1 Jesus Montero – Ready to put up big numbers in 2010, starting in Trenton after hitting .337 (117-for-347) with 17 homers and 70 RBIs in 92 games between the Thunder and Tampa. Broken finger ended his season and he is hitting just .115 (3-for-26) with Magallanes of the Venezula Winter League.

2 Austin Jackson – Certainly big-league ready defensively.  Hit .300 (151-for-504) with Triple-A Scranton.  Power has not come,  but remember power is the last tool to develop. Depending on roster moves, will see time in New York in 2010.

3 Zach McAllister – At 7-5, 2.23 and a strikeout/walk ratio of 96-33, he was named an Eastern League All-Star.  Has the pinpoint control and mound manner to be a solid No. 3 starter. Ticketed for Triple-A in 2010.

4 Francisco Cervelli – Hit .298 (28-for-94) in 42 games with Yankees. Fun guy to be around and good hitter, just not for power.  Yankees backup backstop until either Romine or Montero dislodge him.

5 Austin Romine – Ahead of Montero in technique behind the plate.  Footwork and release improving. Batted .276 (122-for-442) with Tampa and will get a test at Trenton in 2010.

You'll have to click through for the rest. I've said before that I don't like to gripe about other prospect lists because everyone has different opinions when it comes to these things. However, I have some major complaints about this one. Usually, I can tell what a ranker values by looking at his top prospect list, but I can't do that here. It seems like he values players who are somewhat close to the majors, but leaves off guys like Jeremy Bleich and Caleb Cotham.

There aren't very many people who see Kevin Russo as a starter, so I'm surprised to see him in the top 10. Eduardo Nunez, who comes in eighth, seems to have a bit of a following, so there may be something there. However, I don't see it.

The biggest crime of this prospect list, though, is that Arodys Vizcaino didn't make it. Now, if this were a top ten list, that could be understandable. It's a Top 50(!) list, though. I cannot imagine what criteria was being used where a guy like Vizcaino misses the cut. I'm not going to keep going into all the problems I have with this list, but some other notable omissions were Jairo Heredia, Graham Stoneburner, Bryan Mitchell, Jose Ramirez, JR Murphy, and Wilkins de la Rosa.

Anyway, feel free to chime in with your thoughts on the list. I would really like to hear Jed's explanation for leaving Vizcaino off the list, though.

As promised, we will begin to count down the top 30 Yankee prospects with in-depth profiles of each guy. We came up with an aggregate list based on our separate rankings, and will use that to count down. To start, here are two guys I would've liked to include, but failed to make the aggregate cut:

Gary Sanchez, C: I'll readily admit that including Sanchez is a bit hasty, but there is just too much potential there to ignore. The Yankees signed him for around $2.5 million, showing just how excited they are about him too. There were a few major concerns about Sanchez when he was signed.

One, he seemingly wouldn't participate in games, and would only show off his ability during batting practice. These concerns have been quelled quite a bit, as he has performed well in the Dominican instructs. I know he has hit a few homers down there against live pitching, and reports have been only positive about him, so far.

The second major concern was his size. At 6'2" and approximately 200 pounds as a sixteen year old, there is no real way of telling how big he would get, or whether he will be able to maintain that weight. In that regard, so far so good, as he has stayed in great shape. Sanchez has a very long way to go, but I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him head straight to the GCL next season, bypassing the Dominican Summer League. Here is some video of Sanchez hitting, before being signed:

Gary Sanchez (Hitting) from Kiley McDaniel

Reegie Corona, 2B/SS: I think Corona gets a little sold short, because he has seemingly been around forever. Sometimes I'm surprised that he is still just 22 years old, considering that he's been in the system for about six seasons. The Mariners plucked him from the Yankees in the Rule 5 draft after the 2008 season, and ended up returning him back after he struggled in spring training. I'm a big Jack Zduriencik fan, so the fact that he saw something in Corona means something to me.

Corona is a switch-hitting second baseman who can play shortstop if needed. His defense isn't great right now, but he is extremely athletic and I'd project him as an above average defender at second base. He doesn't really have any power potential, which certainly limits his ceiling, but power isn't everything.

Corona's one stand out ability at the plate is his discipline. Even with his lack of power, he has managed to consistently maintain above-average walk rates. He struggled in his Triple-A time in 2009, so he falls a notch below Kevin Russo on the depth chart. Given his Double-A success, though, he could be snatched from the Yankees again if they decide not to protect him. This time, I don't think they'd be lucky enough to get him back.

So the Yankees lost last night, in case you hadn't heard, and today is the final off-day of the 2009 season. Lots of good reading out there for you today.

Like most of us, Chris H. over at The Yankee Universe has noticed Mark Teixeira's struggles. Unlike most of us, he went ahead and wrote about it. Hopefully he can pick it up a bit tomorrow.

SG takes a look at the value each player has contributed thus far in the postseason. Teixeira has been bad, but Robinson Cano has been the least valuable player on the team.

After watching Yankee catchers go to the mound after every pitch, MLB plans to discuss the issue in the offseason. Rob Neyer chimes in with his thoughts.

The Girl Who Loved Andy Pettitte mocks the second-guessing going on in Yankee Land today.

Sky Andrecheck wonders if the Phillies should have pulled Cliff Lee earlier, and goes through the numbers to find out the answer. The answer is yes, they should have. I would have pulled him earlier in Game one, as well.

Michael Lichtman takes a look at pitch selection theory with regards to the Brad Lidge vs. Alex Rodriguez at-bat.

Jack Moore tries to find out the Phillies best outfield alignment for the World Series after Victorino was hit by a pitch last night.

Joe Pawlikowski notes that Yankees fans are still optimistic, and with good reason. Count me among this crew, the Yankees are still in a great position to win this World Series. If they lose Game Six, then I'll start to worry.

And, last but not least, I'm going to link to my most recent post, an interview with pitching prospect Adam Warren. The guy comes off as very intelligent and seems to really know pitching. It'll be exciting to follow him as he moves through the system.

I've mentioned Adam Warren a lot over the past few months. He really dominated in Staten Island with a 1.43 ERA, a K/9 of 7.9 and a BB/9 of 1.6. That combines for a ridiculous K/BB of 5.0 I rankedWarren the Yankees' 16th best prospect after his strong SI debut. Mike Axisa, over at River Ave. Blues, ranked him the 19th best prospect in the system, saying, "polished, pounds the zone, sits low-90’s and has touched 96 with SI … pleasant surprise."

Warren hasn't just received accolades since being drafted, he had a ton of accomplishments at UNC. As you'll see in the interview, he's a smart guy; he was named to the all-ACC academic team as a junior in 2008. He was nominated for the Lowe's senior class award, a real honor. The award is based on how the student performs in the classroom, the community, how he competes, and his character. Warren didn't win, but being considered is pretty sweet itself for a young college athlete. I was very impressed with his answers to my questions. Read on:

Hideki Matsui has absolutely crushed the ball all season long for the Yankees. He has continued to do that in the postseason. So far, he has produced a line of .278/.422/.472 with 2 home runs and six runs batted in. He also put together a regular season that exceeded all expectations.

Johnny Damon and Nick Swisher turned in equally impressive offensive seasons, but have struggled mightily in the postseason. Damon's struggles have flown a bit under the radar, but he has hit just .220/.250/.360 with two homers and four runs batted in. I think the two home runs have spared him a bit of the criticism he deserves.

Nick Swisher's postseason struggles have been well documented, and he was even benched in favor of Jerry Hairston Jr. for Game 2 of the World Series. I was not in any way in favor of this move, and while it did work out, that does not excuse the fact that it was a terrible move.

Now, given the struggles of corner outfielders Damon and Swisher, how can the Yankees afford to leave the hot-hitting Hideki Matsui on the bench? Well, there are a few reasons. As I continually mention, the fact that a player has struggled in his past few at-bats doesn't mean anything.

Slumps that aren't related to injuries are not predictive. Just because the media tells us they are, that doesn't make it true. Look at Alex Rodriguez. All we heard in the first two rounds of the playoffs were how relaxed and locked in he was at the plate. So far in the World Series, he is hitless in eight at-bats with six strikeouts.

This is just the way baseball works, players go through stretches where they kill the ball, and stretches where they struggle a bit. The thing about these stretches, though, is that there is no way to tell when they will begin or end. That's why you just have to go with your best players.

Going forward, Matsui, Damon, and Swisher project pretty evenly as hitters. There is not much of a reason to think that Matsui will perform significantly better than either player over the rest of the World Series.

There is, however, a reason to think that Matsui would be an awful outfielder. Since arriving in the states, he has always been well below average with the glove. Now, he hasn't played the outfield since June of 2008, and has had a ton of knee troubles.

Whether or not Matsui's knees can handle the outfield isn't my concern. He says he is healthy enough to play the field. Honestly, I'm not worried about his health right now. My concern lies with the fact that Matsui's glove in left field would be a huge liability, and would likely give back some of the runs his bat produces.

Matsui isn't projected to have a much better bat than either Nick Swisher or Johnny Damon, but he is most definitely projected to cover no ground in either left or right field. The fact that Matsui hasn't played the outfield in so long and wasn't a good outfielder in the first place should absolutely preclude him from stepping foot on the outfield grass in the World Series.