The article on George Kontos got me thinking about how many right-handed pitching prospects the Yankees have in the organization. Not just players but legit prospects litter every level. The have major league ready talent (Joba, Ian), prospects a step away(Marquez, Horne, Sanchez) and a ton of high upside kids at the lower levels(Heredia, Betances, Brackman, etc.). Below is my ranking of the top Yankee starting pitching prospects. I omitted Steve White due to his age but the list is long and deep on talent.
- Joba- Number one pitching prospect in baseball
- Ian Kennedy- People forget HE was minor league pitcher of the year. He dominated in 07.
- Alan Horne-Eastern League pitcher of the year, four plus pitches.
- Andrew Brackman - Has more upside then maybe any other pitcher in the draft.
- Humberto "the Dirty" Sanchez-Was a top prospect before the injury. Could be a real force if healthy.
- Delin Betances-Raw but a potential number 1 starter.
- Jeff Marquez-15 Wins in '07. From BA Marquez has the chance to become a workhorse groundball machine who fills the No. 3 or 4 slot in a rotation.
- George Kontos-We all know he's the Yankees' "Best Kept Secret"
- Jairo Heredia- Ranked 15th best Prospect in the GCL by Baseball America
- Zach McAllister-Still developing but my breakout prospect for '07. I love this kid.
- Chris Garcia - Elbow injury cost him all of '07 but from BA in '06 Yankees officials believe Garcia has almost as much upside as Hughes.
- Ryan Pope- Hardball times thought he was a steal in the third round
Most of these kids will turn out to be nothing but the sheer number almost guarantees one of two will emerge. I count five players who could develop into Aces - Brackman, Betances, Joba, Heredia and Garcia. Of those five if two develop the Yankees are in very good shape.
Where are all the lefties? Seriously, the Yankees need to figure out a way in infuse some lefthanded talent.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is if you ended up dealing from strnegth to get a different type of prospect you run the risk of an Eddie Yarnall for Mike Lowell type trade.
ReplyDeleteI love Ryan Pope but think the Yankees got duped by Boras with Brackman.
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