Gleyber Torres leads the Baseball Prospectus Top 10 Yankees prospects

It’s “Top 10 prospect” season, and Baseball Prospectus did their part by ranking the best players in the Yankees’ system. Their “state of the system” quote at the top says it all: “200 million dollar payroll, 200 million prospects.”

The Yankees’ system is just about as good as it’s ever been in 20 years, so competition was quite fierce for the top 10. There are several players who should end up in their league-wide top 100, a far cry from the days when only Gary Sanchez cracked the list. Here is the top 10:

I won’t reveal everything that they said about them because it’s good paid content over there, but some notes are fair.

Fans who are already making plans to kick Didi Gregorius to the curb should slow their roll. Both Torres and Mateo are excellent middle infield prospects, but neither is really expected to stay at shortstop. That’s entirely fair, and if their bats play elsewhere, that’s not really a problem. BP is high on Torres and called his bat advanced for a 19-year-old, and even though Mateo had an up-and-down year, they said he has “exceptional bat control.”

BP raved about Frazier’s athleticism and combination of bat speed and power, but they admitted that he’s still trailing his upside. He’s aggressive, but he’s a work in progress. So... he’s a prospect. Neither he or Rutherford (whose ceiling is not as high) will likely stick in center, and that’s fine. Frazier should still make an appearance in pinstripes sometime next year. Hopefully both he and Judge, who slipped a little bit, develop better control of the strike zone.

Sheffield, Kaprielian, and Abreu all offer intriguing possibilities out of the rotation in the future, and Sheffield edged Kaprielian out on this ranking because he’s been healthier. Adams and Dillon Tate (who missed the top 10) are considered more likely to make it as relievers, though the Yankees are well within their rights to keep trying them in the rotation.

What did you think of BP’s top 10?