Frankie Piliere of AOL Fanhouse has done an excellent job scouting the top prospects and farm systems in the game this week.
The Yankees’ farm system as a whole was ranked 15th in all of baseball. He said:
The Yankees have plenty of depth. What they don't have right now is a great deal of impact talent behind Jesus Montero. They have a lot of potential in the low levels, and it's a solid system, but at the moment much of their high-upside players are early in their development.
Piliere is referring to guys like Manny Banuelos, who is just an 18-year-old lefty with one great year for the GCL Yankees. It’s nothing special, but it’s still an average system.
Obviously, Jesus Montero was the top ranked prospect for the Yankees. Piliere ignored the criticism of his weak defense and glorified his bat.
Can he catch? Yes. Will he catch? It doesn't matter much. His bat is that potent. Much debate surrounds Montero's ability to stick behind the plate, but the bat is going to be special. He has a potential 40-homer bat with the offensive upside of Miguel Cabrera. We could see the Venezuelan slugger as early as midseason in 2010 if all goes well in Triple-A.
Can you imagine a homegrown 40-homer player on the Yankees? It’s not easy for a great team like the Yankees to pick up an All-Star bat at such a young age. That’s just great scouting.
Montero ranked No. 5 in baseball behind Stephen Strasburg (WAS), Michael Stanton (FLA), Desmond Jennings (TB) and Jason Heyward (ATL).
