Perspectives: Only One Top Prospect?!
- Paul Semendinger
- Jan 27
- 2 min read
By Paul Semendinger
January 27, 2025
***
The MLB Pipeline Top Prospects list just came out.
There's one Yankee on the list. One. There is one sole Yankee on the list. Only one. Just one. Of the one hundered top prospects in all of baseball, just one is in the Yankees' organization. Just one.
One.
Jasson Dominguez is the only Yankee on the Top Prospects list.
He's the only Yankee there.
***
So many fans want to sing the praises of the Yankees' prospects like Spencer Jones. Or George Lombard. Or... whomever.
"He's going to be great."
Yankees fans might want to think that, but it doesn't seem like the people who study the game think so.
A year ago fans were up in arms when it was suggested by me (and others) that the Yankees trade Spencer Jones for Corbin Burnes.
"What are you crazy? Jones will be Aaron Judge and Babe Ruth combined. Willie Mays will be thought of as second to Spencer Jones."
A year later, Jones couldn't crack the 100 Top Prospects list.
***
I have read, this off season, "George Lombard will play third for the Yankees in 2026." Well, maybe he will. Why not?
But, it doesn't seem like he'll be any good there if he's not even a Top 100 prospect.
***
This is an absolute failure on many levels by the Yankees.
I don't want to hear that they traded away their best prospects. Baloney. By my quick look, there is only one former Yankee prospect on the entire list - Kevin Alcantara (#90).
The lack of developing quality Major League players has been a problem for the Yankees for a long long time. I have written about this for years. Fans then cite the next sure-thing players who are coming...
Fans have been sold on Clint Frazier and Mike Ford and Greg Bird and Jesus Montero. On and on. Legions of names. On and on. To forever - and back. Miguel Andujar. Oswald Peraza. Estevan Florial. Again, on and on. Long long lists of failed prospects.
***
Of the Top 100 MLB Prospects for 2025, the Yankees managed to rank just one player.
Amazing.
One.
Just one.
***
By the way, so many want to criticize the Dodgers for the way they buy so much Major League talent..
They have SIX players on the list.
This would be the bankrupt system that produced the RoY in Gil, the No. 3 RoY in Wells, Volpe and Dominguez? Three of the eight position players are home-grown (and maybe four if there is an Oswald(o) platoon at third), plus two of the five starting pitchers. That's a pretty spectacular haul from internal development!
The more immdeiate problem as related to the Yankees Divisional rivals all having much better farm systems than the Yankees do is that the Red Sox have the #2, #7 and #12 prospects. Their top prospect, Roman Anthony, was aquired with the No. 79 pick in the 2022 Draft with, get this, a compensatory pick that the Bosox got when Eduardo Rodriguz signed with the Tigers. Good think they made E-Rod a QO.
It should also be noted that in the very same 2022 Draft, the Yankees took Spencer Jones No. 25 and Drew Thorpe No.61 -- so clearly the Yankees had an opportunity to hit the lottery, but their scouting department has to take some of the blame fo…
Sharply written Paul. What is the root cause behind why the Yankees only have one top prospect? Is it poor scouting, or is something else going on?
It seems to me like the reason for this (and this is just my opinion here) is that Brian Cashman likes to trade away prospects at the deadline every year - in order to fix roster issues that should have been addressed during the previous offseason --and-- what's worse, the reason Cashman has to do this is directly related to Hal Steinbrenner not being willing to spend what was needed during said previous offseason.
Case in point. Alan brings up Kevin Alcantara below - he's now the #90 prospect in the Cubs organization.…
six Yankee prospects on the top 100 list for 2022
four on the 2023 list
but, (as she used to tell me),
you're only as good as your next one.
let's remember that things went prety well last season, let's remember that kids graduate,
and let's not panic until we see how the next one turns out
[The Dodgers] have SIX players on the list.
And it's not like their drafts positions are all that great.