Yankees Editorial: Judge Leads Outfield Resurgence for Yankees Farm System

Way back during Yankees spring training, two young outfield prospects caught everybody’s eye; Aaron Judge and Slade Heathcott. These two players are leading a resurgence in the Yankee farm system. Aaron Judge has remained one of the Yankees top prospects, while Slade Heathcott is making the most out of his last opportunity.

Aaron Judge is the size of an NFL lineman, but instead of playing football, he is crushing baseball’s in Double-A for the Yankees minor league affiliate, Trenton Thunder. This year Judge is batting .314, with six homers, and  21 RBIs. Just this past weekend he saw a 14-game hitting streak come to an end.

The manager for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays is in fact a former Yankee shortstop. For those of you who remember, his name is Bobby Meacham, and he is very impressed with the recent play of Aaron Judge, not just how he plays the game, but the way he interacts with people, and how he carried himself the last time his Fisher Cats squared off against the Thunder.

"“When you look at him, you say, Wow, that is what a big leaguer looks like.”"

The way Aarron Judge has been playing, he’s giving Brian Cashmen no choice but to call him up to the Yankees Triple-A affiliate, the Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.

"“If he keeps doing this, then he is just going to force his way up,’ Cashman said of Judge’s Triple-A trajectory. ‘It is not an if, it is a when.”"

Slade Heathcott on the other hand has had a much more difficult road, but it looks like all that handwork is finally paying off, as he was called up to the major leagues on Wednesday against the Washington Nationals.

Heathcott was a first round pick in 2009. The Yankees loved all the tools he already had, and believed he could be the next star for the Yankees. Injuries, however, derailed his career, and this off-season he was taken off the 40 man roster. He was a non-roster invitee this spring training, and he had an awesome spring. In fact he won the award for most outstanding player in camp. Heathcott started in Triple-A and continued to play great. All of Heathcott’s hard works has seemingly paid off as he will eventually get some playing time for the Yankees in centerfield in lieu of the Jacoby Ellsbury injury.

Then you look at the outfield depth in the minors beyond Judge and Heathcott, and there is a lot of projected major league players. Brian Cashman talked about the depth of all these outfielders.

"‘I think all these guys are going to be in the big leagues, and I think they are going to carve themselves out careers,’ Cashman said. ‘It is yet to be determined what kind of careers they are going to be.’"

Brian Cashman has replenished the Yankees farm system, and all this outfield depth in the minor league will soon be in the majors.

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