Keith Law has released his annual ranking of the top-100 prospects in professional baseball, and the Yankees managed to land only two players on the list. Aaron Judge (23rd) and Greg Bird (80th) were the Baby Bombers who made the cut, giving the Yankees their fewest number of entrants in Law’s ranking since 2010.
Yankees’ Historical Representation in Keith Law’s Prospect Ranking, 2008-2015
Note: Prospect Score is a cumulative total based on the assignment of a score to each ranking (100 for #1 to 1 for #100). It is a proprietary calculation not endorsed by Mr. Law and not intended to suggest the ranking is linear.
Source: ESPN.com
The number of Yankees on Law’s list has fluctuated since the ESPN analyst began ranking prospects in 2008, but never has it fallen below two, a distinction maintained in this survey. However, for the third straight year, the Yankees were without a pitcher included among the top-100. Nonetheless, the Yankees did see their prospect score (see footnote above for explanation) increase over last year because of Judge’s relatively high position on the list. At number 23, the big outfielder, whom Law stated has the potential to “post strong triple-slash numbers”, was the Yankees’ highest rated prospect since Gary Sanchez cracked the top-20 in 2013. Since then, the now 22-year old catcher has seen his stock decline precipitously, and, after four years among Law’s elite, has finally fallen off the list.
Yankees Prospects in Keith Law’s Annual Ranking, 2008-2015
Source: ESPN.com
The Yankees have had 14 different players make Law’s top-100 on 27 different occasions. As mentioned, Sanchez was a four-time member of the ranking, followed by Andrew Brackman, Jesus Montero, Manny Banuelos, and Mason Williams who appeared on the list three times. Unfortunately for the Yankees, the third time wasn’t a charm for any of the aforementioned, all of whom have failed to make a meaningful impact at this point in their careers. That’s not to say every Yankee prospect identified by Law has flamed out. Dellin Betances has finally forged an important role in pinstripes, while Joba Chamberlain, Austin Jackson, Jose Tabata and Ian Kennedy have had varying degrees of success.
Top-10 Prospects in Keith Law’s Annual Ranking, 2014 vs. 2015
Source: ESPN.com
Almost half of Law’s top-100 were holdovers from 2014, and four of the current top-10 held the same distinction last year. However, a new number one prospect was crowned. The Cubs’ Kris Bryant ascended from 15th last year to supplant the Twins’ Byron Buxton, who dropped to second. Carlos Correa, Francisco Lindor and Addison Russell also made return appearances in the top-10, while six others, including Bryant, moved up from lower on last year’s list. The two biggest movers into the top-10 were J.P. Crawford and Blake Swihart, who rose from 46th and 56th, respectively, in 2014.
The Cubs not only rated the game’s best prospect, but also placed first in Law’s organizational ranking. However, Chicago’s prospect score wasn’t the top mark. The Twins earned that distinction thanks to landing Buxton and five other prospects in the ranking. Not far behind Minnesota was the Boston Red Sox, whose five representatives tallied the second highest prospect score. The Red Sox also joined the Cubs, Twins and Dodgers with three prospects ranked among the top-30.
Keith Law’s 2015 Top-100 Prospect List, by Franchise
Note: Prospect Score is a cumulative total based on the assignment of a score to each ranking (100 for #1 to 1 for #100). It is a proprietary calculation not endorsed by Mr. Law and not intended to suggest the ranking is linear.
Source: ESPN.com
The New York Mets continued to rate well on Law’s list, increasing their prospect tally to six and prospect score to 278. The Mets also led all franchises with five position players in the ranking, not to mention the sixth highest pitcher on the list (Noah Syndergaard at 17th place). The top-rated pitcher belonged to the Washington Nationals. Right-hander Lucas Giolito, who was ranked eighth overall, was one of four Nationals’ hurlers to make the list, giving Washington a minor league stockpile to rival its stacked rotation at the major league level.
No team was shutout of the ranking, but the Tigers came close. With only one prospect on the list checking in toward the bottom, Detroit recorded the lowest prospect score. The Giants and Brewers also only had one prospect make the list, but at a much higher slot, which helped them catapult the Rays and Athletics, who, despite having two players ranked, recorded lower prospect scores.
Keith Law’s 2015 Top-100 Prospect List, by Position
Source: ESPN.com
This year survey continued the trend away from pitchers, as only 43 hurlers were included in the ranking. Of that total, a higher percentage were left handed than last year, although right handers still dominated the list. Among hitters, lefties also narrowed the gap, but at the expense of switch hitters, so the number of prospects capable of batting from the port side did not change. Although shortstops were once again the most prominent representatives on the list, those classified as pure centerfielders dropped significantly. The number of catchers included also increased by one from last year’s ranking.
Keith Law’s 2015 Top-100 Prospect List, by Age
Source: ESPN.com
Last year’s youngest player, Dodgers’ left hander Julio Urias, was one of six 18-year olds in this year’s rankings, but still the only teenager inside the top-30. The oldest player in the survey was 25-year old Twins’ right hander Alex Meyer, who jumped 30 slots from 2014 with one more year of maturity. Combined, position players averaged 20.8 years of age, versus 21.1 last year, while pitchers averaged an identical 21.3 years, which was also on par with the 2013 list.
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