Looking Into Chad Jennings' 2009 Baseball America Top 30 Prospects Update Post

The title is a mouthful, I know. Chad Jennings wrote about the 2009 Baseball America top 30 Yankees prospects and where they are now.

It was an interesting post, as many Yankees fans claim the Yankees don't hold onto their prospects.

The results:

Of the top 30 prospects from last years Baseball America, the following are no longer with the Yankees franchise:

-#30. Jamie Hoffmann (returned to Dodgers in Rule 5)
-#15. Mark Melancon (traded to Astros in Lance Berkman deal)
-#12. Mike Dunn (traded to Braves in Javier Vazquez deal)
-#5. Zach McAllister (traded to Indians in Austin Kearns deal)
-#3. Arodys Vizcaino (traded to Braves in Javier Vazquez deal)

-The Jamie Hoffmann choice for the Rule 5 draft is one that I will never understand. Often teams choose players they see that jump out at them, with no statistical backing, so maybe that was the case with the pick.

-Mark Melancon will be a good reliever for the Astros, and showed that with his 2010 statistics with the team. In 17.1 innings pitched Melancon allowed twelve hits, eight walks, and one home run. Melancon pitched to a 3.12 ERA, striking out 19.

-Zach McAllister was traded to the Indians in a deal that many will describe as a straight up trade for Austin Kearns, but that is not necessarily the case. The Yankees received Kerry Wood from the Indians the same day, and only gave up cash for Wood. If you look at it one way, the Yankees traded cash considerations and Zach McAllister for Austin Kearns and Kerry Wood. Would you have done that deal? Yes, Kearns struggled, hitting .235 with the Yankees, (.345 OBP) but Wood was awesome, pitching 26 innings with a 0.69 ERA for the Yankees. If you choose to look at the trade as Kearns for McAllister, it was a horrendous deal. If you look at it as cash and McAllister for Wood and Kearns, it wasn't that bad.

-Finally, the Javier Vazquez deal. Oh, the Javier Vazquez deal. In the deal, the Yankees acquired Javier Vazquez and Boone Logan for Arodys Vizcaino, Mike Dunn, and Melky Cabrera. Logan was a great surprise, but Javier Vazquez was just plain awful. Considering the Yankees gave up the #3 and the #12 prospects in a deal for a lefty reliever and a pitcher with a 10-10 record and 5.32 ERA that didn't even make the Yankees playoff roster, it was a bad deal.

5 of the 30 are no longer in the Yankees system, arguably in deals that were losses for the Yankees. Thoughts?