The Yankees Top 10 Prospects of the Last Decade

Baseball America just came out with their top 10 prospects team-by-team from the last decade. It takes a look at where they ranked on Baseball America's yearly list and how they turned out. It also lists the best and worst draft pick by team for the decade. Here's a quick primer and then a screenshot of the BA list:

Baseball America's Top 10 Prospects lists are based on projections of a player's long-term worth after discussions with scouting and player-development personnel. All players who haven't exceeded the major league rookie standards of 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched (without regard to service time) are eligible. Ages are as of April 1, 2009.

A quick observation about the list: the Yankees spent most of the decade developing prospects to trade. Some examples:

• Alfonso Soriano (#1) netted the Yankees Alex Rodriguez
• Jake Westbrook (#4) was part of the deal for David Justice
• Nick Johnson (#3) and Juan Rivera (#5) netted the Yankees Javy Vazquez (the first time)
• Javy Vazquez was then traded with Dioner Navarro (#8) for Randy Johnson
• Marcus Thames (#10) was traded for Ruben Sierra (the second time)
• Melky Cabrera (#9) was traded for Javy Vazquez (the second time)

Trades one and two worked out for the Yankees, trades three and four did not and the fifth on the list had it's good (Sierra's 2003 playoffs) and it's bad (the Yankees continuous search for a guy like Thames). The last trade is still too early to tell. It'll be interesting to see where this high risk, high reward class of prospects that Brian Cashman has drafted in recent years (as well as guys like Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain) end up on this list when it's all said and done. We'll have to check back in another decade to find out.