Every season, big league clubs have some of their biggest and brightest future stars take some licks or toss some innings in Spring Training. Some prospects make a big splash, such as what Kris Bryant is doing to baseballs out in the Cactus Leagues. Others perform under par, often as expected, and leave camp no closer to Major League stardom than when March began.
For the New York Yankees, Spring Training 2015 marks the end of an era of bad decisions. When Tyler Austin and Mason Williams were optioned to minor league camps on Friday, it showed that the once top rated prospects in the system may be nearing the end of their run with the Yanks. There is a new younger core of players in the Bronx Bombers system and the old core of top prospects are dropping lower and lower in the rankings.
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Much of Austin’s demise can be predicated to his inability to stay on the field. The future once looked bright for the 2010 draft pick and it looked as if the Yankees found a steal in the 13th round. He put together a .322/.400/.559 slash line with 17 home runs and 23 stolen bases in 25 attempts back in 2012. He was named the Yankees Minor League Player of the Year. It has been all down hill from there.
Tyler Austin torched minor league pitchers in 2012 and is the best hitting prospect in the Yankees organization. (Image Credit: Kevin Pataky / MiLB.com)
His 2013 was cut short by injuries and Austin struggled to start 2014 as he mended. A late season surge brought Austin’s numbers to a respectable level, but still no where near the output of that magical 2012 season. When he went off to the Arizona Fall League, he was once again injured, limiting him to only four games after a hot start to the AZFL season.
The Yankees have since been grooming Austin at several positions and he can now play third base and the corner outfield positions. His way to the big leagues may come in the form of the 25th-man on the roster, a super utility player. That is a far cry from the Yankees expectations of their once top prospect in the system.
Mason Williams, much to everyone’s surprise, was protected on the 40-man roster with an invite to spring training after two seasons of continual regression. A mere two seasons ago, Williams was the No. 1 rated prospect in the Yankees system and today he finds himself at No. 27. Williams threw together his worst statistical season in his 5-year MiLB career, and put up even worse numbers in 2014. A .223/.290/.304 slash line is not what a team wants to see at the top of their lineup.
Williams wasn’t optioned to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Instead he will be playing in his third consecutive season at Double-A Trenton. Jake Cave is now the top centerfield prospect in the system, and Williams is blocked in Triple-A by the light hitting Taylor Dugas, who has improved every season. When Cave showed he was ready for Double-A and was promoted, it was Williams, a career centerfielder, who moved and began to learn a new position in right field.
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Starting in the 2011 draft and punctuated loudly in the 2013 draft, the Yankees turned a corner. Their farm system was clearly on the demise, with names like Austin, Williams and Slad Heathcott atop the list of “elite” prospects. With the additions of names like Ian Clarkin, Aaron Judge, Greg Bird, Eric Jagielo and Luis Severino, the Yankees and scouts are learning quickly that the once top prospects on the Yankees system were atop the list due to a lack of choices. Now that the new wave of Yankees Baby Bombers are here, Austin, Williams and the rest of the gang are mere afterthoughts.
It’s a new era of Yankees baseball. It’s an era in which the Yankees didn’t make a huge financial splash in the offseason and may in fact be leaning towards turning the team over to their youth once these high-priced contracts expire. They can breathe a sign of relief knowing that they actually have talent in the ranks and may see it as soon as this season in the form of Jose Pirela or Rob Refsnyder. The Baby Bombers are once again on the prowl. Could a New Core Four Era be on the horizon?