That vaunted Yankee farm system is withering at the top

Today, the Yankiverse should happily celebrate our second straight Rookie of the Year - Miguel Andujar - as named by The Sporting News. (Some fools would pick the Japanese Babe Ruth Miriam Adelson, but I'll take Miggy!) Add that Gleyber Torres finished third, and the "Empire" should look prime for the next decade, right?

Well... meh. In our dark hearts, we fear that Miggy could be a man without a position, and who can forget how Gleyber curled into a ball at the end of 2018? Aaron Judge is the real deal, but Greg Bird and Gary Sanchez sure aren't. Clint Frazier... WTF? And after Jordan Montgomery popped his wing, no rookie pitcher stepped up last summer. 

And now, we must buy a rotation.

So what happened to that explosive farm system - ranked 2nd in 2016 behind Atlanta? Mostly, we traded it for stopgaps - Toddfather, Sonny, Cutch, Britton, et al. Today, our system is ranked in the middle of the pack, with the best talent deep in the bowels, where every lunk with a thick neck looks bound for Cooperstown, or at least Oneonta. 

I did a quick check. Of our Top 30 prospects, according to MLB...

20 are pitchers. Yep, a wave of young arms, ready to blow.

21 spent most of last year below Double A, where most prospects die.

6 might be ready this season. They are pitchers: Gary Justus Sheffield, "Fat" Chance Adams, Jonathan "Johnny Lasagna" Loasiga, Jonathan Acevedo, Stephen Tarpley, and Michael King. And right now, they all look like trade bait.

Sheffield is the big name, though it's troubling how little the Yankees seem to appreciate him. They didn't showcase him in September, and his name pops up in every trade rumor. Nobody talks about him as ready for the rotation. This might be disinformation - the Yankee way, or maybe they know something. Sometimes, when everybody says it's raining... it's raining.

(Then again, last winter, the Yankees did everything possible to derail Andujar's chances at 3B. As Miggy was hitting in spring training, they traded for Brandon Drury. If not for his migraines, Andujar would probably have spent most of the year in Scranton, and could easily have been dealt at the deadline. We cannot forget how close the Yankees came to a disastrous outcome with Andujar.)  

Adams suffered a wipe-out year. He started late due to surgery and never recaptured his 2017 look. He pitched adequately against Boston in a desperate pressure cooker game, then was promptly discarded to Scranton. Nobody mentions him in trades, aside from a throw-in. He seems an afterthought. 

Loasiga came out of nowhere last winter, when he was named to the 40-man roster. He became the darling of Mel Kiper-type bloggers, who all claimed they knew him (though nobody had ever mentioned him previously.) He pitched well, then strained his shoulder, which has been the story of his career. Who knows what he's got? But there are always young, upcoming pitchers who simply throw too hard for their own good, and right now, that might be his legacy. 

Tarpley looks like a lefty reliever. If he works out, he'll be the first home-grown prospect to fill that role in a long, long time. 

King rocketed through the system, wowing folks with numbers. But the brain trust doesn't seem intoxicated with his stuff. I'm old school. I think if a guy succeeds in the minors, he deserves a shot. I'm sure he'll get one, eventually... if he isn't traded.

So... is there a fifth starter in there? Because even if we sign both Patrick Corbin and J.A. Happ, that's just four. Four. (I'd take Eovaldi over Happ, btw.) 

Let's hope there is Justus, after all. Third rookie of the year in a row? It's fun to dream.