January 7th, 2025: Non-Roster Signings, Prospects, Minor League Awards

Can you believe pitchers and catchers report in only five weeks? The offseason has flown by. The Yankees went to the World Series, so right off the bat the offseason was shorter than usual. Then Juan Soto’s free agency kept us busy for a few weeks, then the Yankees were active for another few weeks after that with their post-Soto transaction spree. I find this much more preferable to a slower, more drawn out offseason. Because of all that stuff though, I fell behind on minor league signings and notes, including my annual Minor League Awards. Here now is an all-minor league post to catch up on everything.

1. Non-roster signings. As every team does every offseason, the Yankees have spent the last few weeks signing players to minor league contracts to fill out the organizational depth chart, and give themselves as many options as possible. Nick Burdi went from minor league contract to the Opening Day roster last year. Dennis Santana and Kevin Smith had cameos in the Bronx after joining the Yankees on non-roster deals. Inevitably, a few of these players will make their way to the big league team in 2025. Such is the nature of the 162-game grind. Here, in no particular order, are the players the Yankees have signed to minor league contracts this offseason (so far).

OF Brennen Davis

It wasn’t too long ago that Davis, who turned 25 in November, was viewed as one of the best prospects in baseball. The son of former NBA player Reggie Theus was a staple on top 100 lists from 2020-23, peaking as a consensus top 25-ish prospect following his breakout 2021 season: .260/.375/.494 (140 wRC+) with 19 homers in 99 games between Double-A and Triple-A. The prospect rankers were high on Davis:

Since then though, Davis has been derailed by injuries, some fluky (concussion after taking a pitch to a head, broken ankle in an outfield collision) and some not so fluky (back surgery to treat a vascular malformity). He’s played 53, 71, and 55 games in the three seasons since that breakout 2021. In 2024, Davis slashed .214/.359/.469 (116 wRC+) with 11 homers in 47 Triple-A games.

The offensive profile is similar to Everson Pereira. Davis is a right-handed hitter who hits the absolute crap out of the ball, but also swings and misses a lot. His 16.1% swinging strike rate last season was 30th highest among the 410 players with at least 180 Triple-A plate appearances. He makes the Statcast machine go brrr though (Triple-A Statcast card via Thomas Nestico):

In May, Eric Longenhagen wrote “these starts and stops (due to injuries) make it hard to get a good read on his hit tool despite Davis’ obvious power, and the timing issues he’s displayed may largely be the result of him having yet to spend a full season facing high-quality pitching.” He adds Davis, who’s an okay defender, projects as “more of a bottom-of-the-40-man type than a steady role player” these days.

The Cubs added Davis to the 40-man roster for Rule 5 Draft protection purposes in Nov. 2022. He used his first two minor league options in 2023 and 2024, so he has one remaining, and who knows, maybe he’ll qualify for a fourth option down the road given his injuries. Point is, if things come together for Davis (or even just seem like they’re starting to come together), keeping him by putting him on the 40-man will be a piece of cake.

A former top 25-ish global prospect who will play the next season at age 25 is always worth a minor league deal. Zero risk move with upside, especially since Davis’ option status means the Yankees could easily add him to the 40-man and keep him down the line (in case he has an opt out or whatever). The Cubs ran out of patience and non-tendered Davis in November. The Yankees take him on as a reclamation project. I like it.

(I should note word of the Davis signing comes from Aram Leighton, who is usually reliable, though the Davis signing has not yet shown up on the official site like the other minor league signings.)

UTIL Andrew Velazquez

That’s 2021 AL Wild Card Game starting shortstop Andrew Velazquez to you. The man they call Squid is back on a minor league deal. (Good cross-promotion potential with Squid Game season two. Get on it, Yankees.) This is the “we need a real shortstop in Triple-A because Oswald Peraza is out of options and might not be around much longer” signing the Yankees were always going to make this offseason.

Now 30, the Bronx born-and-raised Velazquez spent last year in Triple-A with the Braves, where he mostly played second base and the outfield in deference to younger shortstops. He didn’t hit (.242/.298/.394 and 78 wRC+), and his career MLB line is .189/.244/.293 (48 wRC+), but Velazquez is not in there for his bat. He’s a gifted and flashy defender who can play the crap out of the shortstop position. The glove is good.

Velazquez played 28 games with the 2021 Yankees, which is more than I would have guessed, and he did indeed start the AL Wild Card Game that year. He got one at-bat before being removed for a pinch-hitter. What was even the point of that? Anyway, Velazquez will go to Scranton and serve as Anthony Volpe’s emergency replacement in the event Peraza does wind up elsewhere at some point.

(Like Davis, the Velazquez signing is not on the official site yet, though Jack Curry reported this one, so it’s as good as done.)

UTIL Pablo Reyes and OF Ismael Munguia

A true utility guy, Reyes has played every position except catcher at the MLB level (he’s pitched a few times). He’s bounced from the Pirates to the Brewers to the Red Sox to the Mets the last few years and is a righty hitter with a career .284/.333/.442 (105 wRC+) line against lefties in the big leagues. That comes in 213 plate appearances spread across parts of six seasons, but still. Better than nothing.

Last year Reyes, 31, hit .300/.385/.504 (131 wRC+) with 12 homers, 15 steals, and nearly as many walks (12.4%) as strikeouts (14.6%) in Triple-A. He’s got a Quad-A thing going on. Reyes mashes in Triple-A (despite poor exit velocities) and keeps getting MLB chances, but he gets exposed at the next level. It’s a hard game. A guy who can play everywhere and maybe hit lefties is nice to have in Scranton though.

As for Munguia, the recently turned 26-year-old is a high contact/low power/some speed/okay defense lefty hitter. Last year he slashed .286/.387/.418 (123 wRC+) with seven homers and as many walks as strikeouts (9.9% each) between Double-A and Triple-A with the Giants. Munguia was described to me as a “pain in the ass that plays like his hair is on fire.” Contact + hustle = Spring Training darling. Get ready for it.

With the caveat that Spring Training is still a month away and we don’t know what the MLB infield or bench will look like just yet, Triple-A Scranton’s position player group is shaping up to look something like this:

• Catcher: Alex Jackson, J.C. Escarra, Ben Rice (and Rafael Flores?)

• First base: TJ Rumfield (plus Escarra, Flores, and Rice)

• Rest of infield: Reyes, Velazquez, Jorbit Vivas (and Escarra at third)

• Outfield: Davis, Munguia, Pereira (and Escarra)

• Depth guys: IF Chad Bell, OF Cam Eden, OF Duke Ellis

Pereira and Vivas both qualified for fourth options, which is helpful. The Yankees have moved Spencer Jones up the ladder pretty aggressively, so maybe he’ll factor into Scranton’s outfield to begin the season. We’ll see how the big league infield and bench shake out, but, right now, the RailRiders will have a position player group along those lines to begin 2025.

LHP Brandon Leibrandt

The always important Triple-A innings guy. Leibrandt’s father, Charlie, pitched 14 years in the big leagues and started the Don Denkinger game in the 1985 World Series. Brandon, 32, had cups of coffee with 2020 Marlins and 2024 Reds, and has allowed nine runs in 15.1 MLB innings. In Triple-A last season, he threw 83.2 innings with a 4.41 ERA (4.81 FIP) and meh peripherals (22.7 K%, 6.0 BB%, 39.4 GB%).

Leibrandt is a classic soft-tossing lefty with a great changeup. His fastball averaged 88.2 mph and topped out at 92.3 mph in Triple-A last year, and his upper-70s changeup featured a 51.1% whiff rate and a 50.0% ground ball rate. With a 115 Stuff+, it was a top 10 changeup in Triple-A in 2024. 

Long and lanky at 6-foot-4 and 190 lbs., Leibrandt also works with a low-80s slider and upper-70s curveball, neither of which stand out. The fastball means a small margin of error, but Leibrandt’s changeup gives him a carrying pitch, and the Yankees have been on a changeup/splitter kick lately with Fernando Cruz and Devin Williams joining Mark Leiter Jr. and Luke Weaver in the bullpen. Leibrandt fits the pattern.

At minimum, Leibrandt will eat innings in Triple-A, and it’s an important job. The Triple-A veteran innings guy saves the bullpen and helps the team avoid overworking the actual prospects. Tanner Tully was that guy the last two years, with a Thomas Pannone here and a Ryan Weber there. Perhaps the Yankees can unlock something and turn Leibrandt into a viable big leaguer, though I’m skeptical given the lack of velocity.

Ayyy I’m Wilking here

Welcome back, Wilking Rodríguez. The soon-to-be 35-year-old right-hander is back with the Yankees after being lost in the 2022 Rule 5 Draft and spending the last two seasons with the Cardinals. Rodríguez threw only 17.1 innings those two seasons, all in the minors, because of arm trouble. This is quite the career:

• 2007-13: Minors with Reds, Rays, and Royals.

• 2014: Made MLB debut with Kansas City (two scoreless innings).

• 2015: Triple-A with Yankees, suspended for PEDs.

• 2016-20: Only appearances came in winter ball.

• 2021-22: Resurfaced in the Mexican League.

• 2022: Signs with Yankees in August but doesn’t appear in a game.

• 2023-24: Cardinals grab him in Rule 5 Draft, then he got hurt.

• 2025: Back with Yankees on minor league contract.

Rodríguez was out of affiliated baseball from 2016-20, then he pitched well enough in the Mexican League that a) the Yankees signed him, and b) the Cardinals took him in the Major League Rule 5 Draft without seeing him pitch in a game for the Yankees. I can’t remember something similar happening with another player. Reports indicated Rodríguez's pitch data was off-the-charts good, and that’s why the Yankees signed him and St. Louis took him.

Shoulder surgery sidelined Rodríguez most of the 2023-24 seasons. He was healthy toward the end of last season and got into 12 Triple-A games with the Cardinals. And yep, Rodríguez was throwing hard:

The Stuff+ model wasn’t impressed, but it’s encouraging anytime a pitcher hits 99 mph after shoulder surgery, and we are talking about an 11-inning sample. It’s possible Rodríguez’s pitch shapes aren’t all the way back yet so soon after surgery even though the arm strength’s there. The Yankees gave him a minor league contract and will see what’s what when Rodriguez reports to Spring Training.

We don’t need to overthink this. The Yankees gave a non-roster deal to a reliever who hit 99 at the end of the Triple-A season. Rodríguez is older, but who cares? If you can get outs, you can get outs. And hey, he has a minor league option remaining too. The Yankees could shuttle him up and down this year with ease. The odds Rodríguez makes an appearance in the Bronx this year are higher than you may think.

RHP Colten Brewer

Welcome back to you too, Colten. Brewer, 32, got into three games with the Yankees early in 2023, including a bullpen saving 52-pitch, 3.2-inning outing in a blowout loss to the Twins (the Twins!). You may remember that Estevan Florial was on the 2023 Opening Day roster. He was DFAed one game into the season when the Yankees got Brewers in a cash trade with the Rays, and put him on the MLB roster.

Anyway, this is Brewer’s third stint with the Yankees. They took him from the Pirates in the minor league phase of the 2016 Rule 5 Draft, let him leave as a minor league free agent after 2017, brought him back in 2023, and now brought him back again in 2025. Brewer allowed 16 runs in 20.2 big league innings with the Cubs last year. For his career, he has a 5.10 ERA (4.91 FIP) and 20.3 K% in 120 MLB innings.

Brewer keeps getting opportunities because he’s a spin rate guy. He throws his 2,800 rpm curveball and 2,600 rpm slider roughly 60% of the time combined, and mixes in a low-to-mid-90s four-seamer. Brewer is the quintessential replacement level journeyman. He bounces from team to team, spends most of his time in Triple-A, and gets a few big league innings each year. Expect the same to happen in 2025.

RHP Geoff Hartlieb

You won’t believe this, but the Yankees signed a reliever with a power sinker. Hartlieb, 31, has 79.1 MLB innings with the Pirates, Mets, Marlins, and Rockies the last few years. They didn’t go well (7.37 ERA, 5.29 FIP, 19.9 K%, 14.4 BB%) and, well, what else is new with a non-roster signing? Last season Hartlieb gave up 10 runs in nine innings with Colorado, and had a 5.47 ERA (5.12 FIP) in 54.1 innings for their Triple-A team.

As noted, Hartlieb is a power sinker guy, and the pitch sat 94.2 mph and topped out at 98.5 mph in Triple-A last year. He also works with a mid-90s four-seamer, a low-90s cutter, and a mid-80s slider. Hartlieb threw roughly 40% sliders, 25% sinkers, 25% four-seamers, and 10% cutters in 2024. My guess is the Yankees will have him lean on one fastball (sinker, probably) and go with closer to a 50/50 fastball/slider split.

The Yankees have had success with guys like Hartlieb, the nondescript journeyman with a sinker, though they don’t always work out. For every Ian Hamilton, there’s a Duane Underwood Jr. and a James Norwood. All you can do is keep throwing darts, and hope a few hit the bullseye. Maybe Hartlieb is the next great out of nowhere Yankees reliever. Maybe not. Only way to find out is to try.

Miscellany

The Yankees also signed 24-year-old RHP Cristian Hernandez, a one-time Phillies prospect, to a minor league contract. He had a 3.19 ERA (3.31 FIP) with 25.3 K% and 5.2 BB% in 42.1 Double-A relief innings last season. Eric Longenhagen’s most recent scouting report says Hernandez will “touch the 95-96 range in shorter outings … and show you a plus breaking ball.” He’s never pitched at Triple-A and is a dice roll at that level more than someone with a chance to help the Yankees early in 2025 … And finally, the Yankees also signed RHP Jordany Ventura to a non-roster deal. He’s an even deeper sleeper than Hernandez. Ventura, 24, reached Double-A for the first time last August and had a 2.96 ERA (4.02 FIP) with 27.0 K% and 9.8 BB% in 48.2 mostly relief innings at three levels with the Mets last year. He missed all of 2021 and most of 2022 with Tommy John surgery, and Longenhagen said he “lost three ticks of velo” after surgery. That was in 2023. I have no idea what Ventura looked like in 2024. Good enough for the Yankees to sign, apparently.

2. Winter ball roundup and prospect notes. The Yankees traded Caleb Durbin away before I could mention he set the Arizona Fall League’s single-season stolen base record this offseason. He came close to the record last year, then he got there this year with 29 steals in 24 games. Here’s are the five 20-steal seasons in AzFL history:

1. Caleb Durbin, 2024: 29 SB in 24 G
2. Rickey Holifield, 1994: 24 steals in 42 G
3. Caleb Durbin, 2023: 21 steals in 23 G
4. Eric Young Jr., 2008: 20 steals in 31 G
5. John Massarelli, 1992: 20 steals in I don’t know how many games

“I think it's a testament to my preparation and picking my spots,” Durbin told Jim Callis. “I think a lot more of baserunning is more instincts than it really is speed. I think if you have enough speed, it helps, and I feel like I have enough speed. It’s more of just knowing what the pitcher is doing, what the catcher is doing, what the middle infielders are doing. All that goes into me feeling confident that I could steal a base.”

Durbin was named the AzFL’s Breakout Prospect of the Year after hitting .312/.427/.548 with the 29 steals. A year ago he hit .353/.456/.588 in the AzFL, so he lost 69 OPS points from 2023 to 2024, and was still named Breakout Prospect of the Year. Alrighty. I guess the stolen base record goes a long way. Here now are a few more AzFL and winter ball notes.

Lagrange throws gas, battles control in AzFL

2024 was a rough year for the Yankees’ top pitching prospects. RHP Clayton Beeter (shoulder), RHP Chase Hampton (flexor), LHP Henry Lalane (shoulder), and LHP Brock Selvidge (biceps) all missed extended time with arm injuries. RHP Carlos Lagrange avoided an arm injury, though he did not make his season debut until June 22nd because of a lower back issue, and he threw 29.2 innings all season.

The final 8.2 of those 29.2 innings came in the AzFL and, well, they weren’t good: 8.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 15 BB, 10 K, 1 HR. Lagrange also balked four times in those 8.2 innings. A poor showing overall, but ultimately 8.2 innings in the AzFL doesn’t mean a whole lot. What does matter is Lagrange finished 2024 healthy and he threw gas out in the desert. His normal mid-to-upper-90s velocity was intact after the back injury:

“It’s really important for me to throw hard. Ever since I’ve been a player, I’ve thrown hard. I’m just working on throwing strikes and being consistent,” Lagrange told Sam Dykstra in the AzFL. “... When I first signed with the Yankees, I used to throw curveballs. Then the Yankees changed me to throw more sliders. Thanks to the Yankees that have helped me a lot with that pitch and helped me feel more confident with it.”

Hard-throwers with poor control are a dime a dozen, I know, but Lagrange is not a run of the mill hard-thrower. Here’s what Boomer Prinstein (subs. req’d) wrote after seeing Lagrange in the AzFL:

Lagrange was 97-99 with his FB, with really easy life and, because of his age, arm, and size he’s got a lot of upside despite being pretty raw still … He’s another candidate who would benefit from the Andrew Miller slide step, just step and throw style, and I would like to see him throw his off-speed with a bit more conviction. Nevertheless, those arms don’t grow on trees and even though he’s not a natural strike thrower he’s not super wild either. Believe it or not, I project he’ll throw even harder, 103-105 is within reason, so I would take him in my system, without a doubt.

Lagrange’s extreme control issues last season were out of character for him, and we are talking about a 21-year-old who stands 6-foot-7. Not many players that size have their control ironed out at that age. Lalane’s velocity was way down when he returned from his shoulder issue and that's worrisome. Lagrange’s stuff was intact after his back problem. After all the pitching injuries in the system last year, I’ll take a win wherever I can get it.

Escarra wins LIDOM batting title

New 40-man roster player and possible backup catcher candidate UTIL J.C. Escarra won the Dominican Winter League batting title this offseason. He hit .363/.467/.558 with 13 doubles, three homers, 18 walks, and 16 strikeouts in 36 games. Escarra led LIDOM in AVG by 40 points and OBP by 76 points. He was second in SLG behind former Mets prospect Aderlin Rodríguez (.581 SLG).

LIDOM and winter ball in Latin America in general is incredibly competitive. It’s a league where pitchers glove-flip strikeouts …

… and it does not matter how many years in the big leagues you have or how highly ranked you are as a prospect. If you do not perform, you will not play. Also, four of the six LIDOM teams qualify for the postseason, and those four teams each draft six players from the other two teams to add to their postseason roster. That sounds fun. Old pal Esmil Rogers was one of the first players picked!

Anyway, the Yankees signed Escarra out of the Mexican League last offseason and he had an impressive 2024 season split between Double-A and Triple-A: .261/.355/.434 (119 wRC+) with 12 homers and strong strikeout (13.8%) and walk (11.2%) rates. His Triple-A percentiles were good to great:

• 90th percentile EV: 59th

• Max EV: 52nd

• Pulled fly ball rate: 81st

• Chase rate: 92nd

• In-zone contact rate: 90th

• SEAGER: 58th

A lefty hitter who pulls the ball in the air that much, makes that much contact, and generally makes good swing decisions is good use of a bottom of the 40-man roster spot. Escarra played 59 games at catcher, 27 at first base, 19 at third base, and three each in left and right fields in 2024 (plus 13 at DH). He mostly caught in LIDOM. I know he turns 30 in April, but damn, Escarra looks like a nifty depth guy.

The Yankees don’t have a clear backup catcher at the moment. Escarra, Alex Jackson, and Ben Rice are the top in-house candidates, though Escarra and Rice are lefty bats, and pairing Austin Wells with a righty hitting backup would make the most sense. No matter what the Yankees do at backup catcher, I expect to see Escarra in the Bronx at some point in 2025. He could be a sneaky good role player.

Martin wins AzFL Home Run Derby

OF Garrett Martin, one of the toolsiest long shots in the system, won the AzFL Home Run Derby a few weeks back. Here’s video. “Let it eat. Just hit balls as hard as I could over the fence,” Martin told Jesse Borek when asked about his strategy. He hit five homers in the final 47 seconds of the final round to beat Brewers 3B Brock Wilken, the 18th overall pick in the 2023 draft.

“I was really excited to even get the opportunity to come and do this and get to be in the Fall League in general,” Martin told Borek. “Then to be part of the Home Run Derby was even more special for me.”

Martin, 24, signed with the Yankees as an undrafted free agent out of Austin Peay in July 2023, and he hit .216/.326/.422 (114 wRC+) with 12 homers and 17 steals in 87 games with High-A Hudson Valley last year. He then went 16-for-71 (.225) with five homers in 19 AzFL games. Those five homers were tied for sixth in the league even though Martin finished 35th in plate appearances.

Martin is a tool shed. Ton of power, ton of speed, strong arm, ton of athleticism. His approach is poor and he whiffs a lot though. In High-A last year he ran a 28.0 K% with a 17.6% swinging strike rate, and had twice as many multi-strikeout games (28) as multi-hit games (14). If things click, Martin could be an impact player. Chances are they won’t, but hey, he was an undrafted free agent. You can only expect so much.

Yankees hire DeHart to replace Migliaccio

A few weeks back I noted the Yankees were experiencing a minor league coaching exodus, and I’m not sure why. Are their coaches highly regarded and in-demand around the league? Are the Yankees unhappy with their player development and letting people go? A little of both? Among those who left was former minor league hitting coordinator Joe Migliaccio, who became the Marlins’ director of hitting.

To replace Migliaccio, the Yankees have hired former Mariners hitting coach and director of hitting strategy Jarret DeHart. DeHart announced it himself on social media, but then the post got deleted, so I guess he jumped the gun there. His profile says “New York Yankees Director of Hitting” though, so he’s the guy. The Yankees announce their minor league coaches in late January each year. DeHart will be made official then.

DeHart, 30, is an analytics guy who joined the Mariners in 2018 and worked his way up from rookie ball to the big leagues. He was fired along with manager Scott Servais last August, when Seattle was tumbling down the standings and trying to save their season. In true “hire the exact opposite of the guy you just fired” fashion, the Mariners replaced DeHart with Hall of Famer and franchise icon Edgar Martinez. 

I know hiring the guy in charge of the MARINERS offense to run your hitting development is not reassuring, but it seems like no one can ever hit in Seattle, and DeHart served as the team’s hitting coach for less than three seasons. The lack of offense is a longstanding problem for the Mariners. (Ryan Blake recently wrote about the batter’s eye at T-Mobile Park and the effect of the sun’s position on offense. Fascinating stuff.)

In September, Lance Brozdowski noted the Yankees had a .350 xwOBA system-wide during the 2024 minor league regular season (Low-A to Triple-A), second highest in baseball behind the Mariners (.358 xwOBA). The Yankees also led the minors in 90th percentile exit velocity. That was a constant during the Migliaccio era (2019-24). Best in the league minor league contact quality, year after year.

Also a constant during the Migliaccio era was hitters coming up through the system and having a hard time at the MLB level. An adjustment period is normal, for sure, but Gleyber Torres is by frickin’ far the best hitter to come up through the system since Aaron Judge. The second best is … Miguel Andujar based on 2018 alone? Maybe it’s Clint Frazier? Austin Wells? I’m talking offense only (so not Anthony Volpe's glove), and whoever it is, it ain’t great.

Underperforming young hitters has been an ongoing problem the last few years. That’s very likely a larger organizational issue than a Migliaccio problem, specifically, but it is something I hope DeHart can help correct. The Yankees put up great system-wide offensive numbers year after year, but it hasn’t translated to MLB with any sorta consistency. They badly need more from their hitter development. With any luck, the tide will turn now.

Do the Yankees have a minor league velocity problem?

This is a weird thing to write four blurbs after highlighting a prospect who hit 100.3 mph in the AzFL, but it seems like the Yankees have a shortage of velocity in their minor league pitching ranks. Here are a few links:

• Brozdowski noted the Yankees had the third lowest average four-seam fastball velocity (92.2 mph) from Low-A to Triple-A in 2024, ahead of only the Guardians (92.1 mph) and Mariners (92.1 mph).

• Only two Yankees (RHP Jesús Liranzo and RHP Luis Velasquez) hit 100 mph during the 2024 regular season, per Geoff Pontes (subs. req’d). Lagrange in the AzFL makes it three. Six teams had one or zero, so the Yankees were in the bottom third of the league. Nine teams had at least four guys hit 100.

• Pontes (subs. req’d) also examined pitchers who added at least 2 mph to their fastballs from 2023 to 2024. Only one Yankee (RHP Jerson Alejandro) was among the 49 names.

There is more to life than velocity, we all know that, but it is a pretty big piece of the pie. J.J. Cooper laid it out beautifully last summer. The higher the pitch velocity (all pitch types, not just fastballs), the higher the whiff rate and the lower the AVG, SLG, and OPS against. Velocity equals margin or error. People try to argue with this point (even people who run teams), but it’s true. The more velocity, the better.

The Yankees were near the bottom of baseball in minor league four-seam fastball velocity last season and they lack guys who pitch at the upper end of the velocity scale (i.e. 100 mph). The Yankees like sinkers, so that could be skewing these numbers a bit, but with the exception of RHP Will Warren, the top pitching prospects in the system are all four-seam guys. Beeter, Hampton, Lagrange, Lalane, Selvidge, etc.

I’m not normally one for conspiracy theories but I don’t think it's a coincidence the Yankees went heavy on pitchers with big arms in the draft. They took pitchers with their first seven picks and with 13 of their 20 draft picks overall, and to a man those early round pitchers have big velocity and big stuff overall. I’m talking guys who touched 97-99 mph in college, including top picks RHP Ben Hess and RHP Bryce Cunningham. 

Now, every team looks for big arms in the draft, but this was a philosophy shift for the Yankees. They used their first round pick on a position player every year from 2018-23, and they picked only 11 pitchers in the top five rounds those years. That’s 11 pitchers out of 27 total picks (they forfeited a few high picks to sign qualified free agents along the way). Roughly 58% of players drafted each year are pitchers, so yes, 11 of 27 is on the low side.

For several years the draft strategy was to take bats early and arms in the middle/late rounds, and coach them up. And it worked! The Yankees got Hampton, Warren, RHP Richard Fitts, LHP Ken Waldichuk, RHP Hayden Wesneski, and others that way. The Yankees were not the only team to do this. The Orioles, for example, have not used a single top two rounds pick on a pitcher since GM Mike Elias was hired in Nov. 2018.

The Yankees went bats early and arms late for several years, then all of a sudden there was a shortage of velocity in the farm system (the data backs this up), and they shifted gears in the draft and went after big arms. Maybe I’m off base and this is all a giant coincidence, but I don’t think so. It seems pretty cause-and-effect-y to me. The Yankees lacked velocity, an important pitcher trait, so they drafted (and traded for) velocity.

And to be clear, I don’t think this is a bad thing. Well, the lack of velocity in the system is a bad thing, there are no notable hard-throwers coming up to help the Yankees anytime soon, but the most important thing is Yankees recognized an organizational weakness and took steps to address it. To answer the subhead question, do the Yankees have a minor league velocity problem? Yes. Are they taking steps to fix it? It seems so.

3. 2024 Minor League Awards. The minor league season ended in September and it’s about time to get to my annual Minor League Awards. I’ve been giving out these Minor League Awards so long that my first ever Minor League Player of the Year retired last offseason following a 17-year big league career. Geez.

Three of their five stateside affiliates made the postseason in 2024 and two went to their league’s Championship Series, though no titles were won. Here’s the season recap:

• Triple-A Scranton: 89-60, missed postseason (89 wins is a new franchise record)

• Double-A Somerset: 75-62, swept Division Series, swept in Championship Series

• High-A Hudson Valley: 73-58, won Division Series, lost Championship Series

• Low-A Tampa: 54-74, missed postseason

• FCL Yankees: 35-22, lost Semifinals Game

Just so it’s clear, my Minor League Awards are not a top prospect ranking. These awards acknowledgement the players who had the best seasons in the farm system, regardless of prospect status. That said, there is usually a pretty strong correlation between the best prospects and the best performers. Here now are the 2024 RAB Minor League Awards.

Player of the Year: C/1B Rafael Flores

2024 stats: .279/.379/.495 (149 wRC+), 21 HR, 25.3 K%, 13.0 BB% (506 PA at A+ and AA)

One of my Prospect to Know entering 2024, Flores was the best performer in the system last year and one of the best in the minors. Set the minimum to 400 plate appearances and he was third in the system in OBP (behind Caleb Durbin and Taylor Trammell) and first in SLG and wRC+. He was second in homers (behind Ben Rice) and his 215 total bases were also second in the system, three fewer than Spencer Jones despite 38 fewer plate appearances. League-wide, that 149 wRC+ was 11th highest among the 628 players with at least 400 plate appearances in the minors last year. Flores performed that well while playing the majority of his games at catcher and dealing with the wear and tear that comes with the position. From start to finish, the undrafted free agent out of Rio Hondo College was the top performer in the farm system in 2024.

Hitter of the Year: C/1B Ben Rice

2024 stats: .273/.400/.567 (163 wRC+), 24 HR, 20.2 K%, 16.0 BB% (356 PA at AA and AAA)

I do not double up on the Player of the Year and Hitter/Pitcher of the Year, so Flores was ineligible, which made Rice a pretty easy call. He led the system in homers and was 11th in walks despite being 29th in plate appearances, and if you drop the minimum to 300 plate appearances, Rice was the only player in the system to top Flores’ 149 wRC+. His big league stint did not go particularly well aside from the Ben Thrice game (.171/.264/.349 and 73 wRC+), but these are minor league awards only, and Rice was the system’s best hitter on a rate basis and the second best overall behind Flores, even in limited playing time. Jesus Rodriguez was the only player in the system other than Rice and Flores to top a 140 wRC+ in at least 300 plate appearances. He finished with a 144 wRC+ in 333 plate appearances. So yeah, Rice was an easy call here with Flores ineligible.

Pitcher of the Year: RHP Zach Messinger

2024 stats: 3.06 ERA (3.54 FIP), 22.0 K%, 8.4 BB% (150 IP at AA)

This is always a tough award because it is guys who were good in a lot of innings vs. guys who were great in much fewer innings. In terms of per-inning dominance, Trent Sellers was probably the best pitcher in the system in 2024, throwing 83.2 innings with a 2.26 ERA (3.17 FIP) and 30.1 K% as a swingman. But it was only 83.2 innings, right? I believe volume should count for something, and Messinger’s 150 innings led the system and ranked sixth in the minors. And he was good! Cam Schlittler was the only other pitcher in the system with a sub-3.40 ERA in even 85 innings (3.36 ERA in 120.2 IP). The most innings for a pitcher in the system with a lower FIP than Messinger was 106 by Ben Shields (3.23 FIP). Messenger provided both quantity and quality last season. I’m still surprised no team rolled the dice on him in the Rule 5 Draft.

Breakout Player of the Year: C/1B Rafael Flores

2024 stats: .279/.379/.495 (149 wRC+), 21 HR, 25.3 K%, 13.0 BB% (506 PA at A+ and AA)

I’ve been doing these Minor League Awards since 2007 and this is only the fourth time the Player of the Year and Breakout Player of the Year were the same player. Chance Adams did it in 2016, Estevan Florial did it in 2017, Anthony Volpe did it in 2021, and now Flores has done it in 2024. The 24-year-old made the leap from interesting sleeper entering 2024 to bona fide prospect. Both Baseball America (subs. req’d) and Baseball Prospectus (subs. req’d) ranked Flores as a top 11 prospect in the system in recent weeks, and the fact he’s even in the top 10 discussion is a testament to the improvement he made in 2024. What a great year for him. Worthy of the rare Player of the Year/Comeback Player of the Year double-up.

Best Pro Debut: OF Brendan Jones

2024 stats: .267/.467/.453 (172 wRC+), 3 HR, 20.2 K%, 27.9 BB% (104 PA at A- and A+)

Modern player development has complicated the Best Pro Debut award, which was intended to recognize the player who began his professional career last season and excelled. The problem now is teams shut pitchers down after the draft, and they don’t debut until the next season. So pitchers drafted in 2023 made their pro debut until 2024, and are eligible for this award. That’s not the spirit of the thing though. The spirit of Best Pro Debut is acknowledging a player who began last year as an amateur, then made the jump to the pro ranks. Not someone who spent months in Tampa going through pitch design work, you know? 

Technically, 2023 sixth rounder Cade Smith had the best pro debut in 2024. He threw 93.2 innings with 3.65 ERA (3.37 FIP) and a 30.6 K% at the two Single-A levels. I want to focus on players who turned pro last year though, meaning 2024 draftees and international free agents. So, in that case, this year’s Best Pro Debut award goes to Jones, the Yankees’ 12th rounder in 2024. Jones reached base 49 times (20 hits and 29 walks) in 24 Single-A games and went a perfect 18-for-18 stealing bases. Here’s a fun one. Here are the top projected 2025 Yankees' OBPs per ZiPS:

1. Aaron Judge: .409 OBP
2. Brendan Jones: .339 OBP
3. DJ LeMahieu: .324 OBP
4. Jasson Domínguez: .324 OBP
5. Ben Rice: .320 OBP

Going from Kansas State in 2024 to ranking second on the Yankees in ZiPS projected 2025 OBP is quite a thing. Best Pro Debut is a bit messy nowadays because of the way teams handle drafted pitchers, but that’s baseball. Jones is the winner this year.

Comeback Player of the Year: RHP Trystan Vrieling

2024 stats: 4.58 ERA (3.73 FIP), 21.3 K%, 7.4 BB% (147.1 IP in AA)

Oftentimes this is the “pitcher who returned from Tommy John surgery" award. Vrieling broke his elbow and missed 2023, he didn’t have his UCL repaired, but it works the same. The 2022 third rounder returned last season (ahem, it was technically his pro debut) and jumped straight to Double-A, and more than held his own. Back-to-back ugly starts in June (17 runs in eight innings combined) skewed his ERA, and of course that counts, though Vrieling managed a solid 3.81 ERA the rest of the season. Logging that many innings and pitching that effectively while jumping to Double-A after missing a year with a broken elbow is a heck of a season. The difficulty level was ramped up and Vrieling handled it well.

Bat Flip of the Year: 1B Kiko Romero

This will not be a new award (or maybe it should be?), but I want to get this somewhere and I’m not sure where else to put it, so I’m putting it here. Please enjoy Romero’s Sept. 6th bat flip, on his first and so far only Double-A homer (full video):

Romero, a seventh round pick in 2023, authored a .207/.348/.369 (113 wRC+) line with seven home runs in 72 games at High-A and three games at Double-A last year. Too many empty swings (31.1 K% and 17.0% swinging strikes), but the kid has a pretty great bat flip tool.

Most Disappointing Player: LHP Kyle Carr

2024 stats: 4.76 ERA (4.03 FIP), 21.0 K%, 12.2 BB% (104 IP at A+)

All the ingredients were there for Carr to be the system’s next breakout pitching prospect. He was a touted third round pick in 2023 who sat mid-90s with a wipeout slider and tremendous athleticism on the mound. The Yankees thought so much of Carr that they brought him over from minor league camp to throw live BP to the big leaguers at least once last Spring Training, which speaks volumes. Not everyone gets to do that. You only do that when the team trusts you to throw strikes and be competitive, because the last thing they need is some minor leaguer hitting Aaron Judge with a pitch. Rather than take a step forward, Carr slogged through 2024, with reports that his velocity was down and his mechanics were a mess. He also had a hard time throwing strikes, especially early in the year (23 walks and 22 strikeouts in his first seven starts and 26.1 innings). Carr rallied late and finished the season well enough, but overall, it was a disappointment. Rather than break out and become the lefty pitching prospect the Yankees never seem to have, Carr spun his wheels at best, and really went backwards. That doesn’t mean he’s a bust. He’s only 22 with one pro season under his best, but yeesh, last year was rough.

Lifetime Achievement Award: C Carlos Narváez

I’m a sucker for stories about minor league lifers who reach the big leagues. Guys who spend years, sometimes more than a decade, grinding away in the minors before getting the call. And sometimes that call is nothing more than a cup of coffee. Few games in the show and that’s it. That’s the reward for years of bus rides and cheap postgame spreads and seedy hotels. Guys dedicate their lives to it.

Last year, the grind paid off for Narváez. He originally signed with the Yankees as an international amateur free agent out of Venezuela on July 2nd, 2015, the first day of the 2015-16 international signing period. Entering 2024, only Aaron Judge had been in the organization longer:

1. Aaron Judge: June 6th, 2013 (2013 draft pick)
2. Carlos Narváez: July 2nd, 2015 (international free agent)
3. Oswaldo Cabrera: July 2nd, 2015 (international free agent)
4. Jonathan Loáisiga: Feb. 9th, 2016 (minor league free agent)
t-5. Oswald Peraza and Yoendrys Gómez: July 2nd, 2016 (international free agents)

Narváez began his pro career in the Dominican Summer League in 2016. He spent 2017 in the rookie Gulf Coast League and split 2018 between the Appalachian League and the NY-Penn League, two leagues that lost their affiliations as part of MLB’s minor league takeover a few years back. Narváez returned to the NY-Penn League in 2019. Four years into his career, he’d yet to play in a full season league.

Then the pandemic wiped out the 2020 minor league season. Come 2021, Narváez was a 22-year-old catcher with zero games above the short season leagues. He was also in an organization loaded with catchers. Narváez began 2021 with Low-A Tampa and finished with High-A Hudson Valley, and at both stops he shared catcher and DH duties with Austin Wells, the previous year’s first round pick.

Narváez returned to Hudson Valley in 2022 and spent the entire season there, and hit .194/.327/.393 (98 wRC+) in 300 plate appearances. With his age 23 season coming up, Narváez was at risk of falling into non-prospect/organizational catcher territory. The Yankees moved him up to Double-A Somerset in 2023, and after 16 games and 60 plate appearances, Narváez was promoted up to Triple-A Scranton.

The promotion has more to do with Somerset’s roster situation than Narváez. Wells, Agustin Ramirez, and Ben Rice needed playing time in Double-A, so Narváez was moved up to clear the logjam. With Scranton, he slashed .240/.373/.387 (97 wRC+) and drew rave reviews from the pitching staff. The Yankees added Narváez to the 40-man roster after the season to prevent him from becoming a minor league free agent.

More than eight years after turning pro, Narváez was finally on the 40-man roster, and fourth on the catcher depth chart behind Kyle Higashioka, Jose Trevino, and Wells. A few weeks later Higashioka went to the Padres in the Juan Soto trade, which moved Narváez up to third on the catcher depth chart. He entered 2024 one injury away from a call-up. One injury at the game’s most injurious non-pitcher position.

So, naturally, Narváez’s first big league call-up came not because of an injury. Alex Verdugo went on the paternity list on April 29th and Narváez was called up to fill the roster spot. The Yankees were short on healthy 40-man roster minor leaguers at the time and didn’t want to make a move to add someone else. Narváez sat on the bench for three days, then went back down. That was his first taste of the show.

A few weeks later, Narváez got the call for real. Trevino strained his quad running the bases in Baltimore – the same place Narváez sat on the bench for three days in April – and Narváez was summoned. Wells took over as the starting catcher and played well and played a lot. He started 22 of 26 games while Trevino was on the injured list. Day games after night games, the works. Wells was the unquestioned starter.

Narváez finally – finally! – made his MLB debut on July 20th, nine years and 18 days after signing his first pro contract. He played the ninth inning of a blowout loss behind the plate and singled to right in his first big league at-bat (video). Narváez said he would give his father the ball. “He’s my hero. He was with me since I was young. He was my first coach,” Narváez told Mark Sanchez. 

Three days later Narváez made his first start at catcher and went 0-for-2 with two strikeouts against the Mets before Wells pinch-hit for him in the sixth inning. He played his first start-to-finish nine-inning game on July 31st in Philadelphia, and went 1-for-4 in the win. Narváez’s best big league game came against the Angels on Aug. 7th. He went 1-for-2 with two walks, three of the five times he’s reached base in MLB.

Trevino returned on Aug. 15th and Narváez went back to Triple-A, where he finished the season because the new September roster rules allow teams only one extra position player. In the past, a third catcher was a September staple, and it would have been Narváez. Alas and alack, he had to spend the rest of the season in Scranton, where he hit .254/.370/.412 (108 wRC+) in 96 games.

Narváez went 3-for-13 with the two walks during his big league stint. He was part of the group who worked out with the Yankees during the Wild Card Series bye week, and was part of their “stay ready” group in the postseason. Narváez traveled with the Yankees during the World Series and was introduced during the baseline introductions at Yankee Stadium before Game 3. That must’ve been cool.

With Trevino’s free agency looming after 2025, it seemed like there was a path to Narváez taking over as the backup catcher in 2026. Instead, the Yankees traded him at the Winter Meetings last month, getting righty Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz and international bonus pool money from the Red Sox. Narváez is in line to be Boston’s backup catcher at the moment, pending the rest of their offseason activity.

Now 26, Narváez’s time with the Yankees ended after 497 games and 2,020 plate appearances in the minors, all but 25 games and 95 plate appearances of which came before he appeared in a big league game. He spent four years in the short season leagues, lost a season to the pandemic, then worked his way up from minor league backup to big leaguer. Talk about sticktoitiveness.

(Send your requests for Friday's mailbag to RABmailbag at gmail dot com. The random Yankee series is on hiatus, but feel free to send in requests for when it returns.)