The Yankees are poised to go on an international shopping spree come July 2nd, but who is on their radar? In Part II of II, I will take a look at the three more top prospects who reportedly have verbal deals with the club.
In Part I of my series on international amateurs, I took a look at some top international prospects that the Yankees have reportedly made verbal agreements with. Luckily for us Yankee fans, those are not the only top prospects that are reportedly in negotiations. In Part II of II, I will take a look at three more prospects that have deals in the works. With a farm system that is so starved for high-ceiling talent, six top international amateurs will give a much needed boost to the system. If even a couple of these players develop at a decent rate, the Yankees will have a few pieces to put on to their roster or even trade away for depth. But without further ado, here are the next three youngsters.
Jonathan Amundaray
Unlike the previous three prospects, Amundaray is a Venezuelan, but still plays for the Dominican Prospect League. He stands in at six feet, two inches and 175 pounds, a very similar frame to the other prospects that we've seen already. Not much is known about him; the only official scouting report from Kiley McDaniel is blocked behind a pay wall, so there isn't much content to be had. All the information available is through Scout.com, and Kiley McDaniel calls him one of the "better bats" in the international amateur class. Given the few photos I have seen, he's already a pretty large young man and it's also clear that he has yet to fill out. While this completely speculative, he looks like he has the body of a future center field prospect, but that's purely on images I have seen--no scouting analysis there. I can't derive how his range or speed will be from a photo. All I know is that he has one of the more advanced hit tools in the class and that the Yankees have reportedly offered him $1.5 million. If he does sign, hopefully we'll get more information on him when he enters the Yankees' international complex.
Chris Torres
Torres is a Dominican shortstop who stands in at six feet tall and 170 pounds, and like Amundaray, not much is known about him. From an excerpt taken from Ben Badler, Torres is described as a "switch hitter who projects to stick at short"; but, some scouts don't know whether he is truly worth the type of money the Yankees are willing to hand out. The Yankees have reportedly offered him $1 million. Considering the fact that the Yankees are willing to take the risk and hand out the money, $1 million for a defensively capable shortstop who can switch hit is worth the shot. Could he be the "Derek Jeter" replacement we're all looking for? Probably not, but someone of his age and profile could fill out to be a very competent everyday shortstop. There's no video on him either, but his physical profile and reported deal show that the Yankees' scouts are confident that he will stick at short and has an above-average hit tool.
Diego Castillo
When I mentioned that there is very little on the previous prospects, that'd be an understatement for Castillo. There is no official scouting report on Castillo, not from McDaniel or anybody else. All that is known is that he is a shortstop and has a reported deal of $900,000. There is no physical profile and there are no videos on him either. But as I've said before: money talks. $900,000 is a large chunk of change for a 16 year-old, and that speaks to the confidence of Yankee scouts in his abilities.
Unfortunately this last review of top prospects is a little more unsatisfying than my last. Because these players are not the top prospects of the class like Garcia and Gomez are, they don't draw enough scouts to their games. And if they do, they may only get team affiliated scouts; there's no reason for a publication to invest time and resources in finding a player in the Dominican Prospect League who is not high-profile. It's all a matter of logistics and there will definitely be reports of them when they officially play for an affiliated team. But what I hope is encouraging is that even with the lack of information on these players, it's clear that the Yankees are making an effort to restock their farm system, both on the high and low end. These players may not be the future Miguel Sano's of the world, mid level prospects have their place as well. They can be dealt for depth, fill a good spot on a minor league roster, and they may offer surprises. These sparse reports aren't going to give you the warm and fuzzy feeling Dermis Garcia gives you, but it inspires confidence that the farm is rebuilding. If these players do become Yankees, I hope we can see a fuller picture of what they are capable of doing.