6 overlooked Yankees minor leaguers who could contribute to the 2027 team

Another October ended early in the Bronx, and the takes after the ALDS loss to Tampa Bay have been loud. Put the emotion aside, though, and the winter to-do list is pretty clear. Four of the five Yankees who threw at least 55 innings in relief are free agents, including both veteran lefties (Tim Hill and Ryan Yarbrough), while Jazz Chisholm Jr., Amed Rosario and Paul Goldschmidt are leaving the infield.

Brian Cashman will spend, because he always does, but smart front offices typically fill some of those holes from within. The top of the system is well known: Dax Kilby is reworking his swing in the Arizona Fall League, Elmer Rodríguez made his case for a bullpen job after six big-league starts, Carlos Lagrange shifted to relief at Triple-A, and then there's Hunter Dietz.

The 6-foot-6 lefty threw just 1 2/3 innings in his first two seasons at Arkansas because of a fractured ulna and a long setback, then struck out 131 batters on his way to All-SEC First Team honors and became the 35th overall pick in July. Even the newest headliner in the system had to exercise some patience with his journey, and the same is true of the players who could matter most in 2027.

Yankees prospects who could fill 2027 roster holes from inside the system

Xavier Rivas, LHP
Rivas started at Division II Indianapolis, where he struck out 128 batters as a sophomore and earned All-American honors, then transferred to Ole Miss before Tommy John surgery wiped out his final season. The Yankees grabbed him in the 16th round, and he struck out 114 in 81 1/3 innings at Double-A this year, and will be ready for the next step. Now let's put our GM hat on for a second. Brent Headrick made 81 appearances after throwing just 23 innings in 2025, and asking for a repeat without Hill and Yarbrough is a gamble. MLB reports see Rivas as a competitive and deceptive lefty reliever, and in short bursts his 90-92 mph fastball could tick up and let that changeup play even better.

Chris Veach, RHP
Veach was a two-way player at Presbyterian who hit .344 mostly at second base before transferring to South Carolina and closing games. He went undrafted, signed for $100,000, and now throws his changeup nearly 60% of the time, posting a 1.86 ERA across High-A and Double-A. With John Schreiber a free agent and Fernando Cruz rehabbing a partially torn UCL, a righty whose best pitch dives away from barrels is always a good thing and helps eats innings at the Major League level. As a former pitcher, I always have a level of respect for guys who pitch backwards off of a change-up.

Roderick Arias, INF
Arias signed for $4 million in 2022 and was a Baseball America top-100 prospect before inconsistency knocked him off the radar. He had a 56 wRC+ through May, then hit .305/.377/.521 from June 3 on, reached Double-A and stole a career-high 38 bases. With Chisholm and Rosario leaving, a 22-year-old who played second, short and third is timely, and his Rule 5 eligibility forces the decision now.

Coby Morales, 3B/1B/DH
Morales went from Cypress College, a California junior college, to Washington before the Yankees took him in the 18th round in 2023. This year, the left-handed hitter set Somerset's single-season records for games, hits and runs on his way to 21 homers, 21 steals and an Eastern League All-Star nod. With Goldschmidt and Rosario gone, there's very little corner depth behind Ben Rice and Ryan McMahon, and that's a role he could be in the mix for.

Garrett Martin, OF/DH
Martin turned down the Orioles as a 22nd-rounder out of high school, won a junior college national title at McLennan, spent a year at Oklahoma State and broke out at Austin Peay before a season-ending injury left him undrafted. The Yankees signed him, and he hit 21 homers in his first 67 games at Somerset this season before another injury ended his year in July. Goldschmidt's .966 OPS against lefties is walking out the door, and Rice, McMahon, Cody Bellinger all hit left-handed, so a healthy right-handed power bat fills a clear need.

Jackson Lovich, SS
Lovich is the long shot, and may not belong on the list yet, but it's fun to play out. The 2025 16th-rounder out of Missouri became the first Yankees minor leaguer since Ruben Rivera in 1994 to hit 20-plus homers and steal 40-plus bases in a season. He still strikes out too much and hasn't played above High-A, but a switch-hitting shortstop with that production is exactly the type of piece that the organization will push quickly. Either that, or he could be the piece the Yanks flip who returns a key reliever at the deadline.

All six of these players took a detour to get here, whether it was a Division II campus, a junior college, a surgery or a season that went sideways. With 40-man decisions due in November and the bullpen market about to get expensive, Cashman might find a few answers to his winter shopping list already sitting in his minor league system.

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