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

(2) CF Estevan Florial: 19/Tampa

.298/.374/.476

Estevan Florial is the Hakeem Olajuwon of the Yankees farm system.

The Dream did not pick up a basketball until he was seventeen. At 18, he was unnoticed and unrecruited; he only got a tryout with the University of Houston because of a family friend. By 19, he was barely good enough to be a redshirt freshman, playing sparingly.

But by the time he was 22, he was the best center in college and a top-three recruit. Hakeem went on to have a Hall of Fame career and even Shaquille O’Neil called him the best center in the NBA.

Florial is, hopefully, on a similar path. He did not start playing until he was a teen and entered the Yankees system extremely raw; raw but talented. Scouts and coaches could see Florial would have to become a baseball player before he could become a great baseball player.

Estevan was sent to Charleston at 19, as have a few others on this list. The difference is that Florial performed so well that he was selected as one of only two Yankees in the entire system to be selected for the 2017 Futures Game (D. Acevedo).

Or Was it a McFlurry?

Immediately after the trading deadline, in a flurry of promotions, Estevan was sent to High-A. And he showed that only Florial can limit Florial. Against better competition, and still at age nineteen, Estevan has hit Double-A running, whereas other players regress.

He’s only had 49 at-bats, but still he’s hitting .306/.386/.429 with 15 hits including a double, triple, and home run. That has all added up to 21 total bases to go with his seven walks, eight RBI’s, and five stolen bases. That’s called filling all the columns in a hurry.

For the season, he is hitting .298 with 117 hits and 12 home runs. And all at nineteen years old.

The Yankees showed they ranked him number one among their top outfield prospects not already playing in the Bronx by trading both Rutherford and Fowler. That seemed a flare to the baseball world and Florial’s profile has risen exponentially.

The Old AFL

It is doubtful Estevan is called up this year. But he is just right to go to the Arizona Fall League, where he will most likely become the fourth Yankees player in four years to win the MVP. The Yankees will get a look at him in the spring, before he returns to Tampa.

The 2018 Yankees, however, will get a chance to see him. No later than next September, Florial will get his big league tryout. My guess is he no worse than the Yankees fourth outfielder by 2019, at the advanced age of 21.

He would easily be the most talented player in this or most systems if it weren’t for Gleyber Torres.