New York Yankees: Loading up for the Future

The New York Yankees made another trade where they sold off veteran talent for good young prospects. Their group of prospects combined with their ability to spend in the future is incredibly dangerous.

The New York Yankees have been known to spend large amounts of money in their recent history. They unabashedly go after the best free agents and give them huge contracts. Currently, they seem to be limiting their payroll and planning for the future. Limiting payroll certainly has a different meaning when referring to the Yankees. They were still 2nd in payroll in 2015 and 2016, but they currently sit 5th heading into 2017.

The Yankees have made moves in the recent months to sell their older, more expensive players in exchange for young talent. At the deadline they moved Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman for Gleyber Torres, Clint Frazier, and a few others. They also moved Carlos Beltran at the deadline. Yesterday they traded Brian McCann for Albert Abreu and Jorge Guzman. These moves are clear signs that the Yankees are rebuilding. Because of their financial stature, the Yankees rebuild could be finished quicker than most.

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The Chicago Cubs are the most recent successful rebuild. They were able to create homegrown talent, but that talent was supplemented by spending money in free agency. Through trades and drafting the Cubs added young Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Addison Russell, Javier Baez, and Kyle Schwarber to the organization. Those players laid the base for the Cubs future success. However, without the additions of Jon Lester, Dexter Fowler, Jason Heyward, and Ben Zobrist, the Cubs wouldn’t have won the 2016 World Series.

On a smaller scale, the Red Sox and Dodgers have been following a similar path. The Dodgers have a great farm system in place, with recent graduate Corey Seager having just won the NL Rookie of the Year. The Red Sox farm system is great as well, but slightly further advanced than the Dodgers prospects. Recent graduates from the Red Sox system include MVP runner-up Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, Jackie Bradley Jr., and Andrew Benintendi among others.

The Dodgers and Red Sox have built great farm systems, but like the Cubs and Yankees, they have money to spend as well. The Dodgers will likely spend money on free agents this winter, either from outside teams or in order to retain Kenley Jansen and Justin Turner, who were two of their best players in 2016. The Red Sox gave David Price a huge contract last winter and will likely be active once again this winter.

The Yankees have just begun their so-called “rebuild.” It may not resemble a typical rebuild, because the Yankees may never see a season where they lose less than 70 games over the next few years. However, there is definitely a rebuild in place. They are quickly gathering a great group of prospects that will soon be ready to be unleashed on Major League Baseball.

Last year Gary Sanchez impressed in his first long-term appearance in the big leagues. He didn’t win an award to recognize it, because of the short amount of time he spent with the Yankees, but his rookie campaign was outstanding. He likely won’t continue to OPS 1.033 or hit home runs in nearly 10% of his at-bats, but the power and hitting ability are real. He’s probably do for a bit of a sophomore slump, but the Yankees clearly have confidence in his ability to be their full-time catcher in 2017.

Waiting in the wings is a group of prospects that is incredibly exciting. From the Cubs, the Yankees received Gleyber Torres. Torres is primarily a shortstop, who may move to third as his career continues. His hitting ability is tremendous because of his advanced bat speed, and his power will likely increase with time and increased strength (scouting report). At the time of the trade, Torres was the Cubs’s best prospect. He, however, was not the only plus prospect the Yankees have recently added.

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In exchange for Andrew Miller, the Yankees got two big names. The first is the man that MLB.com says is their top prospect, Clint Frazier. Frazier is a corner outfielder with a strong ability to hit the ball with a force. His ability to hit the ball hard and on a line is his best asset, but he is pretty evenly good across the board (scouting report).

The other big name the Yankees received was Justus Sheffield, a left-handed pitcher. Scouts believe he has a good chance to start if he’s able to repeat his mechanics down the road. He currently has a plus fastball with an above average slider, but all four of his pitches project to be above average. He will likely require some adjustments and work hard to remain a starter, but it’s also likely that he does remain a starter (scouting report).

Those players alone don’t even completely define the Yankees top prospects. Those that were not mentioned include Aaron Judge, Blake Rutherford, Albert Abreu, Dillon Tate, and others. Judge is an impressive power hitter, who will likely look very good in a corner outfield position opposite of Clint Frazier. Rutherford is an outfielder with impressive hitting skills that was drafted by the Yankees in June. Albert Abreu was part of the most recent trade, for Brian McCann, and is a pitcher that some scouts are very excited about. Dillon Tate is a right handed pitcher with raw electric pitches that should carry him to a starter role.

These players are all very different from each other, of course. A diverse group of prospects is important. That does mean, however, that projecting a year when all of the prospects may reach their potential is incredibly difficult. Although they will arrive at different times, the Yankees are actually primed for that scenario. As soon as just a few of the prospects arrive, they can pay to surround the young core with good veteran talent.

What this boils down to is that the Yankees are about to become a very dangerous team. If you didn’t like the Yankees before, because of their willingness to pour huge amounts of money on free agents, prepare to hate them even more. Not only will they have that same willingness to spend. They will also already have a fantastic core of young players ready to compete for many years.

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The Cubs are the dominant force in baseball right now. The Red Sox may get there next season. The Dodgers are likely on their way to that as well. The Yankees are probably the next team to join them. Maybe they’ll sell a bunch of these prospects for a big name player, as Kenny Ducey believes, but others believe they’ll follow the path of the Red Sox, Cubs, and Dodgers. If they do the latter, they are well on their way to becoming one of the most dominant teams we’ve seen since. . . well, this season.

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