Yankees refute rumors of class imploding by actually signing international talent

The New York Yankees are still undecided as to who they're hiring to fill the International Scouting Director gap vacated by Donny Rowland at the end of the year. Oz Ocampo, who helped lead an international charge in Houston, is reportedly among the candidates. No matter who the Yankees ultimately go with, the ripple effects of Rowland's departure have already nuked their 2026 IFA class, with other significant wrinkles still to be determined in future years.

Thankfully (or not), we can officially confirm on Thursday that one particularly nasty rumor wasn't entirely accurate. Though the Yankees lost the gem of their class to the Mets, watching Wandy Asigen break his pre-agreement (or did New York's braintrust break it first?), early word indicated that the Yanks were going to forfeit their entire class. Despite a power vacuum at the top, that doesn't seem to have been accurate.

The Twitter account "@YankeesFarm," who's all over this nebulous process every single year, has reported that the Yankees have finalized agreements with six different prospects (albeit names in a significantly lower tier than Asigen). None of the Yankees' prospects appear on MLB Pipeline's Top 50 list, though of course that's far from a death knell in this unpredictable space. Say what you will about Rowland's work (and we will say plenty), but he uncovered 103 MPH-peaking righty Carlos Lagrange with one of his less cumbersome bonuses. There's talent to plumb below the top of the market, and at least the Yankees will get to do that in 2026 after it sounded like all hope was lost a few weeks back.

The Yankees' six-man group includes Dominican infielders Abrahan Pichardo and "slick-fielding shortstop" Germayhoni Beltre, as well as Venezuelan standouts Kenneth Melendez (catcher), Poly Ojeda (catcher), Sebastian Rivas (pitcher) and Sebastian Pinto (outfielder).

Yankees manage to keep six prospects in 2026 International Free Agency class

Now, the Yankees need to take an emphatic next step. Get the new infrastructure in place. Start adjusting to your new reality. Rebuild relationships that were clearly scarred by the public breakup.

The cloud obscuring what really happened that led to Asigen's departure is still thick. Was the front office internally split on his value? Why didn't the Yankees counter a Mets deal that came in below their original number after swearing for years they'd never lose him? Was Rowland really that important to Asigen and his people? If so, the Yankees still have plenty more trouble to sort through; relationships to academies and trainers still drive this entire (corrupt — whoops, who said that?) business until an international draft is installed someday.

Thursday's petit, but not nonexistent, class seems to indicate that the Yankees have picked up some of their pieces from Cashman's decision to necessitate a clean break. Not all. Not most. But some.