Evil Empire Yankees Blog

5-foot-10 150-pounds Shortstop Switch-hitter 21-years-old Signed: August 1, 2018 out of Cuba Some guys take time to develop their man strength and put on mass. I recall drinking “Weight gainer 3,000,” a protein shake with 3,000 calories per serving, in high school in a desperate attempt to pack on a few pounds and somehow failing miserably. Before the current offseason, it was the same story for Alexander Vargas. He’s a skinny, athletically gifted kid who may just need some time to grow into his body. Despite a trying season in 2022, it’s easy to forget that he finished 2021 as one of the most intriguing prospects in the system.  In his first crack at the full season leagues and under the bright lights of evening games, Vargas stumbled a bit. He hit .203/.271/.311/.582 with eight homeruns, 14 doubles, two triples, and 27 SB. He also struck out 123 times in 100 games. Just one year prior, he had hit .273/.362/.393/.755 in the FCL.  Despite the rude awakening, there were several...

  Two weeks into the regular season, it appeared the Yankees had caught lightning in a bottle with Franchy Cordero in pinstripes. He hit four homeruns in a short period of time, and won a couple of games for the Yankees. Fast forward a few weeks, and that lightning has escaped the bottle. His average is down to .160 with an OBP of .192. He hasn't hit a homerun since his early streak. Defensively, Cordero has been average at best. With injuries to Giancarlo Stanton and Harrison Bader, the team needs offense now more than ever. Jake Bauers has entered the chat. All indications are that the Yankees training and development teams have unlocked him in Triple-A.  Bauers is posting career bests in average, OBP, and slugging percentage. Just 20 games in, he is just five off from his career high in homeruns (14) with nine. Better yet, he has struck out just 15 times while walking 18. He is currently sporting a .328/.476/. 859/1.335 quad slash.  The best news, however, is that his ...

  6-foot-4 190-pounds Right-handed starting pitcher 22-years-old Draft: 2 nd round of the 2022 draft out of California Polytechnic State University The Yankees now have a robust system in place for their draft. Vice-president and Director of Amateur Scouting Damon Oppenheimer has assembled a team of scouts, development coaches, and analytic staff to consult about every pick. In the case of Drew Thorpe, the three came together to determine that he was grossly underrated in the second round of the 2022 draft. The analytics team liked his accuracy, spin rates, and movement, though felt he needed more velocity. The development team looked at his size and mechanics and determined they could get more velocity and movement out of his frame. The scouts loved his bulldog mentality on the mound, ability to get through lineups multiple times, and the way his pitches generate bad swings. It was a no brainer once he fell to the Yankees in round two. Thorpe had a successful seas...

  6-foot-2 205-pounds Catcher, First baseman Left-handed batter 24-years-old Draft: 12 th round of the 2021 draft out of Dartmouth   Sometimes scouting a player means being in the right place at the right time. In the case of Ben Rice, the best time to see him was in summer league wood bat leagues. In college, he didn’t get much run at Dartmouth due to injuries and COVID-19 shutdowns, but he managed to play quite a few games between the Futures College Baseball League and the Cape Cod Baseball League. Yankees scouts got their looks at these venues, and Rice performed well enough to get drafted in the 12 th round. Ben’s best performance came in the FCBL in 2020, when he hit .350/.467/.683/1.150 with 11 homeruns, six doubles and a triple in 43 games. He followed that up in 2021 with mediocre stats in the CCBL, but was drafted nonetheless. He got into 23 games with the Yankees in 2021 and posted a forgettable stat line. When 2022 came around, Rice was ready....

6-foot-0  205-pounds Rightfielder Left-handed batter 22-years-old Draft: 15 th round of the 2022 draft out of Grand Canyon University Power is the name of the game for Tayler Aguilar, and it’s the reason he got drafted by the Yankees despite playing in a subpar division in college. Aguilar hit 23 homeruns in 59 games last season, with 13 doubles and three triples on the way to a .326/.397/.719/1.116 line. Aguilar also does a good job avoiding strikeouts, with just 49 in 59 games. He was drafted as a junior and played an additional 23 games with Yankees affiliates after being drafted. Unfortunately, his first taste of professional baseball did not go as planned. He did show some of the power that made him attractive to Yankees scouts though. It was enough that there should be some optimism heading into the 2023 season. As far as tools go, Aguilar has power and is expected to be a good hitter. He hits the ball hard and makes good contact. The biggest question in hi...

  6-foot-3   155-pounds   Right-handed relief pitcher   21-years-old   Signed: August 16 th , 2018 out of the Dominican Republic   What’s the best way to start your season as a pitcher? Outside of a perfect game, most pitchers would say a no hitter. Yorlin Calderon did just that in 2022, with a seven-inning no-no for Tampa in his first appearance. He went on to have his best season as a professional, with 75 K : 16 BB in 58 innings pitched. Finishing with a 3.88 ERA, he was then sent to the Arizona Fall League where he threw 12.2 ineffective innings.   The results matter not; the important part is that Calderon threw a career high 70.2 innings, which is 40 more than his previous high. This will allow him to throw at least 100 this season if he earns it and stays healthy.   Calderon has a fastball that sits 90-93 mph with big spin and a nasty changeup. He already has two good pitches to work with. He also throws a slid...

   6-foot-7   195-pounds   Right-handed starting pitcher   19-years-old   Signed: February 3 rd , 2022 out of the Dominican Republic   In his first year as a professional, Carlos Lagrange impressed. He spent the whole season in the DSL, where he had a 3.00 ERA and 43 K : 19 BB in 33 innings pitched. Batters hit just .094 against him. He signed with little fanfare, but is quickly making a name for himself.   Lagrange sports a fastball that has already hit 100 mph. I saw a video of him hitting 99.7 on the rhapsodo so that checks out. There’s also a video of him pitching in the DSL in August of 2022 during which he appears to feature a 4-seam fastball, 2-seam fastball, slider, and curveball. All of these pitches got swings and misses during this start. The fastball is plus by virtue of velocity, the 2-seam appears to have good tailing action, the curveball has nice downward motion, and the slider looks like it is inconsisten...