Newest prospect rankings from The Athletic generate 2 big talking points for Yankees

New York Yankees No. 1 prospect George Lombard Jr. has undeniably bolstered his stock in recent months. He was shot out of a cannon to start the regular season in Double-A, hitting .312/.400/.571 with four home runs and eight doubles through the first 20 games, earning himself a promotion to Scranton and convincing certain Yankees fans that another promotion was imminent.

Lombard's stint in Triple-A hasn't been nearly as glorious. In fact, he's very much fallen back down to Earth. Entering Friday, the 20-year-old owned a .196/.352/.268 slash line through 97 at-bats in Scranton, with only a home run this week (his first in Triple-A) operating as a silver lining.

Let's not get carried away with negativity — Lombard's season across two levels has still been a net gain. And nowhere else will you find that truth reiterated so boldly as in Keith Law's new MLB prospect rankings for The Athletic that emerged this week.

George Lombard Jr.'s reputation surges with surprisingly high ranking on new prospect list

Lombard landed at No. 6 overall in Law's rankings, awing every Yankees fan who is accustomed to hearing Lombard talked about only as a top-30 or, at best, top-20 prospect in the game (Lombard currently ranks 21st in MLB's prospect rankings).

But Lombard's ascent wasn't the only talking point for Yankees fans when it came to Law's rankings, nor was it the most controversial. That honor belonged to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who were hit with widespread accusations of favoritism for landing an astounding five prospects in the top 25 of Law's list. No franchise other than the Dodgers and Cardinals had more than two prospects in Law's top 25, with St. Louis having three.

Dodgers, not Yankees, take the cake when it comes to overhyped prospects

The reason that Yankees fans are (rightfully) vocal about the Dodgers overhyped prospects narrative is that the Yanks themselves are often hit with the same finger-pointing. And indeed, New York tends to over-promote its own prospects, oftentimes with help from the MLB media machine.

But no franchise beyond the Dodgers (Yankees included) has a clearer recent history of hyped prospects flopping or disappearing. It seems like LA's prospects are always put on a pedestal (maybe due to the Dodgers brand?), and yet, there aren't a ton of guys outside of Andy Pages, Michael Busch, and now Dalton Rushing who you can point to as successful MLB results of the Dodgers' farm system. LA has built its current dynasty-in-the-making on the trade market and in free agency, not through its developmental pipeline; nor is there a long list of ex-Dodgers prospects who are killing it for other MLB teams right now.

The Dodgers already own so much MLB real estate in terms of renown, success, and general hype, most of it deserved. Why pile it on with undeserved hype for their prospects? Spread the wealth.

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