Yankees: Rounding out their top 10 prospects

Continuing our state of the Yankees farm system series, we now delve into the last five of the Yankees top 10 prospects.

Remember, the same disclaimer applies here about any player’s intangibles that have been praised by scouts. Let’s begin:

6. Freicer Perez – SP. Fastball: 65 l Curveball: 55 l Slider: 50 l Changeup: 55 l Control: 50 l Overall: 55.

Freicer Perez was another breakout prospect for the Yankees this past season, and now some scouts think he can be a frontline starter. He is still underrated by others, making it unlikely the Yankees would part with a prospect whose value is still rising.

Physically resembling the giant Dellin Betances, Perez shows a more complete repertoire and polished delivery than Betances did when he was Freicer’s age, something notable given that extremely tall pitchers tend to take longer to refine their mechanics. He can hit triple digits when he lets loose while showing a plus curveball and a slider that looks like a weapon in the future.

Perez began throwing a power changeup that had fade action but he must continue to develop his feel for the pitch. There is still a lot of refinement left, but he has people like ESPN’s Keith Law thinking that he could be an anchor at the front of a rotation, with a floor of a good or potentially dominant reliever. Law says about Perez in his top 100 prospect list:

“You can see a No. 1 or 2 starter in a best-case scenario.”

7. Domingo Acevedo – SP. Fastball: 65 l Slider: 45 l Changeup: 55 l Control: 60 l Overall: 55.

Another Dellin Betances clone! The 6 feet 7, 24-year old pitcher had a good season and earned a spot in the Futures Game, where he displayed some command issues. A surprising strike-thrower who can also touch triple digits, he has made steady progress as a pitcher.

Acevedo has front-end potential if he can clean up his slider and he has gained some scouts’ confidence in his future as a starter. However, he is still likely to be in the bullpen given his slightly advanced age and rather violent delivery. In the bullpen, his fastball can play up and his lack of a breaking pitch isn’t as important.

If the Yankees bullpen continues to struggle this year, don’t be surprised to see Acevedo called up for reinforcements later in the year. He has higher potential than Chance Adams listed below but more bust potential as well.

9. Chance Adams – SP. Fastball: 55 l Slider: 60 l Curveball: 50 l Changeup: 50 l Control: 55 l Overall: (20-80 scale): 55.

A fine product of Gary Denbo’s eye for talent, Adams has been a great story. Drafted as a reliever out of Dallas Baptist, Denbo saw something in him and converted him to a starter, and since then he has excelled at every level.

Adams was another beneficiary of Yankee coaching as his fastball velocity ticked up to a consistent 94 mph but it lacks much movement, making it pivotal that he commands it in the big leagues. His slider is his best pitch, sitting in the mid-80s with tight break. Despite the unexpected success, the 23-year old seems to be deemed expendable by Cashman, who has reportedly offered him as the pitching headliner in various proposals for Gerrit Cole and Michael Fulmer.

The Yankees need to swing high with their pitching prospects given that their system is flush with mid to backend rotation starters (think how Jordan Montgomery came out of nowhere last year). Because of that, I think they would sense an opportunity to sell high on a pitching prospect who might lose his luster when he gets to the big leagues. Hopefully, it’s not too late to sell high on Adams following a very poor spring performance.

Ultimately, it was tempting to rank Adams higher given his more reputable standing on prospect lists, but I do not believe he will be a long-term starter for the Yankees. The pitchers listed above just have much higher upsides and the lack of spots in the rotation doesn’t bode well for him either. I can see Adams successfully filling a long-man role similar to Adam Warren or a less-dominant Chad Green if he remains in the Bronx, unless he can continue to develop his off-speed stuff.

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**Intangibles** The good thing about Adams is that he has always seemed to outpitch his stuff, and he’s described as a bulldog on the mound who relentlessly attacks hitters from the get-go. Yankees coaches have raved about his presence on the mound and the intelligence he shows mixing his pitches with varying speeds.

If he exhibits this “it” factor in the major leagues, Adams can finally hush all the doubters and solidify himself as a solid number 3, but if he doesn’t he could fall out of the rotation and into the bullpen fast. If there is a person to bet on to continue to defy expectations though, it may be Chance Adams.

10. Thairo Estrada – 2B/SS/3B. Hit: 60 l Power: 40 l Run: 60 l Arm: 60 l Field: 60 l Overall: 50.

I went with Estrada over others such as Dillon Tate, Matt Sauer, Clark Schmidt, and a host of others mainly because Cashman mentioned Estrada as an option for one of the open infield positions out of spring training.

Cashman is a big fan of versatility and Estrada provides good defense at three different positions while also having the potential to hit for average. Estrada looks like a future utility player for the Yankees and has the upside to be one of the better ones in the league, a valuable component to any successful team. He will be competing with Tyler Wade for that future utility role, and the loser of the competition will likely be trade bait in a future deal.

As you can see from this top 10 prospect list, the Yankees farm system is still flush with upper echelon talent and extreme depth to help fill holes on the major league roster. After experiencing success with young position players such as Didi, Judge, Sanchez, and Bird, the Yankees believe they have created their offense of the future once Torres, Florial, and Andujar (or Machado/Harper) emerge.

Because of this, we have seen a greater focus from the organization on developing their pitching staff of the future. That was most emphasized in last year’s draft where the overwhelming majority of their top picks were on pitchers.

Next: Yankees top five prospects

This is obviously a calculated approach by the front office, and a smart one at that because you can never have enough pitching. Call me biased, but the Yankees are looking like the most talented team for the foreseeable future, without even having to flex their financial might.