RAB Ranks Top 30 Yankees Prospects

The good people over at River Ave. Blues came out with their list of the top 30 prospects in the Yankee system. It’s a pretty straightforward list that features outfielder Austin Jackson as the top prospect in the system.

I’m posting their rankings in their entirety, but without their comments. So if you want to see their reasons for the rankings, you must go to their site.

2009 Preseason Prospect Rankings

30. Steven Jackson, RHRP, 27
29. Chris Garcia, RHSP, 23
28. Kevin Russo, 2B, 24
27. Brandon Laird, 1B, 21
26. Frankie Cervelli, C, 23
25. Juan Miranda, 1B, 25
24. Humberto Sanchez, RHRP, 25
23. Jon Albaladejo, RHRP, 26
22. Manny Banuelos, LHSP, 18
21. Carmen Angelini, SS, 20
20. David Adams, 2B, 21
19. Wilkins De La Rosa, LHRP, 24
18. Brett Marshall, RHSP, 19
17. Arodys Vizcaino, RHSP, 18
16. George Kontos, RHSP, 23
15. Mike Dunn, LHRP, 23
14. Bradley Suttle, 3B, 23
13. David Robertson, RHRP, 24
12. Jairo Heredia, RHSP, 19
11. Brett Gardner, CF, 25
10. Phil Coke, LHRP, 26
9. Jeremy Bleich, LHSP, 21
8. Al Aceves, RHSP, 26
7. Austin Romine, C, 20
6. Dellin Betances, RHSP, 21
5. Zach McAllister, RHSP, 21
4. Mark Melancon, RHRP, 24
3. Andrew Brackman, RHSP, 23
2. Jesus Montero, C, 19
1. Austin Jackson, CF, 22

No surprises here. I don’t like how Andrew Brackman is consistently ranked at the top of every prospect list. Sure he has potential, but he has not yet pitched in a minor league game. Also, while pitching in the winter leagues this offseason, he was very wild and showed that he still has a ways to go.

Besides that, I can’t nitpick where the players fall, like it’s unusual for Zach McAllister to be ranked higher than Dellin Betances, but where players are ranked on these types of lists are arbitrary. It’s usually more about top 10, middle 10, or bottom 10.

With that being said, David Adams is probably ranked a bit high. Where he falls on lists is usually based on how he played in the Cape Cod league or his sophomore season in college. Outside of those seasons he has been a bit underwhelming. This past season in Staten Island he flashed potential, but he certainly wasn’t strong on defense like RAB indicates.

Christian Garcia also seems ranked very low at No. 29, but RAB seems turned off by his propensity to being injured. I can’t argue that. Since being drafted in 2004 he has only managed to pitch over 100 innings once. It’s gotten to the point that for this guy to be considered a real prospect he must put together a healthy season.

My final note about the list would be that Manny Banuelos seems ranked a bit low at No. 22. I’m not upset at where they ranked him, but what they said about him. They called his stuff “fringy” and said that his secondary pitches are “in their infancy.”

From what I’ve heard, the biggest knock against him is that his velocity only sits at near 90-92 MPH, but at only 18 years old he certainly has potential to add a bit of velocity. Also his stuff is supposed to be able to play at the big league level already.

We’ll see who’s right because this season will be a big test for him. It’ll be his first full season in the minor leagues, as he’ll likely pitch for the low-A Charleston RiverDogs this season. Last season he only threw 42 innings in the Gulf Coast League with a 4-1 record and a 2.57 ERA.