The title pretty much says it all, so instead of a big intro this opening paragraph will link you to some more helpful information regarding prospects. Here are the Top 30 prospects for 2015 redraft leagues. Here are the American League and National League Top 10 prospect indexes. We also have the Top 20 2014 signees for first-year player drafts in dynasty formats. Last but not least, here are my Top 100 keeper rankings. In the prospect rankings below, more specific ETAs are given as well as links to the organizational top ten list for each player. Just click on the team abbreviation to view my comments on individual prospects. Only two-thirds of the teams are written up, so apologies if not all of the links are live just yet. Ages listed are as of Opening Day 2015. Here are the Top 50 prospects for 2015 fantasy baseball…
Please, blog, may I have some more?Aaron Judge
Organizational Talent Rankings via Baseball America
2014 (13) | 2013 (11) | 2012 (6) | 2011 (5) | 2010 (22)
2014 Affiliate Records
MLB: [84-78] AL East
AAA: [68-76] International League – Scranton/Wilkes-Barre
AA: [67-75] Eastern League – Trenton
A+: [71-68] Florida State League – Tampa
A: [71-69] South Atlantic League – Charleston
A(ss): [37-38] New York-Penn League – Staten Island
Graduated Prospects
Masahiro Tanaka, RHP | Dellin Betances, RHP
The Gist
The Yankees had major contributions from two rookie arms in 2014. When healthy, Masahiro Tanaka was dominant – posting a 2.77 ERA with 141 strikeouts in 136.1 innings pitched. An elbow injury ended his season prematurely, and while he never succumbed to Tommy John surgery, the health of that elbow is a big question mark heading into 2015. Meanwhile, Dellin Betances was a force in the bullpen where he racked up 135 strikeouts in 90 innings. The Yankees were major players on the international market this past July with ten of Baseball America’s top 30 J2 signees going to New York. They are also in the running for Cuban phenom Yoan Moncada, who is expected to sign with a team later this month.
The MiLB season is now heading into the playoffs, and we should have answers for everyone about who will or will not be called up when rosters expand by midweek. For those of you that spent yesterday drafting your fantasy football team, went to bed early last night, slept late this morning, or have just been hiding under a rock, we do have the answer to one of the most asked about players – Joc Pederson WILL be added to the Dodgers roster. I mentioned that I felt that they might make a move to get him on their playoff-eligible roster prior to the deadline so he’d be eligible for postseason competition just in case someone gets hurt. Don Mattingly went out of his way to explain that Joc won’t be thrown to the wolves and that they don’t intend to cut anyone’s playing time to get him ABs. That statement would seem to reflect my theory – that he’s simply being added as an “insurance policy”. (The news broke before Pederson became the first PCL player to record a 30/30 season in 80 years last night BTW.)
We can now also assume that Colorado won’t be calling Jonathon Gray up – he was placed on the MiLB DL yesterday with “general soreness” – GM-Speak for “he’s reached his innings limit” for those of you who aren’t bi-lingual.
Our “Prospect Primer” reflects a handful of the prospects I’m keeping a close eye on heading into Week 22 (for both shallow and deep fantasy leagues). Our bi-weekly prospect columns (Sundays and Wednesdays) will continue to focus on the more “well-known” prospects (our Top-50/Top-100) that are likely going to affect shallow to mid-level fantasy teams.
Disclaimer: The bi-weekly lists AREN’T a “re-ranking” of our Top-50/Top-100/Organization Lists. The players mentioned will typically be guys that owners in somewhat regular leagues NEED to be aware of (regardless of their current level) to keep from slipping behind as they want to stay competitive in “keeper leagues”. There may be a sleeper mentioned from time-to-time, but they may be more important to managers in deeper and more long-term leagues. The players listed aren’t in any particular order (you’ll notice they’re listed alphabetically), they’re simply guys you need to keep an eye on and someone you might be interested in targeting when you’re wheeling and dealing.
(Keep checking in daily for information regarding our end-of-season Top 100 and Organizational Top-10 Lists that will be rolling out as the minor league season ends – those of you following me on Twitter will be notified there as well.)
Please, blog, may I have some more?
Organizational Talent Rankings via Baseball America
2013 (11) | 2012 (6) | 2011 (5) | 2010 (22) | 2009 (15)
2013 Affiliate Records
MLB: [85-77] AL East
AAA: [68-76] International League – Scranton/Wilkes-Barre
AA: [74-67] Eastern League – Trenton
A+: [58-78] Florida State League – Tampa
A: [75-63] South Atlantic League – Charleston
A(ss): [34-41] New York-Penn League — Staten Island
Graduated Prospects
David Adams (INF); Austsin Romine (C); Adam Warren (RHP); Preston Claiborne (RHP)
The Run Down
With a big league roster that’s seemingly always loaded with big money assets at every position, the Yankees don’t have a lot of room for homegrown prospects to arrive and make impacts, and it’s important to keep that in mind when scouring this farm system for future fantasy pieces. Not to suggest that there isn’t value to be had here — prospects like Gary Sanchez and Eric Jagielo are must-owns in dynasty leagues — but historically, the Yankees are more inclined to address needs through spending on the free agent market, rather than exploring the cost-controlled options from their farm. It’s a baseball ops model that’s worked out well for New York over the past 15 years — there’s no arguing that. In 2014, though, the Yankees look frighteningly old and in desperate need of some youth in their lineup.
