The good news is that the Yankees have three players on the Top 100 prospects list. The bad news is who are ahead of them

Hey, it's the final Friday in January - time for the Top 100 Prospects, MLB's version of Mel Kiper's mock drafts, the greatest waste of time in American sports. It's dead winter, and the sportswriters have gallantly volunteered to do the shoveling. We can lick our collective chops about players who might never appear in a Yankee game. Drew Henson! Dave Parrish! Cito Culver! Pitter patter, let's get at her!  

Now, there are prospect rankings, and then there are fucking prospect rankings. Ranking the rankings, I rank Baseball America's rankings at #3, MLB.com's rankings at #2, with the top-ranked ranking being our own, IT IS HIGH Top 5, based on coolness of name. They sound like comic book characters, but these are true up-and-comers within the Steinbrenner plantation.

TOP FIVE COOLEST NAMES OF YANKEE PROSPECTS 

1. Matt Krook
2. Clayton Beeter - 
3. Tyler Danish
4. Indigo Diaz   
5. Tie: Tanner Tully and Drew Thorpe

On that note, back to the giblets. Yesterday, MLB.com released its Top 100, with three future Yankee superstars: Anthony Volpe, the great white holpe, at #5; Jasson "The Martian" Dominguez, at #47. And Oswald Peraza, at #52. Congrats to all. 

We've watched these guys so long now that, really, what's to say? They're here due more to scouting reports and signing bonuses than last year's stats. Still, it's hope! Right? And let's note that some Top 100s also list Spencer Jones, the towering OF we drafted last summer. 

So, victory lap? I dunno. Get out a pen and paper. Let's do some math: MLB has 30 teams. In a perfect world, each should place at least three in the Top 100. So, the Yankees have... um, three. Statistically, they're Malcom in the Middle. 

The thing is, the game of prospects is much like poker: It's not what you have in your hand, but what you have compared to the others at the table. So...  

On this list, the Orioles place eight (8) prospects, including MLB #1, Gunnar Henderson, a SS who might reach the majors this season. They also have the #7 prospect, RH pitcher Grayson Rodriguez, who also should arrive this year. He will throw to the game's best young catcher, 24 year old Adley Rutschman. And six other young O's. 

Should we fear them? Hell, no: It's just Baltimore, right?

Last year, the eternally hapless O's finished fourth in the AL East, 4 games above .500. In July/August, they went on a 33-19 tear, while the Yanks ate mothballs. This year, the O's could be a long way from Rougned Odor, and they hate hate HATE the Yankees. Be afraid. Be very afraid. 

Then there is Boston. We laughed when they lost JD Martinez and Xander Bogaerts. They placed four prospects in the Top 100, led by #9 Marcelo Mayer, a SS deep in the farm. They have a rising young 1B (they always do, right?) and the top free agent signee from Japan, a LF named Masataka Yoshida. We don't know how good this guy could be, but his credentials suggest he's on a par with Godzilla.

Boston played dead last season, and now they're clawing up from the grave. In this millennium, they disappear for a couple years, then rise to eat our lunches. This could be one of those years. We think we won the winter. Well, we better not sleep on them. 

Tampa always has prospects. They've also placed four in the Top 100, let by Taj Bradley, a 21-year-old RH pitcher, who should make the team this year. We know the Rays will be good. They are the most cost-effective franchise in baseball.  

Finally, Toronto - which might have toppled onto the other side of the talent curve: One Top 100 prospect, 20-year-old Rickie Tiederman, who is two years away. But they have a team of players who might be reaching their peaks, career-wise. Anybody want to imagine what Junior Guerrero's best season might look like? I don't. 

So, we've done our jobs. We just wasted 10 minutes. That's all these prospect lists do. But there is a message here: When it comes to grading the future, the Yankees sit in the middle of the pack - neither great nor awful. But if they trade - say - Volpe or Dominguez, that will abruptly change. 

Amid this talk about trading kids for a slugging OF or a 3B, we need to ask ourselves: How deeply do we want to drain our system?