2022 in Former Yankee Prospects

 

In Spring Training, an infielder named Diego Castillo started absolutely burning through Pirates camp, paving the way for a major league call-up and making himself one of the potential breakout names of the 2022 season. My excitement to see him perform in the majors was slightly curtailed by the knowledge that he was the main prospect piece in the trade that brought Clay Holmes to New York.

He's a former Yankee farmhand. Of course he is.

So far, Castillo's hitting .333 with 7 hits and an RBI, slowly making his way up the ladder in a flawed but not terrible Pirates team. But the more I looked at the Pirates, the more former Yankee prospects I saw. Ben Games their starting left fielder, he's already got 4 RBIs. Hoy Park's a backup infielder, he's slowly getting there as well. And 22-year-old Roansy Contreras, who's been a nice relief option for them recently, came over in the Jameson Taillon deal.

Which begs the question: are former Yankee prospects just EVERYWHERE this year?

So, I went down the line, and looked at all 28 other teams, just to see how many were being used in integral roles this year.

Angels: Tyler Wade, after years of backing up LeMahieu and Torres, is the starting 2nd baseman, and he's hitting .316 so far. 

Athletics: Billy McKinney is, for lack of a better option, the starting 1st baseman. James Kaprielian, netted in the Gray deal, is injured but will definitely factor into this team at some point.

Blue Jays: David Phelps is off to a nice start as a middle relief piece for the Jays this year.

Cardinals: Giovanny Gallegos is closing games for the Cards right now.

Cubs: Clint Frazier is the big one, having been in and out of the Yanks' minor league system since last year. Also, David Robertson is back to closing for the Cubs, and I suppose you could count Chris Martin as a farmhand considering how he was in and out of the minors in 2015, his rookie year, for us. 

Diamondbacks: Two of the D-Backs' most senior relief specialists, Mark Melancon and Ian Kennedy, are Yankee farm products. Melancon's off to a nice start. Kennedy is not.

Giants: Thairo Estrada, former Yankee bench bat, is now the Giants' starting second baseman, and like Donovan Solano before him, he's gone from zero to hero, with great power numbers so far. 

Mariners: Luis Torrens is getting less playing time so far this year, but he still means to factor in as a bench/DH bat. We also have Justus Sheffield and Erik Swanson still hanging around from the Paxton deal.

Marlins: I'm debating whether or not I count Garrett Cooper, because we did keep him down, but he's mainly a product of Milwaukee's farm system. 

Mets: Obviously Robinson Cano. 

Orioles: Jorge Mateo, who killed us earlier this afternoon, was a Yankee prospect who went through the A's and Padres' systems before finally making it with the O's. Dillon Tate was also a Yankee prospect, now he's finally being well-utilized in relief. 

Phillies: Nick Nelson. Proof they're not all good former Yankee prospects.

Pirates: See above.

Rangers: Well considering all the business we've been doing with them recently, they HAVE to have a bunch. Nick Solak most notably, Albert Abreu and Glenn Otto, who's currently hanging in the minors but was a return for Joey Gallo.

Rays: I was expecting more, but just J.P. Feyereisen. Who I just found out TODAY was a Yankee farmhand. 

Reds: Luis Cessa's the most obvious one. Reiver Sanmartin was us, we gave him over for Shed Long. 

Red Sox: Last year when Garrett Whitlock was having his career summer, of course they mentioned that he was a Yankee prospect til we forgot to protect him from the Rule 5 stuff. And now he's a big piece of these Sox teams.

Twins: The most obvious one, Gary Sanchez, is leading the team in RBI right now.

So, to recap, that is 18 out of 29 teams employing former Yankee prospects in big roles. Perhaps more, as there might even be some I've forgotten about. But that says a lot about how much Brian Cashman has done over the last several years, and how foundational the Yankee farm system is to the rest of the league. As for the Pirates, I hope they can develop Castillo better than we could.

Coming Tomorrow- One of the hardest throwing pitchers of the 2010s finally seems healthy enough to make his mark on the 2020s.