Frank Piliere of AOL Fanhouse released his top-100 MLB prospects yesterday. The Yankees came out pretty big.
#4 Jesus Montero: “He still has critics who like to point to his defense but there is just about no one who will criticize Montero’s bat. Will he be a good defensive catcher? No, but he has shown enough improvement to be an adequate defender. That combined with a potentially special bat make for an impressive total package.”
#13 Manuel Banuelos: “Some like to pretend Banuelos came from nowhere in 2010. Well, he didn’t. He picked up a couple ticks on his fastball and lives at 93-95 now, but even before the spike he was armed with two good secondary offerings and plus command.”
#34 Gary Sanchez: “Most organizations would sign up for having Sanchez as their top prospect, but he doesn’t even get the title of top catching prospect in his organization. That may soon change, however, as Sanchez’s bat rivals Montero’s at the same age and he looks like he’ll be a better defender.”
#44 Dellin Betances: “If not for his injury history, Betances would likely be toward the top 20 in this list. The owner of a 93-96 mph fastball, a plus curveball and a rapidly improving changeup, the towering right-hander has all the components you look for in a frontline starter.”
#60 Andrew Brackman (No Commentary)
And in his online chat, every other question was about Yankee prospects. On Banuelos:
[Comment From Jay CT]
What is Banuelos’s ceiling, and what ML pitcher could you compare him to?Frankie Piliere: You know I get this question a lot. I use to not agree with the Johan Santana stuff but it’s probably the most accurate one if you have to pick a current big leaguer. He’s similar in size, velocity, and command to the Santana of a few years ago. The changeup is not as unhittable as Santana’s and he isn’t the pure strikeout machine Santana was. But there’s definitely some comparable aspects. I think Banuelos is a number one in the making. Not to say I told you so but I screamed about him last year at this time. People like to just talk about the new velocity but A. his velocity didn’t spike as much as people say. He went from 90-92, 93 to 92-95. and B. his game goes far beyond just raw stuff
[Comment From T-Dubs]
Assuming both had perfect health, is Betances a better prospect than Banuelos?Frankie Piliere: Lots of Yankee questions. That’s difficult. I might be in the minority but I still think I take Banuelos. I absolutely love Betances’ stuff but the more bust proof guys are the guys with a great feel for pitching and that’s definitely Banuelos.
[Comment From Kim Last]
Would you take Banuelos or Hellickson?Frankie Piliere: There’s a battle of two guys I absolutely love. Long term give me the lefty with the power stuff. Banuelos
On Jesus Montero:
[Comment From Ben Kabak]
How overrated is Montero? He won’t even catch.Frankie Piliere: I’ll go with….not overrated. Let’s say for argument’s sake he doesn’t catch. He’s still an elite bat. And, I think he will catch so that’s why he’s up there on the list.
[Comment From Trevorlon]
Do you think the Yankees will move Montero to the outfield in the future or is he a dh?Frankie Piliere: I’m sticking with him as a catcher. I know I’m in the minority but I’ve seen him enough to see improvement and enough to be an adequate defender.
On Gary Sanchez:
[Comment From Zak]
Gary Sanchez was 25th on your list midway through the season and he was bumped back, even though he finished strong, IMO. Was that due to overrating him on your previous list or something else?Frankie Piliere: Just a mild adjustment. Now there are 2010 draftees to consider, and I saw more of the new players in instructs and the AFL. Certain no drop in stock for Sanchez. He’s as good as ever.
On Austin Romine:
[Comment From Zak]
Thanks for doing a chat! Austin Romine was 15th midseason on your list and no where to be found, unless my eyes are bad on your top 100 list. I got to see him and it just looked like he was flat out exhausted to me. Is there another reason why he was bumped off so badly?Frankie Piliere: Lots of things can change huh? Yeah, with all the new draftees considered now and seeing guys more, I just started slowly sliding Romine back. He was one of the final few cuts. He definitely wore down I think. The 15 ranking could have been reactionary on my part because I don’t feel he’s dropped THAT much in status. But he’s slipped a bit, no doubt.
On Dellin Betances:
[Comment From jake h]
You are super high on Dellin. Do you see him as a starting pitcher?Frankie Piliere: I definitely see him starting. Three average or better offerings and improving command.
On Adam Warren:
[Comment From Zak]
Adam Warren is one of my personal favorite from the Yankees farm system, seems like he doesn’t get too much love as he’s always grouped with Phelps, DJ Mitchell, etc as a backend of the rotation starter. I’m not saying he’s front line, but isn’t he at least worthy of a middle of the rotation type? He’s got good stuff!Frankie Piliere: I like Warren better than the two others you mentioned. You’re right that he probably doesn’t get quite enough love. He’s not a finesse guy. He runs up into the mid 90s at times and relies on that fastball. But his secondary stuff continues to improve. He’s a middle of the rotation starter.
On Andrew Brackman:
Comment From Trevorlon]
What’s the ceiling of Andrew Brackman and where does he project as a starter?Frankie Piliere: Let this serve as another opportunity for me to say i was wrong about Brackman. I was very down on him going into the season and he really resurrected himself. He’s a tough guy to project though. Still a bit inconsistent and at that size I think repeating his delivery will always be a challenge. I’d say he’s a #3 just because his command will never be completely consistent.
He offers a strong defense of Montero’s defense, plus great words about Betances, Banuelos, and even Adam Warren.
This is already a long post, so I won’t say much more, except one thing. I know that a lot of readers get a little worried that the powerful optimism about the Yankee farm system is just the product of some collective Yankee blogger Zeitgeist. Piliere is both one of the smartest guys out there publishing about prospects and has no vested interest for or against the Yankees. And he just compared Manuel Banuelos to Johan Santana. Think about that one.
Good points in your last paragraph. I do think Frankie tends to be a little higher on Yankee prospects than most sources (I think he had Austin Romine #15 in his midseason list or something like that). I’m not sure if he worked for the Yankees in the past or if he just sees a lot of their prospects, but he does seem to write about Yankee prospects pretty frequently (or maybe he’s just responding to reader demand). That plus the lack of a long track record of published rating lists makes it hard to evaluate how good his rankings have been in the past compared to other sources. I definitely appreciate his scouting background (as opposed to being a writer who gets reports from scouts), and love that he provides first-hand scouting reports. Like all the other lists out there, it’s another one to add to the mix to get a better sense of where consensus lies with certain prospects, or if there is significant variability.
I also like his response on Warren, whom I feel like we haven’t heard much about from the traditional sources amid all the hype about Montero, Banuelos, Sanchez, etc. He’s more likely than any of the Killer B’s to take a rotation spot this year IMO, so it’s encouraging to hear him viewed as a potential mid-rotation guy.
Also, I thought the fake Ben Kabak questions in the chat were pretty funny, though I don’t think Ben was particularly happy with being impersonated. Eric Schultz(Quote)
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He also ranks the Yankee farm system at #4 (behind KC, Atlanta, and Tampa, and ahead of Toronto and Cincy) in this post.
http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2011/02/10/2011-farm-system-rankings/ Eric Schultz(Quote)
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T.O. Chris Reply:
February 11th, 2011 at 12:42 am
I heard Baseball America had us at 5 is that right? T.O. Chris(Quote)
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How good is KC’S system really? MRYANKEE(Quote)
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EJ Fagan Reply:
February 10th, 2011 at 3:10 pm
Let’s put it this way: they have 9 of 100 of the top prospects in baseball. They have 3 power lefty starters, and potential all star players at C, 1b, and 3b. They’re better than the Rays were a few years ago. EJ Fagan(Quote)
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MRYANKEE Reply:
February 10th, 2011 at 3:13 pm
Is that a product of picking low for may years, superior talent evalutation or luck? My guess is all combined. Could one say this is the best farm system in the last 15-20 years? I always have kind of liked the Royals seems like a classy organization, very cool stadium and god baseball city. MRYANKEE(Quote)
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Eric Schultz Reply:
February 10th, 2011 at 3:25 pm
A combination of both. A few of those guys (Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer) were early 1st-round picks that the Yankees never had a shot at. Other guys like Wil Myers, John Lamb, and Mike Montgomery were taken after the 1st round, so their scouts should get major credit for them. As for best farm system in the last 15-20 years, that’s hard to say. The Dodgers had a great system a little while ago with Kemp, Ethier, Kershaw, Billingsley, et. al, and Arizona’s system was also pretty highly regarded at one point (Drew, Upton, Conor Jackson, Carlos Gonzalez). If you’re looking at outcomes instead of rankings, how about the Yankee system of the early-mid 90′s that produced Bernie Williams, Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, and Mariano Rivera in the span of a few years? Eric Schultz(Quote)
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T.O. Chris Reply:
February 11th, 2011 at 12:40 am
I’ve heard a couple different reports on Moustakas some say he won’t stick at 3rd and other have the same optomistic view being had towards Montero as of late (plus bat excusing below average D) but if he doesn’t stick at the hot corner they could end up with a weird juggle of bats. Myers won’t stick at C from what I’ve heard and they projected him to OF on the MLB network (but they are so bad most of the time it’s ridiculous), they already have Billy Butler at first but I’ve read several reports on Hosmer as being “Joey Votto like” and have potential for gold glove defense. They could set themselves up to replace Greinke with some young pitcher if they build up this young core quick enough and their pitching develops. The future is bright in KC. T.O. Chris(Quote)
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EJ Fagan Reply:
February 10th, 2011 at 3:45 pm
They actually made some bad high-1st round decisions on the way here. Aaron Crow was an overdraft, and Luke Hochevar at #1 overall hurt, plus Alex Gordon flopped (though everyone in baseball would have drafted him) EJ Fagan(Quote)
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geo Reply:
February 11th, 2011 at 4:58 pm
Crow wasn’t viewed as an overdraft at all; many souces projected him to go no lower than fourth the year the Royas took him 12th. He struggled with command last year, but then again, Andrew Brackman struggled with command for awhile as well. Too soon to say Crow was a wasted pick; scouts say the stuff is still there. geo(Quote)
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