The baseball off-season is underway, which means it’s time for Baseball America’s (BA) ranking of each organizations’ top 10 prospects. Earlier this year, I took a look at how the top 10 from the 2011-12 off-season were faring. Outfielder Mason Williams was ranked as the #5 prospect at that time, but after a standout season for the Charleston RiverDogs and a promotion to the high ‘A’ Tampa Yankees, Williams has earned the distinction of being BA’s #1 Yankees’ prospect entering the 2013 campaign.1
Williams, a 4th round selection in MLB’s 2010 amateur draft, showed off his skills in rookie ball at Staten Island in 2011 when he stole 28 bases, drove in 31 runs and posted an .863 OPS in 91 games. The media and some scouts are often quick to tab someone as a “five tool player”, but the Yankees truly believe they have that type of player in Williams. The 21-year old put up a .304/.359/.489 split this past season with the South Atlantic League’s Charleston squad. His 19 doubles, four triples, eight home runs, 19 stolen bases and stellar defense punched his ticket to move up a level in early July.
The product of Winter Garden, FL was limited to just 22 games for Tampa due a torn labrum in his left shoulder. He underwent season ending surgery in early August, but is expected to make a full recovery and should be ready for the start of Spring Training.
2. Slade Heathcott: The Yankees first round draft pick in 2009 (29th overall) was expected to be on the fast track to the Major Leagues. However, injuries and off the field issues appeared to stunt his progress. A second shoulder surgery kept him out of action in 2012 until June 18th when he made his return with the Gulf Coast Yankees.
After five games Heathcott was moved to Tampa where he regained his stroke, primarily as a designated hitter. The speedy Heathcott also saw time in center and left field and could one day form quite a 1-2 punch on the bases with Williams.
The 22-year old hit .307 with an .847 OPS in 60 games, and stole 17 bases in 21 attempts. He’s also been tabbed by BA as having the best defensive outfield arm in the Yankees system. Heathcott’s good play has continued for the Scottsdale Scorpions in the Arizona Fall League. He has driven in 11 runs in 12 games, while his three doubles, three triples, and 10 walks have helped to put together an outstanding .926 OPS.2 He should be starting the 2013 season with the Eastern League’s (‘AA’) Trenton Thunder.
3. Gary Sanchez: With last year’s trade of catcher Jesus Montero to Seattle, all eyes shifted to Sanchez as the heir apparent to Jorge Posada. The Yankees signed the Latin American free agent to a $2.5MM deal in 2009.
A couple of inches shorter and five pounds lighter than Montero, Sanchez has already shown promising power while still in his teen years. He’s belted 43 home runs in 245 minor league games (app. 1 home run every 21 at-bats) and has a career .847 OPS. He’s had fans’ tongues wagging since he slugged .597 in rookie ball as a 17-year old.
Sanchez ticked off his manager and the Yankees executives in 2011 when he first refused to enter a game as a sub and then declined to warm up a pitcher in the bullpen. He was removed from the Charleston roster and was sent back to extended Spring Training. The message got through to Sanchez, who was mired in a slump at the time of the disciplinary action.
After hitting just four home runs in 32 games, Sanchez belted 13 over his final 50 games. He tore things up at Charleston this past season and earned a promotion to Tampa. Overall, he hit 18 home runs, slugged .485, and posted an .829 OPS. Tabbed as the best power hitter in the organization by Baseball America, Sanchez will most likely split 2013 between Tampa and Trenton.
4. Tyler Austin: Has surprised more than a few people with his breakout 2012 season. Austin was a 13th round draft choice out of Heritage High School (Conyers, GA) in 2010, but so far has shown he deserved to be selected much higher.
The former catcher showed he could handle the lumber right out of the gate. While splitting time between first base and third base, Austin hit six home runs and had a .997 OPS in 47 games of rookie ball (GCL, Staten Island).. A switch to the outfield last season had no impact on his offense.
Austin played at three levels in 2012 (He also had a quick two game stop in the GCL), with his biggest numbers coming at Charleston. A .320/.450/.598 split with 14 home runs and 54 RBI got him a promotion to Tampa after 70 games. He continued to swing a hot bat and produced 23 RBI in 36 games and an .863 OPS. He finished his season off by getting the chance to play two games for the Thunder, and yes, even knocked in one run.
Austin’s final numbers – 17 HR, 80, RBI, .322 avg, .960 OPS – has to have some members of the organization thinking about a future outfield of Williams, Heathcott, and Austin. (BA named him as the top hitter for average in the Yankees’ system.) The 21-year old was invited to take part in the 2012 Futures Game, but had to skip it to do an injury, but his future looks quite bright.
5. Jose Campos: The “other guy” in the Jesus Montero (plus Hector Noesi) – Michael Pineda deal with Seattle prior to last season, Campos didn’t get much of a chance to show the Yankees what he’s got. After just five games, Campos was sidelined for the remainder of the year with elbow inflammation. To put a different spin on an old cliche, it added injury to insult. Pineda was already out for the season after undergoing career threatening shoulder surgery.
Campos was 3-0 in his first four starts with just three earned runs allowed in 22 innings pitched. In addition, he struck out 23 batters and walked just five. Start number five saw everything change though when Campos didn’t make it out of the third inning. He was tagged for eight runs, seven hits, and walked three.
The Yankees are hopeful they avoided Tommy John surgery by having Campos sit out the remainder of the year.
6. Brett Marshall: Only 22-years old, the 5’11” Marshall has already spent five years in the Yankees minor league system as a starting pitcher. He could be one of the first pitchers recalled in 2013 if he can prove himself at Triple-A Scranton this coming season as he did the last two seasons at Tampa and Trenton.
After he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2009, Marshall returned as a work horse and tossed 298.2 innings over the last two season. A power sinker and the top changeup in the system has helped Marshall to average about seven strikeouts per nine innings and less than one home run per nine innings.
7. Angelo Gumbs: The second baseman’s numbers may not jump out at you, but let’s not compare him to Robinson Cano either. Another selection in the 2010 draft (2nd round), Gumbs’ bat showed improvement in his second full season in the minors.
His 24 extra base hits, including seven home runs, helped him to a .432 slugging pct. for the RiverDogs. He also stole 26 bases last season and was caught only three times. Originally drafted as a center fielder, Gumbs has worked hard to make the transition to the infield and has earned marks for his athleticism. He’s a project, but a highly touted project.
8. Manny Banuelos: Yankees fans were hoping to see Banuelos make his debut in the Major League pinstripes this past season, but a cranky elbow limited him to six starts and eventually, Tommy John surgery. The Yankees tried to avoid having Banuelos go under the knife, but shutting him down and several rehab tries did not work out.
It’s odd that BA’s John Manuel rated Banuelos in the top 10 considering the left-hander will miss the entire 2013 season.
9. Ty Hensley: The Yankees’ 1st round draft choice this past June, Hensley showed maturity and poise when introduced to the media. The right-handed pitcher made his professional debut for the GCL Yankees on his 19th birthday and made five appearances overall, four of them starts. He had his ups and downs, but did strikeout 14 batters in 12 innings and picked up his first victory.
You can learn more about Hensley from the interview I did with him back in July.
10. Rafael De Paula : Many of you will say, “Who?” when you see De Paula’s name. It took some time before the 6’2″ right-hander had a chance to pitch for the Yankees. De Paula signed a $500K deal in November of 2010 contingent on his acquisition of a visa and the approval of Major League Baseball. He was unable to obtain the visa until March of this year, due in no small part, to his falsifying his age and identity back in 2008.
De Paula pitched for the “Yankees 1” team in the Dominican Summer League (DSL) and fashioned an 8-2, 1.46 record in 14 starts. He struck out better than 12 batters per nine innings and allowed just 35 hits in 61.2 innings pitched. He’s got a low- to mid-90’s fastball and throws a curve, slider, and changeup.
The 2012 Dropouts
Four players (Williams, Sanchez, Banuelos, and Heathcott) remain from the 2012 BA prospect list. The six non-returnees include Jesus Montero, who of course we dealt to Seattle after publication of last season’s list.
Those who didn’t make it from the 2011 top ten to the 2012 list are:
3. Dellin Betances had a miserable year after he showed a lot of progress in 2011. While he struck out 124 batters in 131.2 innings (split between Trenton and Scranton), his WHIP was 1.85 due to his erratic control. Betances, whose mechanics seemed to still be growing into his 6’8″ frame, walked an astonishing 99 hitters. That’s 6.8 per nine innings and is totally unacceptable.
Betances has shown some improvement pitching out of the pen in the Arizona Fall League (AFL). While he’s allowed seven runs in 10 innings, he’s struck out 15 and walked four. Four of the earned runs he allowed came in one two-thirds of an innings stint, so his overall numbers are skewed a bit by it.
6. Dante Bichette: The Yankees first round pick in the 2011 draft ate up rookie ball pitching (.342 avg, 47 RBI in 52 games in the GCL) after signing out of high school. This past season was a completely different story though as Bichette played the full season at Charleston. He hit just .248 and slugged a mere .331. He also committed 21 errors in 112 games at third base.
7. Ravel Santana: The center fielder made everyone in the organization stand up and take notice with his performance in the DSL in 2010 and the GCL a year later. But a badly broken ankle during the 2011 season changed all that. Santana had trouble rebounding in 2012 and hit just .216/.304/.289 in 60 games with Staten Island.
8. Austin Romine: The Yankees had high hopes that Romine could take over the back up duties behind Russell Martin in 2012, but a bad back limited him to just 31 games in the minors. With several years of minor league experience under his belt, Romine maybe running out of road to make it to the Majors as a number one catcher.
Romine’s defense and game calling ability is his strength, however, and that has not changed. Here’s to hoping that Romine bounces back in 2013 and makes it up to the big club at some point during the season.
9. J.R. Murphy: The converted catcher saw his stock drop due to the mediocre offensive numbers he put up at Tampa and Trenton last year. Somewhat inexplicably, the right-handed hitting Murphy produced at a much higher rate (.786 to .554 OPS)3 against right-handed pitchers than he did against lefties.
With a glut of catching prospects in the organization, Murphy is going to need a big year to move back up the food chain.
Drew Sarver has been a Yankees fan for over 40 years and has blogged about them on his site My Pinstripes since 2005. You can follow him on twitter at @Mypinstripes.
1 – BaseballAmerica.com
2 – MLB.com
3 – Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com
