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

18 of 18

(Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images) /

(1) SS Gleyber Torres: 20/SWB

.287/.383/.480

Twelve months ago, Gleyber was 19 and had just been promoted to High-A Myrtle Beach; Torres was then in the Cubs system. Since that day, things both seen and unseen have confirmed his mercurial talent.

First, he was the prize piece in a trade with the Yankees and was sent to Tampa for the final 39 games of the season. Impressed, the team sent him to the AFL, where he became the youngest player ever to win the MVP award.

He got a long look in spring training, but had taken his last look at Single-A. Instead, after just those 39 games in 2016, Gleyber started the 2017 season at Trenton, and soon after was sent to Scranton.

More from Yanks Go Yard

But even after a bevy of whirlwind promotions, Torres arrived at the highest level ready to play his best ball.

Gleyber, and his last of the really cool names on this list, hit .309/.406/.457 in his 81 AB’s. His 25 hits included four doubles, a triple, and two home runs to go with thirteen walks. He also drove in sixteen RBI’s while collecting 37 total bases.

Torres is the number three prospect in all of baseball, a true shortstop, and has already been compared to a young Miguel Cabrera, by the man who managed him when he was young Miguel Cabrera.

With the injuries to Didi and Starlin this year, the only reason Gleyber has not made his MLB debut is his non-career threatening Tommy John surgery.

Imagine a world where Gleyber did not need surgery. That means he would have gone from Single-A to the bigs in fewer than twelve months…at the age of 20. Yoan Moncada is listed as the top prospect in baseball; he’s 22.

When Sam Jackson Quotes from the Bible you Think’s it’s Cool

Gleyber will come into spring training given every chance to win an infield job. If there are any delays, they will last only as long as Gleyber’s first big hot streak at Scranton.

But no matter how it happens, when the Yankees call up Torres, they might just add their most talented player, including those currently on the team.

The 2017 New York Yankees have gathered the first ripe fruits from their bountiful farm. But they have not yet reaped to the very corners of their fields nor gathered the full gleanings of the harvest.

Next: Bird Returns to Help Girardi and the Yankees Fly

That must wait until next year, when the team is likely to add as many as six of their top ten prospects from the farm, including those who will come up later in the season. That will do two things.

One, it will serve to complete the vision Brian Cashman had when he first started building a championship club.

And, more importantly, it will make next year’s First Farm Report much shorter.

Home/Yankees Minor Leagues