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New York Yankees Top 20 Prospects in Review

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This list was originally posted December 17, 2007. THIS IS NOT A NEW LIST!!! THIS IS A REVIEW OF THE OLD LIST AND OLD GRADES!!!!!!!!!

1) Joba Chamberlain, RHP, Grade A
     2.63 ERA with 104/36 K/BB in 89 innings for the Yankees. Conversion to starting resulted in a sore arm, hardly unexpected...it was a risky move to do that in-season.
2) Jose Tabata, OF, Grade B+
     .248/.320/.310 for Double-A Trenton, traded to Pirates. Seems stagnant as a prospect, though injuries have not helped. Turns 20 on August 12th, still very young.
3) Ian Kennedy, RHP, Grade B+
     Has a composite 1.99 ERA with 49/14 K/BB in 54 innings in the minors, but 8.17 ERA with 27/26 K/BB in 40 innings in the majors. Lack of plus stuff makes it hard for him to succeed if his command isn't on.
4) Alan Horne, RHP, Grade B
     5.63 ERA with 24/22 K/BB in 32 innings in Triple-A before going on the DL with a tired arm. Injury reports have been vague. 
5) Austin Jackson, OF, Grade B-
     .289/.361/.435 with 15 steals for Double-A Trenton. Developing nicely but I think he will need a year of Triple-A before being ready for the majors.
6) Bradley Suttle, 3B, Grade B-
     .275/.339/.478 for Class A Charleston. OK performance but not as good as anticipated overall.
7) Dellin Betances, RHP, Grade B-
     3.57 ERA with 105/53 K/BB in 93 innings for Charleston, 68 hits allowed. Needs better command and must prove he can stay healthy, but like the K/IP and H/IP.
8) Austin Romine, C, Grade B-
      .279/.317/.403 for Charleston, not great but something to build on. Needs to improve walk rate though at least strikeouts are fairly low.
9) Jesus Montero, C, Grade C+
      .319/.370/.477 with 13 homers for Charleston. Bat is coming along nicely, stock is definitely rising.
10) Dan McCutchen, RHP, Grade C+
      2.55, 52/18 K/BB in 53 innings in Double-A, 3.58 with 58/11 K/BB in 70 innings in Triple-A, traded to the Pirates. A solid pitching prospect who should be a useful inning-eater if home run tendencies don't get out of control.
11) Brett Gardner, OF, Grade C+
       .284/.406/.409 with 37 steals for Triple-A Scranton. Very fast, draws lots fo walks, power is unimpressive but should be above Gathright levels.
12) Damon Sublett, 2B, Grade C+
       .263/.364/.375 for Class A Tampa until going on the DL in May. Capable of better if healthy, but that was also a problem in college.
13) Andrew Brackman, RHP, Grade C+
       Rehabbing.
14) Jeffrey Marquez, RHP, Grade C+
        4.69 ERA with 33/24 K/BB in 81 innings for Scranton, 93 hits allowed. Gets grounders but also has given up 12 homers. Not impressive.
15) George Kontos, RHP, Grade C+
       3.58 ERA with 128/50 K/BB in 128 innings for Trenton, 107 hits allowed. Looks good to me. Needs to tighten his control a bit more perhaps.
16) Kevin Whelan, RHP, Grade C+
      1.42 ERA with 16/8 K/BB in 13 innings for Trenton, had a 4.67 ERA with 19/14 K/BB in 17 innings for Tampa as well. Good K/IP marks but command remains spotty.
17) Frank Cervelli, C, Grade C+
      Limited to just 10 games this year by a wrist injury.
18) David Robertson, RHP, Grade C+
      1.39 ERA with 74/22 K/BB in 52 innings between Double-A and Triple-A. Unable to replicate in the majors yet, 6.75 with 23/10 K/BB in 17 innings. K-rate remains strong in the majors, a good sign for the future.
19) Jairo Heredia, RHP, Grade C+
       3.12 ERA with 86/40 K/BB in 92 innings for Charleston, 87 hits allowed. Interesting prospect making progress.
20) Zach McAllister, RHP, Grade C+
       Combined 12-9, 2.30 with 103/18 K/BB in 137 innings in A-ball, 125 hits allowed. K-rate dropped in Advanced-A, but other marks remained strong. A sleeper prospect panning out this year.

Good and bad news here. Joba has been great, although hopefully the arm problem isn't a huge issue going forward; it would be most unfortunate if it was and the Yankees would have no one to blame but themselves.  Injuries to and inconsistency from other prospects have been troublesome, although at least the disappointing Tabata netted some stretch-run help. He still has lots of time to improve. Some sleeper types like McAllister and Heredia have emerged. Montero looks good right now.