Midseason Review/New Top 30 Prospects
Notes:
Baseball America graded the Yankees’ system a C-. Only the Reds, Padres, and Phillies are ranked lower. The Marlins and Rangers received the same grade.
From the start of the season, I was concerned with the system. I believe some things are worse than I imagined. This is especially true with their bread-and-butter: Pitchers.
As Baseball America correctly pointed out, it’s hard to find pitchers who took a meaningful step forward this season. Beyond that, a few of their interesting pitching prospects had health issues.
I have a simple method I use to determine how I feel about a system: What prospects am I getting excited about? If the answers are Wilberson De Pena, Yostin Pena, and Juan Torres, that’s not good. If one of the answers is Dax Kilby, that’s better – but he was injured most of the season, which prevented him from potentially getting to Hudson Valley.
When I look at their prospect list, very few players surprised me this season. We can’t expect a Cam Schlittler every season, but I am not talking about players who zoom up to MLB out of nowhere. That’s rare.
While I like that Elmer Rodriguez made his MLB debut, his performance declined. His 2.45 Triple-A ERA doesn’t point to a decline, but his xERA was 4.19 while his FIP was 3.78. The Yankees tried to rush Carlos Lagrange into a bullpen role with a disastrous outcome. More on that in the Scranton game recap below.
Graduating a shortstop (George Lombard Jr.) and center fielder (Spencer Jones) to MLB shouldn’t be downplayed, of course. It’s probably the only reason why the Yankees received a C- rather than a D.
The Yankees designated Oswaldo Cabrera for assignment. Cabrera, a favorite of teammates and fans, performed fairly well in Scranton, hitting .288/.345/.444 (105 wRC+) with 19 home runs and 12 stolen bases.
However, there is no doubt that his MLB performance is lacking. After an encouraging 2022 rookie campaign, he hit .229/.288/.324 (71 OPS+) over 789 plate appearances between 2023 and 2026. He was worth 0.0 bWAR and -0.1 fWAR during this timeframe.
If his name was Peter Vanderburg and these are the numbers he put up with the Marlins, would anyone be pining to sign him? That’s the harsh reality.
The Yankees could keep Cabrera if he passes through waivers, which is possible. However, because he has just over 3.0 years of service time, Cabrera has the right to refuse any outright assignment and become a free agent. However, because he has less than five years of service time, a refusal comes with forfeiting his remaining 2026 salary.
Scranton (76-67; 39-30 in the second half) (Lost to Jacksonville, 9-6. Current records: Rochester (42-29), Indianapolis (42-29), Syracuse (40-30), Scranton (39-30), Worcester (39-30). Scranton needs help if they want to make the playoffs)
CF Jarred Kelenic: 1-for-4, HR (8), 2 RBI, R, BB, 2 K
RF Jasson Dominguez: 3-for-3, HR (8), 2 RBI, 3 R, HBP, BB
If Aaron Judge is out for the remainder of the season, Dominguez is likely going ot be asked to shoulder some of the load. I don’t care what Judge has to say about how he is feeling anymore. Anyway, his home run today was crushed: 430 feet at 105.9 MPH.
DH J.C. Escarra: 2-for-5, K
Escarra is hitting .300 at this level (15 doubles, 10 HR). He is 21-for-54 (.389) in September.
2B Marco Luciano: 2-for-4, SF, 2 RBI, K
SS Max Schuemann: 0-for-3, HBP, BB, K
“Why not DFA Schuemann instead?” Yankees fans may not like to hear it, but Schuemann has slightly more value than Cabrera. His 102 wRC+ in 87 plate appearances with the big club shows some competence at the plate (mostly tied to his ability to draw walks)
3B Tyler Hardman: 1-for-5, K
1B Ernesto Martinez Jr.: 0-for-4, 2 K
LF Kenedy Corona: 2-for-3, 2B (12), R, BB
C Abrahan Gutierrez: 1-for-4, R
RHP Brendan Beck: 4.1 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
A tough end to the season for Beck, but it was still a successful campaign that included some MLB time. For Scranton: 2.93 ERA over 135.1 innings (103 hits, 50 R, 44 ER, 10 HR, 40 BB, 151 K).
RHP Danny Watson: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K
RHP Carlos Lagrange: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
Lagrange was humming, *averaging* 100.3 MPH while topping out at 102.1 MPH. Naturally, the YES crew started speculating on him becoming a bullpen option in 2026. Strange things happen, especially with small sample size relievers. However, does this *really* sound like a good idea?
RHP Eli Morgan (L, 4-1): 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
RHP Justin Topa: 1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
RHP Eric Reyzelman: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
Reyzelman continues his late-season surge. He has compiled 10.1 consecutive scoreless innings, lowering his ERA from 10.96 to 7.56.
Somerset (74-64; 37-32 in the second half)
Their season is over.
Hudson Valley (65-65; 35-31 in the second half)
Their season is over.
Tampa (79-52 regular season (43-20 in the second half); 3-2 in playoffs) (Lost to Jupiter, 1-0. Jupiter scored in the bottom of the 9th to win the game and the series. Tampa had a tremendous season, especially in the second half, but came up short of a title.)
SS Dax Kilby: 1-for-4, K
CF Yostin Pena: 0-for-3, 2 SB (3), HBP, K
Pena certainly is one prospect who opened up eyes this season. His tools are loud, and his numbers back them up.
RF Wilberson De Pena: 1-for-3, BB, K
3B Anthony Potestio: 0-for-4, 4 K
A rough night for Potestio, who slumped in the postseason (1-for-16) after hitting .333/.513/.684 in 19 regular season games.
1B Tyce Armstrong: 0-for-3, HBP, 2 K
C Luis Puello: 1-for-4, 2 K
Puello showed some promise this season, thanks to a .257/.328/.489 triple slash. He launched 16 home runs while splitting time between catcher and left field. In a system lacking catching prospects, we take anything we can get.
LF Diego Castellanos: 0-for-4, 2 K
DH Luke Pettitte: 0-for-2, 2 BB, K
Pettitte walked five times in four postseason games.The bad news is that he went 0-for-10.
2B Luis Escudero: 0-for-3, 2 K
RHP J.T. Etheridge: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K
Etheridge, who is on his way to the Arizona Fall League, was dominant in his two playoff starts: 13 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 14 K. When combined with his final three regular season starts: 29 IP, 10 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 10 BB, 38 K. That’s a decent 0.39 ERA.
LHP Jose Ledesma: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
RHP Rafael Arias: (L, 0-1) 0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 K
FCL Yankees (29-29)
Their season is over.
DSL Yankees (33-21 regular season; 0-2 in pool play)
Their season is over.
DSL Bombers (25-29-1)
Their season is over.