:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/45592410/usa-today-8186166.0.jpg)
More prospect lists!!! Keith Law was not very high on the Yankees farm system when he ranked them 20th overall in baseball, so here's now a look at his top 10 prospects in the organization:
1. Aaron Judge, OF
2. Greg Bird, 1B
3. Gary Sanchez, C
4. Luis Severino, RHP
5. Tyler Austin, OF
6. Jorge Mateo, SS
7. Domingo German, RHP
8. Ian Clarkin, LHP
9. Luis Torrens, C
10. Eric Jagielo, 3B
It's good to see Aaron Judge and Greg Bird so high up on the list, but not only was Luis Severino not considered a top-100 prospect by Law, but he's not even in the top three in the system as Gary Sanchez is ranked higher than him. He's clearly not a believer in what Severino has done so far. Aside from that, he's also still high on Tyler Austin, likely seeing his second-half resurgence as his return to being a top prospect. He's also high on Jorge Mateo and the recently acquired Domingo German in there as well. The usual suspects of Ian Clarkin, Luis Torrens, and Eric Jagielo make up the remainder of the group.
Law also gives us a look at the guys who nearly made the list, with Rob Refsnyder, Miguel Andujar, Jacob Lindgren, Tyler Wade, Brady Lail, and Ty Hensley ranking 11-16. He's not much of a believer in Refsnyder, but I don't think his reasoning is very legitimate:
Refsnyder received a lot of attention for his hot start in Double-A last year, but didn't maintain that level of production in Triple-A, and his secondary skills -- patience, power, fielding -- are all weak. He might play second every day for someone, but I don't think it will be for the Yankees, who will want more defense or more pop at that spot.
Didn't maintain the level of production? He hit .300/.389/.456 with eight home runs, so sure, he didn't maintain his impossible .342/.385/.548 levels from Double-A, but he didn't exactly struggle. And as for his walk-rates, he had an impossibly low 5.7% BB/9, mostly because he was aggressive at the plate, he was hitting everything, and didn't need to be patient. Once he began to cool down, or the league started figuring out that he could hit, he started becoming more patient, like he was at High-A Tampa in 2013, and walked at a rate of 12.3%. Sure, maybe it's something to keep an eye on going forward, but I wouldn't consider it "weak." The only thing he really needs to work on is his defense, as we already know.