Yankees Place Six Prospects In Keith Law’s Top 100

The New York Yankees do not project as a postseason contender in 2017. There it is. If the team is sitting around .500 at the All-Star break, it will hardly be a surprise.

But what if I told you that might just give fans more incentive to go to the ballpark. Seriously. Thanks to Yankees general manager Brian Cashman’s efforts at the trade deadline last season, the farm system is now loaded with talent, which could lead to some big call-ups this summer.

Keith Law, an ESPN senior writer and baseball prospect wiz, ranked the Baby Bombers as his second-best farm system in all of Major League Baseball. Now, Law has released his full ranking of the league’s individual prospects, and it’s littered with ‘Pinstripers.’

More from Yanks Go Yard

• Yankees State of the Farm System Review: Josh Breaux
• Yankees make upside play, sign former Rangers top prospect outfielder
• MLB insider claims favorite emerging in Bryan Reynolds rumors (not Yankees)
• Michael Kay’s Anthony Volpe story will get Yankees fans amped for Opening Day
• No, Yankees should not acquire Trevor Bauer for 2023

Justus Sheffield, LHP

Age: 20

Biggest strength: Fastball-changeup combo

Law’s ranking: 88

Law’s take: “Sheffield is a little undersized but is an excellent athlete and works from 92-95 mph. He complements that with a present plus changeup and fringy breaking ball, repeating his delivery well but occasionally slipping into a tendency to overthrow.”

Aaron Judge, RF

Age: 24

Biggest strength: POWER

Law’s ranking: 44

Law’s take: “But if Judge gets [his strikeout rate] back down to that 25-30 percent range, he’ll be an offensive force because the contact he makes is so hard. He has real 30-homer power, even at that contact rate, and he has shown enough patience that I think he’ll walk 60-plus times a year.”

James Kaprielian, RHP

Age: 22

Biggest strength: Nasty stuff

Law’s ranking: 28

Law’s take: “In his first outing [in the Arizona Fall League], he was throwing 94-97 in three dominant innings with a hard slider clocked anywhere from 82-89 mph, complemented with a string-puller changeup in the mid-80s.”

Clint Frazier, OF

Age: 22

Biggest strength: Bat speed

Law’s ranking: 27

Law’s take: “Given how he’s hit to date, with consistently high BABIPs because he makes hard contact, he’s one of the best bets in the minors to hit .300+, and with moderate power and 50-60 walks a year that would make him at least an above-average regular.”

Blake Rutherford, OF

Age: 19

Biggest strength: Hitting

Law’s ranking: 22

Law’s take: “He’s so likely to hit that I have him stuffed on this list despite the positional concerns, and I think he’ll move quickly through the low minors so that draft-day concerns about his age disappear before this year is out.”

Gleyber Torres, SS

Age: 20

Biggest strength: Athleticism

Law’s ranking: 4

Law’s take: “Although I’ve had scouts question whether he’ll stay at shortstop because of his build, he has a 70-grade arm and great hands, and I think he has enough lateral range that he’s more likely to remain at the position than move to third.”

Yankees fans will immediately notice the absence of a few Baby Bombers that have made this list numerous times in recent memory. First and foremost, Law didn’t rank middle infielder Jorge Mateo. Mateo had multiple setbacks last year, as he didn’t live up to expectations on the field, and was suspended two weeks for insubordination.

However, even though he’s been on a lot of scouts’ radars for a few years now, he’s just 21 years old. He has yet to reach Double-A Trenton, but if makes the leap this year he’d still be the youngest player on the team.

Next: Yankees Farm System Ranked 2nd In MLB by Keith Law

Catcher Gary Sanchez was not on the list for a much better reason: he had enough at-bats in the Majors in 2016 to qualify as a rookie. Not only that, but Sanchez accumulated an astonishing 3.2 WAR in just 53 games. The only other rookies who were worth more WAR in 2016 were Corey Seager and Trea Turner. Turner, the shortstop/centerfielder for the Washington Nationals, played 20 more games than Sanchez and only edged him by 0.1.