If New York Yankees fans are hoping the team didn’t make any big moves in the offseason because they have a bunch of elite young prospects on the way, we have some bad news for you.
NY Yankees fans will agree this offseason has been one of the most disappointing in a long time. The franchise is known for making bold moves in the offseason, and did so the previous two when they acquired Juan Soto in a blockbuster trade and signed Max Fried to a massive deal. However, this year has been the opposite.
With just a couple of weeks to go before pitchers and catchers report to camp, the NY Yankees have made no impact additions. Their only moves of note this offseason are retaining the services of outfielders Trent Grisham and Cody Bellinger.
So, despite some of their top rivals making major additions to improve their rosters, the Pinstripes will return with the same group that was decisively beaten by the Toronto Blue Jays in the Divisional Series of the playoffs.
Why the club didn’t add more big contracts in the last couple of months is no secret. The team’s co-owner, Hal Steinbrenner, has made it well known that he believes they can still be a consistent winner by spending a good bit less than they have in recent years. If the Yanks don’t want to pay for expensive veterans, it might mean they feel they have cheaper, high-potential options on the way in the minors.
NY Yankees have a below-average farm system?
Well, maybe not. On Thursday, The Athletic revealed its updated rankings of every MLB team’s farm system. Their rankings are broken into eight tiers, and the NY Yankees landed in tier five. In their report, the outlet mentions the Yanks have two very good shortstops (No. 1 prospect George Lombard Jr. being one of them) and a small group of good pitchers. After that, “the system drops off pretty quickly, even with their well-deserved reputation for creating arms out of thin air.”
The Athletic notes the NY Yankees have traded away a lot of prospects over the last year, which has hurt the system’s ranking. However, only two of them would be top 10 to top 20 players for them right now. Which adds to the idea that the organization has a system full of prospects that are big question marks.
Anthony Volpe and Jasson Dominguez were No. 1 prospects for the club in recent years. While both have shown signs of their potential in the big leagues, they are looking like they will just be solid MLB players at best. It is a sign that, of the few high-level prospects the team has, there isn’t any recent evidence that they will turn into a long-term star for the team.
