Yankees Fans: Arizona Fall League Preview

The New York Yankees will be sending a number of the most exciting young players in their system to play in the 2016 Arizona Fall League.

Seven players from the New York Yankees organization will suit up for the Scottsdale Scorpions’ first team workouts Sunday, before taking on the Glendale Desert Dogs Tuesday to open the 2016 Arizona Fall League season. Their 32 game season ends on November 17th. Other important dates include the annual Fall Stars game on November 5th and the AFL championship on the 19th.

Four of the Yankees most talented infielders will be playing in the desert this month: first baseman Greg Bird, shortstop Gleyber Torres, third baseman Miguel Andujar, and Tyler Wade. On the pitching side, New York has assigned James Kaprielian, Dillon Tate, J.P. Feyereisen and Brody Koerner.

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– The health of Bird and Kaprielian: Far and away the most important thing for Yankees fans to monitor is how 2015 first rounder James Kaprielian and projected 2017 starting first baseman Greg Bird look after missing an entire season with injury.

The results themselves are not as important as both guys just making it through the month physically intact, although it would be really nice to see that Bird’s power and Kap’s stuff haven’t been significantly diminished.

– New teammate Tim Tebow: The Yankees youngsters will team up with players from the Angels, Giants, Phillies, and Mets, which means they will have the opportunity to play alongside controversial outfielder Tim Tebow.

General manager Brian Cashman had nothing but positive things to say about Tebow playing alongside his prospects, telling Dan Martin of the New York Post:

"I know he’s known for great leadership qualities and that’s a good thing for our guys to be around,. And he’s gonna have a lot of media and fan attention and that will benefit the entire team."

– An all Baby Bombers infield?: It isn’t a huge stretch to imagine New York’s four position player representatives manning the infield for the big league club in 2018. Will Bird, Wade, Torres, and Andujar get the chance to play together on the same diamond this fall? That would be a lot of fun to watch.

Next: Platoon Options for 2017 Yankees Lineup

– New positions?: Two Yankees prospects will see their first extended game action at new positions this fall, probably due to the logjam of shortstops in the team’s minor league system. 19-year-old Gleyber Torres is expected to see some time at second base, while Double-A shortstop Tyler Wade will play the outfield for the first time as a professional.