Baseball America has finally posted their top ten Yankee prospects:
- Joba Chamberlain, rhp
- Austin Jackson, of
- Jose Tabata, of
- Ian Kennedy, rhp
- Alan Horne, rhp
- Jesus Montero, c
- Jeff Marquez, rhp
- Brett Gardner, of
- Ross Ohlendorf, rhp
- Andrew Brackman, rhp
I have more than a few thoughts on this.
Joba makes perfect sense in the top slot since Phil Franchise lost his rookie status in 2007. He got the nod for best fastball, best curve, and best slider in the Yankee system.
Austin Jackson? Really? I know the kid had a great second half in A+, and for a 20 year old he shows a ton of promise. And he got some great press at the end of the season. But for him to rank above Tabata and IPK shows that BA let themselves be swayed by the current buzz.
Jose Tabata's birthday is August 12, 1988. He'll be starting at AA Trenton in the spring. Get excited people.
Ronster22 has said several times how impressed he is by IPK's makeup and his knowledge of how to pitch. I would have ranked him the number 2 prospect.
If you're only slightly interested in the Yankee farm system, I'm picking Alan Horne as the player to watch in '08. I bet he's with the big club by the All-Star break.
BA lists Montero as the 6th best prospect in the system and the best hitter for power, but has Austin Romine as the 2011 catcher and Francisco Cervelli as the best defensive catcher. Their solution is to move the 18 year-old Montero to first, but I figure two of those three catchers are tradebait.
With the exception of my man-crush Ohlendorf, I take issue with the entire 7-10 crew.
No Sanchez, no Melancon, no JB Cox? I know they were injured, but I'd still rank all of them ahead of Jeff Marquez. And if you're holding their injuries against them, how could you possibly include Andrew Brackman who has never thrown a professional pitch and is recovering from TJ surgery?
For those of you keeping score at home, I would have ranked the Yanks: 1 Joba, 2 IPK, 3 Tabata, 4 Horne, 5 Jackson, 6 Sanchez, 7 Melancon, 8 Montero (grudgingly), 9 Ohlendorf, 10 Gardner