Prospect Report: Yankees, Mets, and Red Sox

The following is not a ranking of prospects, just a list of which prospects have been most impressive and most disappointing so far this season. This includes factoring in each player’s age and the level that they are playing at.

New York Yankees
Unlike what we’ll see with the Mets and Red Sox, all of the Yankees’ prospects from Baseball America’s Top 10, are still in their minor league system. They have not traded or promoted any of them to the Majors.

5 Most Impressive
Melky Cabrera: Last season he had a short stint with the big league club. He hit .211 in 19 at bats. If there was one positive, it was that he only struck out twice. It may have been the .211 average that kept Baseball America from putting him on their top-10 Yankee prospect list, which is something Cabrera is now showing was an obvious mistake. At age 21 he’s young for AAA and currently 2nd in the International League with a .373 average. He’s stuck out only 7 times in 102 at bats and is starting to develop power.

Phillip Hughes: The Yankees just promoted the 19-year old righty to AA-Trenton. In A-ball this season he made 5 starts at a 1.80 ERA. More impressive was that in the 30 innings, he struck out 30 while walking only 2. He’s the Yankees’ most highly touted pitching prospect since Brien Taylor.

Brett Gardner: They say he can fly. He’s 22 years old in high level A-Ball. He’s batting .372 with a .520 OBP. In 24 games he has an impressive 23 walks but a concerning 25 strikeouts in just 78 at bats.

Jose Tabata: This 17-year old speedster is batting .337 with a .480 SLG in low level A-Ball. He’s only walked twice in 100 plate appearances, but he’s 17 years old. If he progresses well, he can be taken slowly and still be in the Majors at age 21.

Austin Jackson: Tabata’s outfield companion, the 19-year old is also very fast with 9 stolen bases on the young season. Batting .330.

3 Most Disappointing:
Tim Battle: The 20-year old former 2nd round pick with extraordinary speed has shown very little ability to make contact with the ball. Batting just .125 in 80 at bats at high level A-Ball.

Eric Duncan: After winning Arizona Fall League MVP, batting just .240 in AAA.

CJ Henry: Last year’s first round pick is batting just .172 in low level A-Ball.

New York Mets
The Mets minor league system is a little thin. Of Baseball America’s Top-10 prospects, three have been traded, two are on the Mets big league club, and one has been hurt all year. A positive though is that Michael Pelfrey didn’t appear on the list, as he had yet sign with the Mets at that time.

5 Most Impressive
Lastings Milledge: Showing strong gap power that will probably be home run power in a few years. At just 21 years old and in AAA, he’s batting .344 with 11 extra base hits (just 1 home run), and has more walks than strikeouts.

Michael Pelfrey: The 22-year old pitcher just got promoted to AA-Binghamton. He was impressive in A-Ball, with a 1.64 ERA in 4 starts, which included 26 K’s and just 2 BB in 22 innings pitched. That’s much better control than most pitchers who are 6’7” tall.

Fernando Martinez: He’s in low A-Ball, but at just 18 years old, the outfielder’s .338 AVG, .416 OBP, and .519 SLG are impressive.

Alay Solar: At age 26 he’s awfully old to still be in A-Ball. The A-Ball hitters wouldn’t mind seeing him promoted. In five starts he has a 0.64 ERA and 32 strikeouts in 28 innings. It’s curious that the Mets haven’t promoted him yet.

Jose Sanchez: The 21-year old has pitched well in high A-Ball, with a 2.54 ERA. He has good control, which he’ll need since he has only struck out 17 in 28 innings pitched.

3 Disappointing
Carlos Gomez: Baseball America ranked him the Mets #6 prospect. He’s young for AA, at only 20 years old, and maybe too young. The outfielder is batting only .208 through 96 at bats. On a positive note, despite not many times on base he’s still stolen 10 bases.

Corey Rosgale: At age 23 he’s the 2nd youngest position player the Met have in AA, just behind Gomez. The shortstop has batted just .174 while committing 6 errors in the field.

Jose Coronado: They placed their 20-year old shortstop in high-level A-Ball. He’s batting just .189 in 95 at bats, while committing 9 errors.

Boston Red Sox
Of the Red Sox Top 10 prospects according to Baseball America, four are not in the minors with 2 being traded (including #1), and 2 in the Majors (including #3).

5 Most Impressive
Craig Hansen: Hansen gave up only 1 run in 11 relief innings in AA before getting called up to AAA. He pitched shutout ball his first game in AAA. The Red Sox haven’t used him in a traditional closer role so far as he averages over 2 innings per relief appearance. If he can continue to do that when he gets called up, he could prove an extremely valuable asset.

Abe Alvarez: If Lenny DiNardo can’t do the job, Abe Alvarez could get called up. The 23-year old is 4-0 at Pawtucket this season, with a 2.55 ERA in 6 starts. He’s only struck out 15 in 35 innings pitched.

David Pauley: At age 22, Pauley is the youngest pitcher the Red Sox have in AA. In 5 starts he has a 1.84 ERA. He has 22 K’s and 10 BB’s in 29 innings.

Jacoby Ellsbury: With 7 stolen bases in 17 games, this speedy outfielder leads the AA Portland Sea Dogs with a .304 batting average.

Chris Buchholz: 21 years old, Buchholz should expect a promotion to high level A-Ball soon. In low level A-Ball, he has a 1.20 ERA in 3 starts, striking out a batter per inning.

3 Most Disappointing
Jon Lester: At age 22 he’s still young for AAA, so he has time to improve. He’ll need to. If he had been pitching well, he may have gotten the phone call to the bigs. He’s 0-4 with a 5.94 ERA. He’s still striking out more than one per inning, but is walking too many as well.

Jed Lowrie: Of the players left from Baseball America’s Top-10, he was the Red Sox 3rd highest ranked position player. The 22-year old shortstop is batting just .227 while committing 9 errors in high level A-Ball.

Michael Hall: The Red Sox put 20-year old Michael Hall in high level A-Ball. Hall is batting just .211 in 76 at bats.