Yankees Rule 5 Eligible Players
By James Vlietstra
February 5, 2022
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The New York Yankees have close to 300 players in their minor league system. At the end of the year, they have a staggering 130 that are eligible for the Rule 5 draft at the Winter Meetings. There’s another 30 or so that will be free agents if not added to the 40-man roster prior to the end of the season, the way Donny Sands was last year.
Eli Fishman of Prospects 1500 has 26 of these players listed in his top 50. Obviously, it is impossible to protect them all. GM Brian Cashman likes to package these kinds of players in trades so as not to lose them for nothing when that time comes.
I’m going to highlight a few dozen players that we’re likely to hear about this year. Stats and teams are from last year. Eli Fishman’s team rank will be in parentheses.
Key:
FCL Florida Complex League
TT Tampa Tarpons
HV Hudson Valley Renegades
SP Somerset Patriots
SWB Scranton Wilkes Barre RailRiders
The Players:
Nick Ernst 25, RHP Middle reliever split season between HV &SP
Chase Illig 25, C Spent the year at SP. With departures of Sands and Jason Lopez is an option if Sanchez or Higashioka are injured
Nolan Martinez 23, RHP 3rd round pick in 2016. Injuries have limited him to 36 innings since 2019
Tanner Myatt 23, RHP Big hard throwing strike out machine. Finished year in HV bullpen
Matt Pita 24, OF Split last year between SP & SWB
Anthony Seigler 22, C 1st round 2018 draft. Struggled with HV. Has dealt with a slew of different injuries. Maybe time to try him on the mound.
Justin Wilson 25, RHP Pitched only 11 innings for HV
Osiel Rodriguez (Honorable Mention) 20, RHP Has only thrown 18 professional innings beginning in 2019.
Roberto Chirinos (HM) 21, SS Finished up in HV. Seemed to get better as the year progressed.
Montana Semmel (HM) 20, RHP Last pitched professionally in 2019 when he pitched 9 innings after getting drafted.
Denny Larrondo (50) 19, RHP Pitched 25 solid innings for FCL team.
Michael Beltre (49) 26, OF Had 16 HRs and 37 SBs for SP. Will be a free agent.
Mitch Spence (48) 23, RHP Pitched all year for HV. 20 starts, 105 innings, 118 k, 7 wins, 3.94 ERA
Edgar Barclay (47) 23, LHP 29 appearances between TT and HV for the power reliever. 3.49 ERA, 77 IP, 112 k, 13 k/9
Matt Sauer (46) 23, RHP 2nd round 2017 draft. Recovered from injuries to start 21 games between TT and HV. Totaled 111 IP. Should see better results the farther he gets from surgery.
Aldenis Sanchez (45) 23, OF In 94 PA at TT he slashed.413/.500/.588/1.088 with 13 SBs.
Jhony Brito (44) 24, RHP Between HV and SP the pending free agent started 22 games with a 3.55 ERA, 116 IP, 118 K, & 1.114 WHIP
Raimfer Salinas (43) 21, OF Got into 45 games for FCL, mostly at CF
Jake Agnos (42) 23, LHP 4th round 2019 draft. Pitched 12 innings after getting drafted has been injured since.
Alfred Vega (41) 21, RHP Struck out 46 in 37 innings , mostly at FCL. 1.054 WHIP
Jake Sanford (39) 24, OF 3rd round 2019 draft. Played 101 games between TT and HV. Slashed .285/.356/.467/.823
Madison Santos (38) 22, OF Split time between FCL and TT .279/.423/.523/.945
Matt Krook (37) 27, LHP 1st round by Marlins in 2013. 21 starts between SP and SWB 2.89 ERA 106 IP 132 K 1.189 WHIP
Greg Weissert (36) 26, RHP 40 games for TT and SWB. 1.64 ERA 49 IP 60 K 1.135 WHIP
Tyrone Yulie (34) 20, RHP 50 K in 38 IP over 12 appearances between FCL and TT.
TJ Sikkema (32) 23, LHP 1st round pick in 2019 draft. Hasn’t pitched since accumulating 10 Innings after getting drafted in 2019. Rumor has it he’s healthy coming into spring
Ryder Green (30) 21, OF 3rd round in 2018. Played 50 games mostly at TT.
Josh Breaux (28) 24, C 2nd round in 2018. In 90 games between HV and SP he slugged .503
Hayden Wesneski (27) 24, RHP Made the jump from HV to SP to SWB. Started 24 games, 11 wins, 3.24 ERA, 130 IP, 151 K, 1.120 WHIP
Andres Chaparro (25) 22, 3B He played 101 games in TT and HV .267/.381/.468/.849 and continued to open eyes at the Arizona Fall League. Will be a free agent
Brandon Lockridge (23) 25, OF 5th round 2018. Played in 75 games between HV and SP .298/.352/.495/.847
Anthony Garcia (20) 21, 1B Played 39 games between FCL and TT. Hit 14 HRs and 15 SBs .306/.444/.678/1.122
Alexander Vargas (16) 20, SS FCL 42 games.273/.363/.393/.755. Needs to develop extra base hit power
Antonio Gomez (14) 20, C System’s best true catcher. 46 games between FCL and TT .263/.375/.417/.792
Randy Vasquez (13) 23, RHP From TT to HV to SP 8 wins, 2.52 ERA, 21 starts, 107 IP, 130 K
Ken Waldichuk (10) 24, LHP 5th round 2019. HV and SP 21 starts, 3.03 ERA, 110 IP, 163 K, 1.155 WHIP, 13.3 k/9
