NYY News; The state of the farm

Baseball America | Josh Norris ($) : The offseason is more than just waiting on Juan Soto.

Its also prospect ranking season.

Baseball America s Top 10 is behind a paywall, but here are a few takeaways.

El Marciano leads the pack.

Jasson Dominguez is still the diamond of the Yankees farm system.

Conversely, the bloom is coming off Spencer Jones.

For now, he looks like a player with plenty of tools who might be less than the sum of his parts.

Oof.

Finally, though Caleb Durbin does not make BA s list, they identify him as the best hitter for average in the system as well as the best strike zone discipline.

Baseball Prospectus | Daniel R.

Epstein ($) : Another one that is behind a paywall, unfortunately.

As recently as this past calendar year, there were serious questions about Austin Wells defense.

But his 2024 season behind the plate blew up the scouting reports.

Wells finished the year grading out positively in framing, blocking, and throwing.

Most notably, he was the fourth-ranked backstop in baseball by CDA (Catcher Defense Added).

As Epstein notes, after the improvements from Wells this season, its exciting to see what he does in the offseason to continue his trajectory.

New York Post | Joel Sherman : I have to be honest.

I did not have this one on my Hot Stove bingo card.

Multiple teams are looking at free agent pitcher Clay Holmes.

Thats not a shock.

The surprise is that many, including the Mets , are looking at him as a starting pitcher.

This is definitely part of a larger trend as the past couple seasons have seen multiple relievers transition to the starting rotation, including old friend Michael King whose first full season as an MLB starter was a smashing success.

The Athletic | Ken Rosenthal ($) : It wouldnt be a links roundup without talking about Juan Soto.

Rosenthal identifies what he calls the Soto Dominoes, the players perhaps waiting for Soto to sign before they make a decision.

For the Yankees, Rosenthal mentions infields - Christian Walker, Willy Adames, and Alex Bregman as fallback options if Soto doesnt return to the Bronx.

MLB Trade Rumors | Anthony Franco : Welcome back to the American League to an old friend.

Catcher Kyle Higashioka, dealt to San Diego last offseason in the Soto megadeal, has inked a two-year, $13.5 million deal with the Texas Rangers.

Higgy is coming off a career-high 17 home runs last season and, in a pretty weak free agent class of backstops, was one of the top available options.

Congrats on the contract and all the best (except when youre playing the Yankees)..

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