Bronx Bomber Ball

Coming into this year’s trade deadline, Brian Cashman claimed the Yankees would be “careful buyers.” With that, Cashman was looking for controllable assets without compromising the future, and he did just that. In his first move, Cashman dealt a potentially blocked prospect in Blake Rutherford, often-injured arm in Ian Clarkin, lower level prospect in Tito Polo and struggling reliever Tyler Clippard to the Chicago White Sox for David Robertson, Tommy Kahnle and Todd Frazier . Then, the Yankees went out and acquired lefty Jaime Garcia from the Twins for pitching prospects Zack Littell and Dietrich Enns. Finally, the Yankees acquired Sonny Gray in a final-hour splash for prospects Dustin Fowler, Jorge Mateo, and James Kaprielian. Here’s what our writers think about how the Yankees did at this year’s trade deadline. Photo Credit: Brad Penner | USA TODAY Sports

After days and days of endless tweets, reports, and rumors swirling around the Yankees and Athletics, approximately an hour before the July 31 Trade Deadline Jack Curry of YES announced that the Yankees had indeed acquired their number one trade target, Sonny Gray, from Oakland. Jeff Passan followed up with the package, which consisted of IF/OF Jorge Mateo, SP James Kaprielian, and OF Dustin Fowler. It was then reported that the Athletics would also be sending over 1.5 million dollars of international signing money along with Gray. Photo Credit: AP

The Yankees have officially acquired RHP Sonny Gray and $1.5 million in international signing bonus money from the Oakland Athletics for OF Dustin Fowler, INF/OF Jorge Mateo, and RHP James Kaprielian. The deal was first reported by Jack Curry of YES Network , and the deal was reported by Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports . Photo Credit: Frank Jansky | ICON Sportswire

It was reported yesterday by Bob Klapish of USA Today that the Yankees and Athletics were making some serious progress with the Yankees leading the pack in the Sonny Gray trade discussions, though the two clubs were not close to a deal. Now, Jon Heyman of FanRag sports reports that the reason for the clubs being far apart may be due to the Athletics requesting either Gleyber Torres or Clint Frazier as the return in a trade package. Photo Credit: Aric Crabb | Bay Area News Group

According to a report by Mark Feinsand posted on MLB.com, the Yankees are one of a few teams that are ramping up efforts to land a top starting pitcher. While the Yankees have been linked to a lot of the pitchers on the market, their focusseems to be mostly on Oakland pitcher Sonny Gray.  Feinsand reported today that the Yankees and the A’s are making progress on a deal that could include first baseman Yonder Alonso as well as Gray. Sources: Yankees making progress with A's on potential Gray/Alonso trade https://t.co/dAjdUknT7f — Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) July 25, 2017

It’s been reported by Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports that the Oakland A’s have given their price to the New York Yankees on their prized starting pitcher Sonny Gray. Ken Rosenthal also reported that the A’s are scouting the Yanks Double-A farm system tonight. Photo Credit: AP Images

1.   Gleyber Torres SS   – Torres returned from injury since our last update and didn’t miss a step. In the past two weeks he has raised his average about 10 points and mashed four doubles. He’s also added a home run and six RBIs since we last saw him. Torres continues to show that he is the real deal.  Team G R 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB AVG OBP SLG TRN (AA) 26 19 7 1 2 10 12 17 4 0.276 0.360 0.429 Photo Credit: J. Conrad Williams Jr/Newsday

Welcome back to our bi-week prospect update. This week’s biggest news is the removal of Aaron Judge from our list. He is officially no longer considered a prospect and will not be featured here. As sad as I am to see Judge go, that means we have room for a new prospect and also that I get to watch him on cable TV hitting moon balls every other day. Enjoy! Photo Credit: Mark LoMoglio/Tampa Yankees

On a bi-weekly basis I will be providing an update of the Yankee’s top prospects in the format below. My goal is to monitor and analyze the development of our newly acquired young players throughout the ups and downs of the long baseball season. As we all know, it’s been quite some time since the Yankees had this type of powerful minor league program, so I want to make sure I cherish the opportunity to cover them and bring as much light to these players as possible to our loyal readers. Enjoy. Photo Credit: Kim Klement/USA TODAY SPORTS

Cue the World Baseball Classic haters. It seems they may have a case, at least in regards to player injuries. Rising star shortstop Didi Gregorius has just left his team, the Netherlands, to return to the Yankees facility in Tampa, Florida for further testing on a right shoulder injury. When or how he suffered the injury seems to be unknown. The preliminary MRI show "hematoma of the subscapular muscle," a swelling and bruising in a muscle in the lower part of the shoulder blade. I’m no doctor, so naturally I have no idea of the severity of those results, but this is certainly terrible news. No injuries are welcome, but shoulder injuries are extremely alarming, especially when it is the throwing shoulder (which it is). Photo via Getty Images

When you think about the Yankees youth movement, there’s no doubt that Gary Sanchez is one of the first names that comes to mind. While fans should be excited to see players like Aaron Judge, Tyler Austin, Clint Frazier, and even Jorge Mateo at the big leagues this year, everyone is looking forward to seeing what Sanchez can do in his first season as the Yankee catcher. After the Yankees traded Brian McCann to the Astros this winter making Sanchez the full time starting catcher, there is no doubt that the 24-year-old will look to build on his historic rookie season. Photo Credit: Steve Nesius | AP

Once viewed as one of the organization's top prospects, Yankees 1B/2B/OF   Rob Refsnyder has seemingly become a forgotten man over the last year.   After being drafted in the 5th round of the amateur player draft in 2012 out of Arizona, Refsnyder quickly rose through the ranks of the then-depleted Yankees farm system.   His best tool has always been his hitting ability, however, he missed out on a golden opportunity to carve out his role on the 2015 team because of his lackluster fielding.   That Yankees squad was running out Stephen Drew every day and was begging for an upgrade – one that Refsnyder could not follow through on. Photo Credit: Jim McIsaac

Topping off our top prospect countdown coming in at number one on the list by no surprise is shortstop phenom Gleyber Torres. After being acquired from the Chicago Cubs in the Aroldis Chapman trade at the 2016 deadline, Torres has seen his prospect status skyrocket from the arguable top prospect in the Yankees organization, to the arguable top prospect in all of baseball. Despite turning 20 just a few months ago, Torres is ranked at number three on MLB Pipeline’s top prospect list, and with two Major League ready talents ahead of him, it’s only a matter of time before Andrew Benintendi and Yoan Moncada graduate off the list, propelling Torres to the top prospect in all of baseball. Photo Credit: Charles Wenzelberg | NY Post

Although MLB.com ranked Aaron Judge a few spots ahead of Jorge Mateo on their top-100 prospect list, we have it the other way around. The 21-year old middle infielder has eye popping raw ability. He did slip just a bit on the prospects top-100 list from 2016 to now, but be ready for a monster campaign where he ends up significantly higher heading into the 2018 season. Photo Credit: Kim Klement | USA TODAY Sports

Jorge Mateo is a 21 year-old shortstop from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The Yankees signed Mateo as an international free agent in 2012. Mateo is a speedster who led all minor leaguers in stolen bases in 2015 with 82. Mateo was ranked the Yankees #3 prospect after the 2014 season and the #1 prospect after the 2015 season. He was considered the #26 prospect in all of baseball following the 2015 season. Photo Credit: Charles Wenzelberg/ NY Post

Wilkerman Garcia was one of the Yankees’ top signings during their 2014 international free agent spree when they signed him out of Venezuela for a $1.35 million bonus. Another shortstop prospect, Garcia has the talent that can move him up the system quickly. Photo Credit: Chad Gusler

Entering his fifth season in the Yankees organization after being drafted in the fourth round of the 2013 MLB Draft by the Yankees, Tyler Wade comes into the BBB’s top prospect rankings at #17. Admittedly, (and unfortunately), Wade may not be ranked high enough on this list. Playing this entire season at age 22, Wade already has MLB-ready level tools in the field, and after putting on 10 pounds in upper-body muscle mass this offseason, he could continue climbing this list with a strong season. If Wade’s bat can catch up to his plus tools in the field and his plus speed tool, you can look for this versatile prospect to take a major leap in our rankings, and possibly make a push for the big leagues toward the end of 2017. Photo Credit: Tomasso de Rosa

Coming in at number 30 in the BBB’s second annual top prospect countdown where we release our top 30 prospects day-by-day is middle infield prospect Hoy Jun Park. Park signed with the Yankees in the summer of 2014 for a signing bonus of $1.2 million. The Yankees spending spree on international free agents that summer included names like Juan De Leon, Nelson Gomez, Dermis Garcia, and Wilkerman Garcia. Unfortunately, Park’s prospect status has continued to fall since joining the Yankees organization. We had Park ranked as our 21st best prospect last year, but this year, he just barely cracked the list. Park will need to improve upon his underwhelming 2016 season if he intends to stay on top 30 prospect boards going forward. Photo Via Baseball America

For the first time in a very long time the Yankees are considered to have one of, if not the, top farm systems in all of baseball. In 2015 we saw a new strategy from the Yankees, who hit the reset button and traded a handful of big name vets for blue-chip prospects. This was a long time coming for the Yankees. It was only a matter of time before their aging core of homegrown talent retired and their hefty free agent signings of the mid-to-late 2000’s went downhill. But rebuilding a Major league farm system is not an easy task. MLB is not equivalent to the NFL, NBA, or even the NHL.  Photo Credit: Tim Holle/Brevard County Manatees

When most Yankees fans envision a trade with the White Sox these days, one name comes to mind: Jose Quintana. Maybe David Robertson as well. However, Brian Cashman has stated that he is not looking to upgrade the rotation, or add payroll (unless the Yankees trade Brett Gardner). This makes trades for both Quintana and Robertson unlikely, no matter how much sense both of them make for the team. I do still feel that the Yankees will add a starter, just no one that noteworthy; someone like Jorge De la Rosa or Brett Anderson on a cheap, one-year deal. However, one area that I feel like the Yankees would definitely upgrade if they got the chance would be the bullpen, and one trade is another White Sox reliever, Nate Jones. Photo Credit: Jason Miller | Getty Images