Yankees final farm report: The summer is ending but not the harvest

The Yankees farm teams have almost finished their work in the fields. It’s been a delightfully tumultuous summer for the farm, and here’s YanksGoYard’s last full look.

The Yankees Brian Cashman once had a vision, that to rebuild the Yankees through smart trades and young talent. Working slowly at first, his plan went into high gear last year at the trade deadline. Since then, the organization has changed greatly as players were added, subtracted, promoted or injured.

And in 2017, the Yankees began to harvest the fruits of Brian Cashman’s labor. Remember that Aaron Judge was considered more of a project who might still start the year in Scranton. Judge might not be the MVP, but he’s still the Are oh Why.

Gary Sanchez has established himself as one of the best throwing catchers in the game, and its most feared power hitting backstop. Tyler Wade has looked over-matched, but it has been opposing pitchers who have often seemed in over their heads against Clint Frazier and Tyler Austin.

And Jordan Montgomery went through several minor league levels this year, before he started going through AL teams. It is even fair to include Cy Young candidate Luis Severino on this list as he looked lost last year, and just as likely to return to Triple-A.

These young Yanks have indeed multiplied Yankees Nation, and increased its gladness. But it beggars the question, what’s left? Are there still great players to come, or just players? The 2017 harvest has been plentiful, but are the farm workers now few?

A Flood of Players

The answer is both positive and surprising: There might be as many great players still coming as have come up this year. That’s quite a shocking statement—I should know as I just typed it and am now shocked by it—but it is true none the less.

So, to help make sense of what is left, is my own prospect compilation.

While I read other lists and rankings during my research, I was not a slave to any other formats or evaluations. And I ranked almost every player of note without thought of numerical constraint.

I did not include any player who is currently on the Yankees, or is clearly a part of the big league club. Had I, I would have listed, as the Yankees best prospects: Aaron Hicks, Didi Gregorius, Starlin Castro and Matt Holliday. That also means players such as Caleb Smith were omitted.