Yankees Farm Report Part One: Low-A Charleston RiverDogs

…Falling; SS Jorge Mateo, High-A Tampa.

Mateo is currently the fourth ranked prospect in the Yankees system, and the 41^st ranked player in the minors. That seems likely to change. Mateo’s main asset is his speed, which should mean he needs to focus on getting on base, stealing, and scoring runs.

But even though the Yankees are giving him every opportunity, Mateo is just not developing.

He has 197 AB’s, good for a tie for second place in the Florida State League, and first on his team. But he has only worked nine walks. The leader in the league—Braxton Davidson—has 32. Jorge’s OBP is .288; Florida’s leader is at .434 (Brandon Lowe). And that’s not the worst of it.

Jorge does not even lead his team in either of these categories. He’s eighth among Trenton players with at least 50 AB’s in OBP and seventh in walks for that same group. While it’s true he leads the Tampa Yankees in several important categories—runs, hits, doubles, and total bases—he is doing so because he has by far the most AB’s.

But he is only in the top ten in one of those categories in the Florida State League–doubles–and he ranks ninth. It looks like the Yankees have seen the writing on the wall. They are giving him a lot of bats to inflate his numbers, pursuant to a trade. The only question is if anybody is willing to take him.