In recent seasons, the New York Yankees farm system has taken a sizable hit. Top prospects like Anthony Volpe, Austin Wells and Jasson Dominguez have all graduated to the majors. Struggles from notable prospects such as Spencer Jones and Roderick Arias kept them both off MLB.com’s 2025 Top 100 list. Other players like Chase Hampton and Everson Pereira also saw their stock drop due to injuries. All these factors have led to consensus low placements on MLB farm system rankings, including being placed in the bottom third on lists by Baseball America and MLB.com. Despite this pessimism on the state of the Yankees farm system, the lower levels of the New York system have an abundance of talent who have yet to establish themselves as top prospects but have the tools and skills to potentially do so in the 2025 season and beyond.
Here are three players who have the potential to rise up prospect rankings and help the Yankees farm system rebound going into next season:
Carlos Lagrange, Right-Handed Pitcher
Signing with the Yankees for just $10,000 in 2022, Lagrange almost immediately outperformed that modest investment. The DR native pitched in the Dominican Summer League that summer, performing well and earning him a promotion to the Florida Complex League in 2023. In 2024, a back injury kept Lagrange from pitching until midway through the season. Once the righty made his season debut in late June, the results weren’t there. Over nine games split between the FCL and Low-A Tampa Tarpons, Lagrange pitched to a 6.86 ERA and walked almost a batter an inning. He is off to a slow start over two games so far in 2025 with the High-A Hudson Valley Renegades, but his underlying stats suggest that he has pitched far better than his ERA suggests.
Lagrange’s game features lots of extremes. His career strikeout percentage sits at a dominant 32.2%, but his career walk rate of 15.6% is unsustainable if he hopes to reach the majors as even a long reliever. His fastball can sit as high as 98 MPH consistently and has the makeup of an elite pitch if he ever harnesses the ability to throw it consistently for strikes. The same evaluation can be made of his potentially plus slider. With an average changeup, he has the three-pitch mix of a starter. The 6-foot-6 pitcher showcased that tantalizing potential in the Yankees Spring Breakout game against the Orioles, getting the start and pitching to one earned run over four innings. He struck out two with no walks while also touching 101 MPH on the radar gun. That kind of showing demonstrates the ability that could propel Lagrange to realistically develop into a front-line starter if he can introduce control into his game.
Edgleen Perez, Catcher
A Venezuelan native, Perez signed with the Yankees in 2022. He made his professional debut during 2023 in the DSL and made it to the FCL in 2024, hitting well at both levels. Still only 18 years old, Perez has started the 2025 season with Low-A Tampa. The results at the plate haven’t been especially encouraging, but struggled were to be expected given the fact that he 2.2 years younger than the average player at the level. The Yankees choice to aggressively promote him through the minors is more indicative of how they view Perez as a prospect than the small 2025 sample size so far.
Perez’s projects to bring the most value as a defender. His 60-grade arm contributes to an above average overall grading of his work behind the dish. He caught just over 26% of base stealers last season. For context, that would have put him in the top 10 of MLB, in line with All-Stars J.T. Realmuto and Cal Raleigh. His athletic ability also offers the potential to grow into a plus framer and blocker, though his speed on the base paths is below average. At the plate, his best skill is his precocious plate discipline. He has a career walk rate of 19% and has struck out less than he has walked. Although he has only hit two homeruns so far for his career, he is also young enough that he could develop power over time. The Yankees preference for bat first catchers who play solid to below average defense, such as Brian McCann and Gary Sanchez, has shifted over the past five years towards plus defenders who work well with the pitching staff, like Kyle Higashioka and Jose Trevino. Austin Wells seems like he could be the best of both worlds, and Perez could eventually serve as a defensive-minded compliment if his bat catches up.
Griffin Herring, Left-Handed Pitcher
The Yankees love to draft college pitching, and their 2024 draft class was no exception. 12 out of their 20 selections were college hurlers, including their first seven picks. A sixth-round selection, Herring was the second to last pick of that initial run. The former Louisiana State University Tiger was a member of their 2023 National Championship team as a freshman and served as a reliable member of the bullpen for two seasons. The Texas Native was especially effective in 2024, as he pitched to a 1.79 ERA over 21 games and 50.2 innings. He recorded 67 strikeouts to just 13 walks. All but one of his collegiate appearances came in relief, but the Yankees will seemingly attempt to develop him as a starter to begin his pro career. He has started his first three appearances of the season with Tampa to dominant results.
Herring’s best pitch is a slider that will give him a floor as a serviceable relief option. Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake has a reputation for maximizing sliders, so Herring will likely continue strengthening that pitch with the Yankees pitching program. His development as a starter will hinge on whether he can improve his fastball, an average offering, and his changeup, currently below average. The 21-year-old was selected as a draft-eligible sophomore, so his age benefits him with time to grow into his 6-foot-2 frame and add strength to improve these pitches. The Yankees have a recent history of developing middle round selections with high-grade sliders into top 100 prospects, such as Hampton and Will Warren, and I view Herring as a prime candidate to follow this same path.