1 Yankees prospect who missed MLB Pipeline Top 100 list (but will make it next year)

The New York Yankees' farm system is down in the dumps. It's the pits. It used to be the Arm Barn. Now, it's an Arm Hospital. We were told many of their projectable free-swingers would take big leaps n 2024. Unfortunately, they did, but those leaps took them off the map entirely.

It's not surprising, then, that the Yankees landed only two players on Baseball America's latest Top 100 Prospects list (Jasson Dominguez and George Lombard Jr.). MLB Pipeline's list was even more unkind, only lauding Dominguez. Given that Pipeline showed less love to the Yankees (and didn't do as public a job of telegraphing their "near-misses"), it seems fair for us to project a possible riser for next season, given that they've basically handed us a blank slate. If Dominguez spends the whole year in the Bronx, then ... is anyone next up, in their eyes?

We'll approach this exercise with the caveat that we've chosen to ignore the obvious option here. Yes, there's a good chance that Spencer Jones not only reenters the Top 100 next year, but absolutely skyrockets, in the way he was supposed to entering 2024. If the finger-crossing breakout occurs, he'll be a top-30 prospect in the game next year. But he was already on this list. He may never appear on it again, sure, but it wouldn't be jaw-dropping if he returned to prominence after making a few quick tweaks.

In an effort to be a little more interesting and choose someone who hasn't had quite an intense microscope on them in recent months, we'll predict that Roderick Arias makes a leap back into the mix as well. Ranked as Pipeline's No. 86 prospect entering 2024, the toolsy international infielder will get a chance to shine at High-A Hudson Valley this season, and his second-half metrics indicate he could be preparing for a barrel-filled breakout.

Yankees prospect Roderick Arias will rise back into Top 100 prospects consideration next season

Notably, both Arias and Jones did receive "at least one" Top 100 vote from Baseball America's staff entering 2025, but neither made the new list; they ranked 68th and 46th, respectively, last season (86th and 84th on Pipeline's).

While Arias' season, based on counting numbers, got bizarrely dismissed, he did post an acceptable .728 OPS with 14 bombs while adjusting to full-season ball for the first time with the Tampa Tarpons. It wasn't all roses, obviously — 171 strikeouts in 473 at-bats is an eyesore. Much like the curious case of Jones, most experts found that immediately disqualifying.

Still, he managed to finish with a 111 wRC+, which became a remarkable 146 in the second half. He began to make noticeably better swing decisions in August and September. While he still masquerades as a switch hitter, he posted a .776 OPS against righties and a dreadful .544 mark against left-handers (from the right side).

If Arias can focus on growing into a full-time lefty swinger in front of Yankee Stadium's porch, and build on his strong second half closer to the Bronx in 2025, he'll receive enough votes in next year's BA poll to both crack their list and challenge Lombard's supremacy, returning to Pipeline's assessment in the process.