Minor League Mondays: At the Corners

Mood Music - Troublesome by Tupac (NSFW: Language)

One of the narratives surrounding the New York Yankees minor league system for the last few years has been in their top level talent up the middle (catcher, middle infield, center field), but lack of talent at the corners.  While I won't refute this, I think that the system can boast some impressive, if under-hyped, prospects at the corner infield positions.

I would imagine that most here are already familiar with the strengths and weakness of AAA first basemen Jorge Vazquez, but if not click here.  Recently, Vazquez has struggled with injury and a drop off of numbers.  While I fear that the Yankees missed an opportunity to cash in on a home run binge with Vazquez earlier in the year, his power will eventually give him a shot in the majors.

Another topic of Minor League Mondays discussion, 1B/3B Brandon Laird has been one of the hottest hitters at Scranton after looking utterly lost at the plate at the beginning of the season.  Since May 18th, Laird has hit .305/.347/.468 with five home runs and eight doubles.

Other 1B/3B:

Robert Lyerly: .315/.363/.462 at Tampa, recently promoted to Trenton.
Kelvin Castro: .336/.388/.500 at Tampa
Rob Segedin: .323/.396/.482 at Charleston, recently promoted to Tampa.

As I stated at the beginning, none of these players are likely to set the world on fire, but with Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira entrenched at the corner infield positions for the foreseeable future, the roles that will likely be available in the years to come will be as a bench/utlity player or as an injury fill-in.  Don't be surprised if those roles can be filled from within the system.