Big changes in Yankees top 10 prospects

To the right are the Baseball America’s Yankees top 10 prospects list from last year. Austin Jackson and Phil Coke left the organization in the Curtis Granderson trade, Alfredo Aceves is already playing in the show, Andrew Brackman had a dreadful 2009 campaign and missed lots of time along with Zach McAllister. As you can imagine, this year’s list is completely different.

One of the first things that sticks out is all the catchers. Four, count’em, four are in the top 10. Jesus Montero and his highly touted bat lead the way, while Austin Romine, the Dominican native Gary Sanchez and 2009 2nd round draft pick J.R. Murphy follow. Be sure to check out the Yankees prospects page on Baseball America for some good insight and interesting projections.

Arodys Vizcaino, a 19-year-old (same as me!) out of the Dominican, is one of the most exciting new Yankees prospects that you need to know about. He posted some impressive numbers for a teenager in the lowest levels of the organization the past two seasons.

UPDATE: Check out what Yankees VP of baseball operations Mark Newman had to say about Vizcaino.

People should definitely be aware of Vizcaino, 19, but of course we've learned the focus in New York is always on today more than tomorrow. Still, Vizcaino is a very good prospect, a hard-throwing right-hander from the Dominican Republic.

Yankees senior vice president of baseball operations Mark Newman describes Vizcaino as a pitcher who gets his fastball up to 96 mph with "a hammer of a curveball" and "really good stuff." He had a 2.13 ERA in 10 starts for Class A Staten Island this year and will be one to watch.

Check back for more Yankees prospect analysis as the winter goes on.