Bronx Bomber Ball

It is now May 17, 2016 and the BBB is bringing you a long overdue minor league update. This is something I’ve been meaning to do for a few weeks now, but I anticipate it being a weekly update, probably to be released every Sunday afternoon going forward, so be sure to check in for the latest on the Yankees farm system. Here, we’ll be updating you on the team’s top prospects, standout players who are enjoying strong seasons so far, as well as those with high expectations that they are not fulfilling. Since it has been just over a month and this is our first update, this will be a 4-part series with updates on each individual team, starting in Triple-A. But following this week's update, I will be able to put them all into one article.

With their 7-0 win last night, the Yankees finally ended their six-game losing streak. Today, the Yankees were looking to win their first series since the Tampa Bay series at home, on April 22-24. Winning today would also give the Yankees their first road series win of the season. The Yankees sent Masahiro Tanaka to the hill to face Baltimore’s Kevin Gausman. Earlier today, the Yankees sent James Pazos down to Triple-A, while calling up OF Ben Gamel. Gamel has never played at the majors level in his career. Meanwhile, sending Pazos down eliminated the extra arm the Yankees were carrying in their bullpen. Brett Gardner was out of today's lineup after his elbow was hit by a pitch. Picture Credit: Associated Press/Patrick Semansky

At every stop along the way, Pazos has generally seen a lot of success. He’s been able to fly through the system ranks and was even able to appear in 11 major league games in 2015. We’re still not totally sure about what his usage with the team will be. Could he be the primary guy against left-handed batters? Could he be a multiple inning reliever? Is he even going to make the 25-man roster out of spring training? Even though he comes in as our 20 th  prospect, he could potentially play the biggest role amongst all Yankees prospects this season. Picture by: Adam Hunger (Getty Images)

Last week I wrote an article comparing the Yankees offensive players to their counterparts on the other four teams in the division. With the news that promising youngster Greg Bird will miss the entire 2016 season this seems like a good time to mention some of the positives the Yankees have going for them. The bullpen in 2016 should be the Yankees strongest area but again not to be outdone as their four AL East foes have also done some retooling. Let’s see where the Yankees stand in the battle of the bullpens.

This offseason has been full of Andrew Miller trade rumors, but the only late inning reliever the Yankees have traded so far is Justin Wilson. Wilson had a good year in his lone season in pinstripes, going 5-0 with a 3.10 ERA in 74 games. Wilson was a perfect fit for the 7 th inning and now it’s the Yankees job this offseason to replace his role. One possibility of a replacement might already be on the roster and that pitcher is lefty James Pazos.

Between Andrew Miller winning the Mariano Rivera Award and Dellin Betances leading MLB relievers with 131 strikeouts, the back-end of the Yankees bullpen was a vital part of their 2015 success. However, outside of Justin Wilson and Adam Warren (when he wasn’t in the rotation), the Yankees bullpen often fell flat, especially in extra innings.

After several years of the Yankees fielding a poor farm system, the farm is rebuilding and is pretty quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with. In addition to potential superstars in the MLB, the Yankees also have a ton of potential solid major leaguers and some prospects flying ay under the radar. This blog isn’t to focus on the big names you’ve probably heard one thousand times (Severino, Judge, Bird, Refsnyder). Let’s take a look at some of the prospects flying under the radar. Tyler Wade