Yankees prospect Gleyber Torres is once again making noise throughout Major League Baseball. MLBPipeline.com ran their second straight Pipeline Poll, where general managers and scouting executives are asked to choose the game’s top prospects. In this year’s poll, Torres came in fourth as the game’s top prospect.
Torres comes in behind Boston’s Andrew Benintendi, Chicago White Sox’s Yoan Moncada and Atlanta’s Dansby Swanson as the top prospects entering the 2017 season. The 20-year-old shortstop tore up the Arizona Fall League hitting .403 with three home runs and four doubles. He took home the AFL Most Valuable Player award.
Entering the 2016 season, Torres was the 17th best prospect while with the Chicago Cubs. Midseason, he was traded to the Bronx for closer Aroldis Chapman. In 31 games for the Yankees single-A affiliate, Torres hit .254/.341/.421 with two home runs. However, it was the Arizona Fall League where Torres really opened eyes. He received two votes while Benintendi led the group with 10.
The Yankees are said to have one of the game’s top farm systems and Torres leads the pack. He figures to still be a year or two away from the big leagues so this season will be very interesting. The shortstop will start in double-A for the Trenton Thunder and could end the season in Scranton Wilkes/Barre if he continues his AFL performance. With Benintendi and Swanson most likely starting 2017 in the big leagues and Moncada already having tasted the MLB, Torres could be in line for the game’s top prospect come 2018.
