Ranking the 10 most valuable young players in the Yankees' organization

No. 8 - Jesús Rodríguez

In some ways, Jesús Rodríguez is the opposite of No. 9 on this list, T.J. Rumfield, who is a few years older, but has very little experience to his name. Rodríguez is 23, but has spent the past six years in the minor leagues. He is exactly 30th on MLB Pipeline's Top 30 Yankees prospects. From ages 17 to 20, he spent a few years at various levels of the Yankees' lower minor league levels with solid offensive production. Rodríguez got his first real chance at legitimate minor league time in 2024, where he was promoted to Double-A and hit a bit of a roadblock. In 23 games, he hit .226/.278/.417 with a 4.4 percent walk-rate and a 21.1 percent strikeout rate.

However, the Yankees must have seen something, because they added him to the 40-man roster and promoted him to Triple-A in 2025, where he's hitting .362/.443/.461 in his first 37 games. His extensive time in the minors has gotten him defensive experience at each infield position (except shortstop) and even in the outfield.

The most intriguing thing about Rodríguez is his strikeout-to-walk ratio. At the Triple-A level, he walks 12.2 percent of the time and strikes out 15.2 percent. Some minor league players have a developed eye at the plate, but knowing the pitch is a strike doesn't help if they can't hit it. Rodríguez can hit, play different positions, and is still fairly young. He is not quite knocking on the door, but he could see some backup time for the Yankees if Austin Wells or backup catcher J.C. Escarra need to spend time on the IL.

No. 7 - Chase Hampton

The first three picks on this list were a bit esoteric, and this is where fans familiar with prospects will start to see some familiar names. Chase Hampton has been a highly touted prospect since he was drafted out of Texas Tech. His professional debut was in 2023 spring training, and he spent the rest of the year splitting his time between High-A and Double-A. He was entirely dominant in High-A, striking out 40.5 percent of batters, before struggling a bit in Double-A with a 4.37 ERA in 11 starts. In 2024, he battled injuries all season, only recording seven starts across three different minor-league levels.

Unfortunately, Hampton required Tommy John surgery in 2025. Many different outlets have him ranked highly in the Yankees organization, but there just isn't much to talk about. He's had very limited big league experience, and while that time has been relatively good, there's nothing about his velocity, control, or movement that screams big-league future, and an injury history at 23 years old doesn't do anything to counter that.

No. 6 - Spencer Jones

Some fans may be surprised at Jones being this low on the list, and that is a reasonable reaction. He's ranked as the second-highest prospect in the Yankees organization by MLB Pipeline and the fourth-highest by FanGraphs Prospect Report (he was ranked first in 2024).

If you haven't heard of Spencer Jones, tell me if you've heard this one before: he's 6 foot 7, has an incredible throwing arm and great range in the outfield, and has unreal raw power numbers, but strikes out too often. It's unfair to Jones, but it's impossible to avoid the obvious comparisons.

Jones hits the ball hard, he hits the ball far, he throws hard, he runs like the wind - and he's genuinely fast, not just "fast for his size." Since the Yankees took him 25th overall in the 2022 draft, his scouting report has been essentially the same thing: an incredible athlete who will see great success if he can cut down his strikeouts. Unfortunately, that "if" is as gigantic as he is.

In 2023, he struck out in 28.2 percent of his at-bats in Double-A. Scouts and those in the know said if he could cut those, he'd be fine. Then in 2024, he struck out in 36.8 percent of his at-bats. His batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and walk rate all stayed virtually the same. The mammoth crimson flag is that his contact percentage (the total percentage of contact made given all swings taken) fell from 72 percent to 61 percent. In 2025, that number has continued to fall to 59 percent. It's possible that some of these stats are a result of trying to play through injury, given he spent most of May on the injured list.

However, the window is not closed. A major revelation for Jones this season has been an increased walk rate. While a 36.6 percent strikeout rate is still untenable (especially at the Double-A level), he's increased his walk rate from 9.9 percent to 17.9 percent. He's near doubled his walk rate, and increased his OPS from .789 last year to .932 this year. These numbers are all incredibly exciting, but his prospect outlook will depend almost solely on whether he can stop swinging and missing so much. There has never been any question about whether Spencer Jones has the athletic tools necessary to be a legitimate Major League Baseball player. The question is the same as its always been, and the writing is beginning to appear on the wall.