Yankees lose potential international star to Mariners in latest weird prospect purge

Whether you agree that the Yankees needed a clean break from their previous international scouting department led by Donny Rowland, or you think they just needed a few more bites at the apple with the gems of their 2026-27 classes before we could render a verdict, you have to admit the latest shuffle's been ... pretty weird!

After letting Rowland go, the Yankees lost the top of their 2026 class, with upper-crust shortstop Wandy Asigen choosing the Mets for less money than the Yankees had promised him under the old regime. Either the Yankees really didn't believe in him as much as Rowland did, or he'd been scorned to the point where he was willing to take anything to get away from them. There's also, uh, a possible third thing: the Yankees might be covering up malfeasance by dissolving agreements, potentially because they've been forced to. But we'll learn that somewhere down the line if so, I'm sure!

Heading towards International Signing Day, when all-but-finished agreements with teenagers become official (seedy process!), there were perplexing rumors afoot that the Yankees planned to forfeit their entire class and sever all pre-agreements in future years. Ultimately, they retained a few of the players they were tied to, but losing Asigen stole the headlines nonetheless.

Over the weekend, that projected severing of ties in future classes really did go down. The Yankees first renounced the No. 1 hitter in the 2027 class, Mairon De La Rosa, who was a Mariner (again, informally) before the end of the weekend. He, too, took less money than the Yankees initially pledged to give him.

Yankees lose $4+ million international prospect Mairon De La Rosa to Mariners (and many more!)

In addition to De La Rosa, the Yankees sacrificed infielder Leonardo Feliz and his $1.3 million commitment, as well as Venezuelan shortstop Josneybert Vera.

But don't worry! According to the same sources, the Yankees have maintained their pre-agreement with an ultra-elite 13-year-old in the class of 2030, which might be the only big-money string they've opted to reinforce. Surely, that will both happen and matter.

The Yankees' behavior is confounding here; seemingly opting out of the structure entirely is not what fans expected when ties with Rowland were severed. I think I speak for everyone when I say we were hoping to see more success, not complete inaction.

Maybe someday the Yankees will take full advantage again of one of the few avenues of prospect roster building they still have unfettered access to, outside of the draft and their annual low picks. Or maybe an international draft is coming in the forthcoming CBA, and everything changes anyhow (and they lose their prized 13-year-old).

It's all strange. It's strange to see the Yankees forgoing several consensus top prospects (unless they've been mandated to). It's strange to see both Asigen and De La Rosa sign for less elsewhere — did Rowland value them too highly? And is losing them entirely worth more to the organization than a $500,000 overpay? Someday, we may learn what really happened here — but, given how nebulous the process is and always has been, it's equally likely that the real explanation continues to get swept under the rug.