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First wave of Yankees youth movement has arrived

The Yankees have made organizational development a priority the past couple of years and are starting to see the payoff of that change in philosophy as the first wave of prospects have made their way to New York in 2015.  Slade Heathcott, Mason Williams, Ramon Flores, and Jacob Lindgren have all seen successful debuts in the Bronx this season and they look to only be the tip of the iceberg.

Heathcott got the first opportunity to make his mark, getting the call when Jacoby Ellsbury went on the DL.  He was off to a very fast start hitting .353 with a homer and 3 RBIs in 6 games before he himself fell to the injury bug.  Flores, and now Williams, have since made the short trip from Scranton and have been more than up to the task of filling in.  Both have held their own at the plate and have played great defense.

This has been music to the ears of many fans who have been clamoring for the Yankees to utilize their youth.  Because how many of us have been teased by the rise of a prospect in the Yankees organization only to have that player traded or just never get the opportunity to play?  Other than Robinson Cano, Shane Greene, and David Robertson, not many youngsters have been given a significant opportunity recently.  The Killer B’s were going to be part of a complete rotation makeover, but at least we did manage to salvage the great Dellin Betances out of that.  And granted, the four that have been called up in 2015 are here mainly because of injury situations.  But, they have showed they have the talent and ability to be quality big leaguers and are proving to fans they could be long term fixtures.

The next wave of prospects have a little extra added shine to them as the hope of fans is that Aaron Judge, Luis Severino, Rob Refsnyder, or Greg Bird will break out and become superstars, not just fill in replacement players.  All should be ready to put their skills on display by 2016, which just happens to coincide with several large long-term contracts coming off the books for the Yankees.  This will give the franchise a lot of payroll flexibility to add to this mix of team controlled players and make the team competitive for years to come.

As has been shown in the past, not all prospects pan out. But, the Yankees organization looks to be deep with quality talent all the way down through the lower levels of the minor leagues.  The more talent that goes into the hopper, the more likely that a star player can be developed.  They seem to have a clearer draft strategy and have been utilizing signings in the international market to their advantage.  This has certainly not been the case since the mid 90s.  The AL East may not be the powerhouse division of old this season and some may roll their eyes that the Yankees are in first place.  But, I will take it and look forward to the bright future that is on it’s way to the Bronx.