[image title="slade-heathcott1" size="full" id="24263" align="center" linkto="full" ]The story of 2010 in the Yankee farm system was no doubt, “The Killer B’s all break out.” It provided a huge dose of excitement for us Yankee fans that had been missing (besides Jesus Montero talk) since Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, and Ian Kennedy were coming up. We probably shouldn’t expect 2011 to go as well as 2010 did, but who will be the Killer Bs of 2011? After the them and Jesus Montero exit the farm system, who will provide the excitement? Here are my three candidates.
The Favorite: Gary Sanchez – Gary Sanchez rightfully earns a lot of comparisons to Jesus Montero. Montero is arguably the top, or at least a top-5, prospect in all of baseball. He put up a phenomenal .329/.393/.543 batting line in his 17 year-old, 47-game debut. Some would call this a breakout, but I wouldn’t go so far. 47 games is a very short time, and Sanchez has a lot to work on (namely strikeouts), even if he proved that the raw talent is definitely there to a big time prospect. However, it is also worth remembering that Sanchez is a bit of a different prospect than Montero. Jesus Montero had a natural, raw talent for hitting that shone through even when he was 17 years old and not particularly blowing the ball out of the ballpark yet, coupled with massive defensive questions. Sanchez, on the other hand, is a much better overall athlete without (as far as we know, at least) the natural affinity for hitting that Montero brings. We should worry much less about his defensive abilities, but a little bit more about his ability to adapt to more advanced pitching. Still, nothing to worry about. Chances are he’ll be your top prospect a year from now.
The Underdog: Slade Heathcott – I get the sense that Yankee fans are generally underwhelmed by Slade Heathcott. When they drafted Heathcott, he was a super athlete project prospect with lots of risk but lots of upside. He held his own in 2010, but struck out a whole lot and didn’t show much power. He’s still risky and still a project, but at the same time he still has the kind of latent potential that Austin Jackson offered us not that long ago. Austin Jackson had a similarly solid if unspectacular season (arguably worse) in Charleston the year before he broke out. Heathcott in many ways resembles Jackson, but has much more potential. Everyone who has commented on Heathcott has said he has a great swing with some potential to hit for power, raising his ceiling far above Jackson’s.
The Long Shot: Mason Williams - One of the bigger strengths of the Yankee system is the number of guys who would fit into this longshot category. The list is as long as Graham Stoneburner, Brett Marshall, Jose Ramirez, Angelo Gumbs, and possibly Cito Culver. However, I decided to pick Mason Williams. The Yankees paid a lot of money for their 4th round pick, and they didn’t do it for a guy who lacks talent. Williams garners comparisons to Brett Gardner, which wouldn’t have been much of a compliment as much as a year ago, but I think means quite a bit today. He’s never going to hit for a ton of power (though he’ll hit for more than Gardner), but will bring tons of speed and reportedly good baseball sense to the table. Like Gardner, he could OPS .750 and be an enormously valuable player. However, he’s certainly not equal to your normal $1.4 million bonus prospect, so we need to see the performance before assessing his chances of contributing in the majors. If the Yankees decide that he’s prepared for a full-season league and he debuts, hits well, and earns praise, Mason Williams could be the next great Yankee prospect.
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7 Responses to 2011 Breakout Candidates
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TIQ IQ
I hate to quibble, EJ, but you said four candidates, then discussed three. You owe your devoted readers one more.
Oh yeah. The difference between starting an article last night and finishing it this morning. Fixed :)
For the record, the fourth candidate was going to be Brett Marshall, but I couldn’t think of anything better to call it other than, “The Other Longshot”.
Angelo Gumbs doesn’t do it for you? He’s said to have a world of talent, some had him as the best pure athlete in the draft. His bat speed could make up for a lot of poor pitch recognition. He’s just very raw, and needs to learn how to apply his skills to Baseball. He’s speculative, but if he puts it together, watch out.
He’s basically in the same boat as Mason Williams, but I went with Williams, whose is considered to be a bit more advanced.
You hit it on the money with the “underwhelmed” tag slapped on Heathcott’s debut. i was expecting more power. We all were expecting more power especially in light of his draft mate, JR Murphy, who did show pop. Heathcott’s trajectory up the minors can’t start yet. If he’s not careful, he’ll quickly be “forgotten” if Murphy and Sanchez start tearing the cover off the ball.
The Sanchize will deliver a stat line reminiscent of Montero’s full-season debut. We’re all going to go nuts over this kid. Since Sanchez will likely be splitting reps with JR, i think the jury will remain out as far as defensive assessment.