Please see our player page for Austin Wells to see projections for today, the next 7 days and rest of season as well as stats and gamelogs designed with the fantasy baseball player in mind.

The shortstop question has hovered over this organization since Derek Jeter retired. That can’t be right. They’ve had a real shortstop since Jetes, haven’t they? Can we count Tulowitzki? 

A quick giggle search brought me to a New York Post article from 2021 titled “Yankees Still Searching For Derek Jeter’s Long-Term Replacement at Shortstop.” A year and change later, the search continues. 

The word “search” feels a little aggressive to describe how this has looked in the real. 

Nobody’s gathering groups with flashlights to comb the forests of upstate New York. Instead, they’re hoping a shortstop emerges from atop this list. 

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Bit of a trivia question off the top: who were the last two big-time Yankees prospects who weren’t overrated. Aaron Judge is quick to mind. Who else? Our best bet is to check the trades for guys who actualized for other organizations. Let’s see. Stanton was traded for Starlin Castro, Jose Devers and Jorge Guzman, so . . . no hits there. Still a pretty good trade for the fish considering Stanton’s inability to stay on the field. But that doesn’t matter to our purpose here: harvesting fantasy value on the Yankees’ farm, where this organization is loaded. It’s possible nobody markets their prospects better than New York. Whenever you hear flowery language about a Deivi Garcia or Jasson Dominguez type, keep that in mind. This front office schools its people well on speaking only in glowing terms when it comes to their minor league system. If a prospect writer’s primary process is checking in with team sources, they’ll probably wind up overrating young Yankees. Part of this effect is born from having a huge, hungry fan base. Part of it comes down to marketing. Part of it is simply the Yankees having a lot of money to invest in player development and acquisition and doing exactly that. All the historical caveats about their prospects apply, but even after some system-trimming deadline maneuvers, they’ve got an objectively impressive group at the moment. 

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Last week, we began this series with the First-Year-Player Draft Top 25 for 2021 Fantasy Baseball

As we move into the next group, my favorite league is beginning it’s draft. I suspect we’ll be right around my pick, 26 of 30, by the time these pages hit the newsstands. Not that I expect anyone in the league much cares. Lots of good FYPD rankings out there. But still, it’s an odd game: drafting with 30-ish teams who mostly know my thoughts are public if they care to take a peak. I suppose you get numb to it across time. A leaguemate told me last night that my Wilman Diaz ranking (No. 6) helped finalize his decision to draft Diaz at 16 rather than trade the pick to me. I’d been trying to move up since the ninth pick. Long night. Only one way to go after burning up the chats trying to make a play only to fail: Forward. On to the next play. Plenty of talented dudes on the board. Missing out on one is never a make or break scenario unless you let it become that. So here we go! 

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Feels oddly fated that the Yankees land right behind the Red Sox in the sequence I’ve chosen: alphabetically, division by division. It’s more than Babe Ruth and Bucky Dent linking the legacies of these organizations. It’s the Razz Prospect Rundown now, too! 

Okay, enough hilarity. Baseball’s all business in the AL East. Everywhere, really. If I start writing in this thought space at all, I’ll lose my shizz over the hyper-capitalist, negotiating-table Designated Hizzer shizz that’s shizzing all over the off-season. 

Deep breaths. 

I spelled “hizzer” that way because I couldn’t say “Designated Hitter shizz that’s shizzing” when I read the sentence back to myself. 

Like, my tongue would refuse to make the sounds so matter how hard I focused. 

I was saying “designated hizzer shizz” when I tried to read the whole sentence. 

And I liked it.

Let’s do the prospect thing.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Alright, readers! Prepare yourself for the most highly-anticipated expansion project since the Florida Marlins were awarded a bid to join Major League Baseball in the June of 1991! Oh, what a glorious two years it was, as new GM Dave Dombrowski quickly got to work assembling what he hoped would soon become a career trademark project. By Opening Day 1993, the Marlins were all systems go with the likes of Gary Sheffield, Walt Weiss, Benito Santiago, Bret Barberie, Orestes Destrade, Chuck Carr and bright young rookie, Jeff Conine. Simply tantalizing, wouldn’t you say?

Yes, yes. I know what you’re thinking. One, the 1993 expansion season also featured the Colorado Rockies. Two, no one cares about the Marlins. Three, I failed to mention the fact that the Florida franchise was purchased for $95 million by the former CEO of Blockbuster Video. And finally four, no one cares about the Marlins. Take it from a me, a guy who can unfortunately say that he has been to both Sun Life Stadium and new Marlins Park. Remember how many names the old stadium had? I can think of like six just off the top of my head.

That being said, I would like to announce an ever greater undertaking, as I will be expanding from my Top 25 College Prospects to Target in Dynasty Leagues to an even 100 in this piece. Although the painstaking effort I have put into this list will likely never live up to what Dombrowski and the Marlins accomplished throughout the nineties, I can do my best to fill that void.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

When I began this series of rankings with the top 10 college baseball prospects, it was explained that I would be detailing “the top 10 college baseball prospects to target mid-season (and beyond).” As we embark on this incredible journey (which is a wholesome, classic film chronicling the beautiful friendship of dog, cat and dog again), I must forewarn you that we have officially crossed the threshold into the “beyond.” Yes, that is correct – I am indeed your tour guide, Michael Newman (as played by Adam Sandler), who will now use his universal remote control to reveal to you with 100% projection accuracy college prospects No. 11-25 as it relates to future fantasy output.

Before getting into the thick of things, I need to make two very brief and entirely unrelated remarks that will in no way provide any meat to the bones of this article. First, I apologize for the excess of film references I have made already, but don’t expect them to be curtailed any time soon. Second, if you truly have not seen The Incredible Journey, drop what you’re doing right now and buy it on Amazon Prime for $2.99. Best three dollars you’ll ever spend. Even better than the authentic George Springer banging stick I snagged off ebay for three measly bills.

As we dive into the latter stages of these rankings, one thing needs to be made seriously clear: with the exception of a few names on this list, the vast majority to follow likely fall under the category of finds for deeper leagues only. If you’re in a serious dynasty league in which the draft is primarily prospects and upcoming college guys on an annual basis, I would consider all of these players. Use the information given below and then draw your own conclusions about who to target based on the specificity of your league.

Please, blog, may I have some more?