New York Yankees Top 5

The New York Yankees have always had the pocketbook prowess to add baseball’s top talents to their arsenal whenever need be. And if that wasn’t scary enough, the club can now develop talents of their own, too. After watching Phil Hughes lose his prospect status in 2007, Joba Chamberlain, Ian Kennedy, and Co. still leave the Yankees to boast one of the most imposing prospect fronts in the game today.

Our Top 5 New York Yankees Prospects at the end of the 2007 Season
No.		Player		Pos		Notes		Age		Level
1		Joba Chamberlain		RHP		One the the elite prospects in all of baseall; could become a true ace		22		MLB
2		Ian Kennedy		RHP		Emerged as a potential top-of-the-rotation started in regular-season debut		22		MLB
3		Jose Tabata		RF		Poor power season had a lot to do with his wrist injury; will it heal well?		19		A+
4		Austin Jackson		CF		Among the fastest players in minors; finally started hitting in 2nd half of '07		20		A+
5		Dellin Betances		RHP		High-upside talent who was shut down in July due to an inflamed elbow		19		SS
* Ages are as of 11/4/07
** Level is the highest level the player has reached
*** Our rankings combine a player's ceiling with the odds that he'll reach it and favor recent production
<<< Discuss these rankings

1. Joba Chamberlain, RHP (9/23/85)

To say that the Major League campaign came to a close with “Joba Mania” in full force is like saying that the University of Nebraska product had a “decent” showing in 2007. A 6-foot-3, 230-pounder, Chamberlain dominated through three levels of MiLB play this year, yielding a combined 1.01 WHIP, 5.00 K/BB clip, and .198 BAA. And Chamberlain’s stock continued to soar at the big league level, improving vitals across the board as a reliever: 0.67 WHIP, 5.67 K/BB, and .145 BAA. With a slot in the Yankee rotation tabbed for the hard tossing righty in 2008, the Mania will not be subsiding anytime soon.

2. Ian Kennedy, RHP (12/19/84)

After beginning the season in the High-A Florida State League and skyrocketing to the Majors by season’s end, it would have taken something outside of this world to overlook the success that became of Ian Kennedy. Unfortunately for Kennedy’s exposure, Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain aren’t exactly from this planet. A product of USC, Kennedy posted a dazzling 0.97 WHIP across three MiLB levels in very consistent fashion (High-A: o.97, Double-A: 0.91, Triple-A: 1.05) a year ago. While his low groundball rate (43% in Triple-A) is a cause for concern, Kennedy and his pinpoint control and strikeout aptitude (3.26 K/BB) leaves little else to be desired of the borderline Top-10 talent entering the 2008 campaign.

 

3. Jose Tabata, RF (8/12/88)

Following a .298/.377/.420 season in Single-A as a 17-year-old, the sky appeared to be the limit for Jose Tabata. And after going .302/.371/.392 in High-A this season, there are still very few things that appear out of reach for the Anzoategui, Venezuela native. While the lowly power rates (18% XBH) may be a minor cause for concern, it’s hard to weigh such numbers too heavily for a player of Tabata’s skill, who currently finds himself trapped in a 5-foot-11, 160-pound frame. Once the wunderkind fills out his body, there’s no telling what sky-high prophecies Jose Tabata will be able to fulfill. He has, however, been plagued by a series of wrist injuries over the last year. The injuries have ignited some cause for serious concern, though it's hard to label them as career-threatening at this point.

4. Austin Jackson, CF (2/1/87)

Holding a .260/.336/.374 vital through 235 Single-A at-bats, Austin Jackson was going to need a major explosion to find himself anywhere near the top of the prospect front. Going .345/.398/.566 in 258 High-A chances? Yeah, that’ll do it. But while Jackson garnered nearly a 200-point spike in the SLG department from Single to High-A, the Denton, Tex. native saw his XBH rate rise by a meager two percent (32.8 vs. 34.8). Jackson has been able to maintain his HR prowess in Hawaii this fall, launching 3 of 29 HWB hits for HR (10.3 percent) after going 10 for 89 in High-A (11.2 percent). If Jackson’s slugging impulse doesn’t suffer a power outage, the 6-foot-1, 185-pounder’s stock will only continue to rise.

5. Dellin Betances, RHP (3/23/88)

Standing a towering 6-foot-7 with the electric arsenal to boot, it looked like the only thing that could stop Dellin Betances was himself. And after tossing just 48.1 innings in his first two years of pro ball – thanks most recently to an inflamed elbow that shut him down for the remainder of the 2007 season – it appears that Betances has done just that. While his 1.71 WHIP while healthy (25.0 IP) this campaign was less than encouraging, the Brooklyn, N.Y. native has the raw ability to blow his current meager sample size out of the water by the time it’s all said and done.

Honorable Mentions:

Entering the 2007 campaign, Tyler Clippard (RHP, 2/14/85) and his 1.04 WHIP from the season prior - through Double-A - had the 6-foot-4, 170-pounder entrenched on the prospect radar. While his 2007 numbers (1.57 WHIP, 1.77 K/BB) were less than stellar, it’s far too soon to outright Clippard entirely. The Yankees used the 2007 draft to capitalize on the signability game once again, tabbing Andrew Brackman (RHP, 12/4/85) with the final selection in the first round, and Brad Suttle (3B, 1/24/86) and his $1.3 million price tag in the fourth. Brackman underwent Tommy John surgery before throwing a pitch for the Yankees. He was thought of as one of the top pitching talents in the 2007 Draft prior to being slowed down by the injury.

 

Adam Loberstein can be reached at aloberstein@projectprospect.com.