3 Yankees prospects who should not be traded and 2 who should

Yankees Prospects Who Should Be Traded: Yoendrys Gómez

The Yankees love to trade pitching prospects who've crested in the development process, famously clearing out what felt like the whole Triple-A rotation just last summer, leaving Matt Krook to move to the bullpen and fend for himself.

This year, the team's young pitchers have backfilled those holes just as the front office anticipated. Richard Fitts, Drew Thorpe, Will Warren, Clayton Beeter and Chase Hampton (don't trade him, please!) have all emerged to hold down the fort. Yoendrys Gómez, who's been here a while, always floated around the "Top 10 prospect" level, and has yet to make a real dent in the team's plans, is probably no longer in that internal upper tier.

Always laid up with something. Gómez (MLB Pipeline's No. 9 Yankees prospect, at the moment) returned to make several short (and effective) starts at High-A last season. Knocked out by a shoulder issue to begin 2023, he's made four equally short outings at Double-A Somerset, striking out 10 in 10.2 innings pitched while sporting a 1.13 WHIP.

There's clearly something there. Mostly every analyst can agree on that. But how often will it appear? With so much strength in this pitching-rich farm, the Yankees can afford to use Gómez as a second-tier piece in any package. Even if he eventually hits his ceiling, they likely won't regret it.