In the early 1990s, the Yankees had a farm system percolating with Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera and Bernie Williams. They would go on to form the nucleus of teams that won four World Series championships in five years and make 13 consecutive playoff appearances.
While it would be a bit premature to start planning another parade down Broadway or engraving Hall of Fame plaques for any current farmhands, New York is once again loaded with Minor League talent. No. 2 in MLBPipeline.com's organization rankings, the Yankees gave their system a huge boost when they reversed the norm and became sellers rather than buyers at the trade deadline last July. Their additions included shortstop Gleyber Torres (No. 3 among MLBPipeline's Top 100 Prospects) from the Cubs in the Aroldis Chapman deal; outfielder Clint Frazier (No. 24) and left-hander Justus Sheffield (No. 79) from the Indians in a swap for Andrew Miller; and right-hander Dillon Tate (the fourth overall pick in the 2015 Draft) from the Rangers in the Carlos Beltran trade.
• Yankees Top 30 Prospects list
New York deserves credit for far more than making some shrewd deals. The Yankees have picked well in both the first round (outfielders Blake Rutherford and Aaron Judge, right-hander James Kaprielian) and later rounds (righty Chance Adams, outfielder Dustin Fowler) of the Draft, and their aggressive international efforts also have paid off (middle infielder Jorge Mateo, third baseman Miguel Andujar).
Top 10 Farm Systems
Biggest jump/fall
Here are the players whose ranks changed the most from the 2016 preseason list to the 2017 preseason list.
Jump: Tyler Austin, 1B/OF (2016: NR | 2017: 16)
Fall: Hoy Jun Park, SS (2016: 14 | 2017: NR)
:: Team Top 30 Prospects lists ::
Best tools
Players are graded on a 20-80 scouting scale for future tools -- 20-30 is well below average, 40 is below average, 50 is average, 60 is above average and 70-80 is well above average.
Hit: Gleyber Torres (65)
Power: Aaron Judge (60)
Run: Jorge Mateo (80)
Arm: Miguel Andujar (70)
Defense: Kyle Holder (70)
Fastball: Jorge Guzman (80)
Curveball: Drew Finley (60)
Slider: Chase Adams (60)
Changeup: James Kaprielian (55)
Control: Jonathan Holder (60)
How they were built
Draft: 16
International: 6
Trade: 8
Breakdown by ETA
2017: 9
2018: 7
2019: 9
2020: 5
Breakdown by position
C: 1
1B: 1
2B: 1
3B: 1
SS: 5
OF: 5
RHP: 13
LHP: 3
Here's a look at the Yankees' preseason Top 10 prospects from each of the past seven years (click here to see a larger image):