to return to form. They have each had a start as of this writing and they both looked fine. It will not be until they get further into the spring and start throwing more than a couple of innings per game before we will be able to tell where they are at.
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