Bronx Bombers Are Building for the Future

The New York Yankees have always built their team with seasoned veterans and star players. In the last few years, that methodology has changed for the Bronx Bombers. Brian Cashman has made some very interesting, and smart trades in the last year. The Yankees aren’t a World Series contender anymore. But they are building a team that could be sooner rather than later. Cashman made some intriguing trades last year — most notably the Aroldis Chapman trade, in which he acquired top prospect Gleyber Torres from the Cubs. Another eye opening move was the Andrew Miller trade to the Indians, where the Yanks acquired power hitting prospect Clint Frazier and lefty Justus Sheffield. Let’s take a look at these three prospects, who could be taking the field at Yankee stadium within the next few years.

Gleyber Torres

Torres is the Yankees’ top prospect right now. He is one of the big pieces of the future of this franchise — all at the tender age of 20 years old. The Venezuelan native was picked up in the Aroldis Chapman deal, which sent Chapman back to the Chicago in July. Torres is the real deal. He won both the Arizona fall league MVP and the batting title this past fall, competing against some of the best arms in the minor leagues. After the trade, Torres stepped right into class A Tampa and took over the shortstop position from Jorge Mateo, who moved over to second base. Torres hit 11 home runs and hit .271, while swiping 21 bags in the process. There’s no doubt after his performance in the AFL that people began to learn his name. It’s also one of the reasons he is the top prospect in the Yankees organization. With a heavy middle infield prospect list, Torres shot right to the top immediately. It’s expected that he will stick at shortstop, thanks to a strong arm accompanied by quick and smooth hands. He has great range in both directions and is more than athletic enough to reach balls in the hole or up the middle. The 20 year-old has enough arm strength that he will be able to move to third base eventually, if need be. In the AFL, he also spent time at second base, simply because other prospects needed time at shortstop. There’s no doubt Torres is a solid infielder and contains the skill and athleticism to really play any position in the infield.

But what sets him apart and makes him such an intriguing prospect is his hitting ability. Torres has hit .282 over three seasons in the minor leagues. At such a young age, it’s amazing to see how disciplined he is at the plate. Torres demonstrates the ability to take breaking balls and wait for a pitch that he can drive. Earlier last year, Torres had a tendency to swing too hard and become pull-happy. He quickly figured it out and let his ability do the work. He’s got quick hands and a short, compact approach at the plate. It’s expected that Torres will start 2017 with Double A Trenton, and if he keeps playing well, he could easily make his big league debut before his 22nd birthday.

Clint Frazier

Frazier has arguably the most impressive bat speed in all of baseball. He can flat out hit. He’s put together quite the minor league career through four seasons, with a .273/.353/.444 slash line accompanied with 54 homers. Frazier started the 2016 season with the Indians’ Double-A Eastern League affiliate, where he hit .276/.356/.469 with 13 homers before being promoted to Triple A. He was promoted one week before the trade, after participating in the Futures Game. Frazier went 5-for-21 (.238) in five games with Cleveland’s Triple-A Akron, before slashing .228/.278/.396 with three homers with Triple-A Scranton, the Yankees affiliate. He’s put together these impressive numbers while being about 2 and a half years younger than his competition at each level. The Georgia native is very strong, and could easily put up some big power numbers in the majors. However, he will need to be more disciplined at the plate — as he tends to chase pitches out of the zone. Frazier is a little closer to the big leagues than Torres, partially due to the fact that he is a tad bit older. Frazier will most likely start the season in Triple A, but he could get called up to the bigs at any point in 2017.

Justus Sheffield

Hard-throwing lefties have always been a hot commodity in baseball. The Yanks acquired Sheffield as part of the Andrew Miller trade, and he’s currently their 6th best prospect. His fastball sits in the low 90’s, but he can crank it up to the mid 90’s at times. He doesn’t have the prototypical big body that is desired in a pitcher — he is only about 5’10” and 190 pounds. He uses a three pitch mix to attack hitters. The fastball has some great glove side tail, but when it flattens out, he tends to get hit. Sheffield’s primary breaking pitch is the slider, which comes in around the mid 80’s with a nice, downward plane. He also mixes in a changeup in the low 80’s, which has good deception with his arm speed. What I noticed from watching Sheffield is that he tends to rush his delivery, which creates arm lag. His arm tends to drag behind during his delivery, which caused pitch misplacement along with elevation. For the most part, Sheffield stays consistent with his delivery and has tremendous command. It’s been stated that Sheffield will start the season in double A, but could get the call up at some point in 2017.

What Yankees fans need to realize is Brian Cashman is a genius. He not only got one of the Cubs top prospects in Gleyber Torres, but also was able to get Chapman back on a long-term deal. Then with losing Andrew Miller, the Yankees stocked up their farm system with two top end prospects in Clint Frazier and Justus Sheffield. I haven’t even mentioned names like Jorge Mateo, Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Tyler Austin, and many more. The Yankees are building for their future. It may take a few years to reap the benefits, but it will most definitely pay off.