Written by Greg Fertel | 30 June 2009

Here is the final segment from this series, the top ten prospects of 2006.

10. Tyler Clippard, RHP

Clippard was called up to the majors in May of '07 and had a few decent starts for the Yankees. In his first four starts, he pitched 20 innings and gave up 8 earned runs for an ERA of 3.60. Digging deeper into the stats shows a BB:K ratio of 11:14, which isn't going to get the job done. Predictably, Clippard did not pitch well in his next two starts and was demoted back to AAA. After the 2007 season, the Yankees traded him to the Nationals for Jonathan Albaladejo, who hasn't proven to be very useful out of the bullpen. This season, Clippard is 24 and was moved to the bullpen, where he excelled. He posted an ERA of 0.92 in 39 innings while striking out 42, walking 15, and allowing 20 hits (2 home runs). On June 24th, Clippard was called up to the show to pitch out of the bullpen for the Nationals. In his first appearance of the season, he pitching 2 innings, struck out 2, and allowed 3 hits and 2 ER. Maybe Clippard can find his niche as a reliever in the major leagues, I for one would definitely not be surprised.

9. Jeff Marquez, RHP

The sinkerballer Marquez was never much of a prospect, always profiled as more of a reliever or a back end starter. The Yankees dealt Marquez, along with Betemit and AA reliever Jhonny Nunez for Swisher and Kanekoa Texeira in a robbery of the White Sox. Marquez has only made 7 starts this year for Chicago's AAA affiliate and he has been absolutely terrible. His GB:FB rate, which he needs to make a living by, is only 1.20. In 28.2 IP, he has a BB:K rate of 16:19 and an ERA of 8.16. The Yankees farm system does not miss him.

8. Christian Garcia, RHP

Garcia has always tantalized Yankee fans and scouts with his amazing stuff, but just has not been able to stay healthy. He has always been effective when he pitches, but that has been extremely infrequently. He was pitching well this year in AA, but was injured recently and will miss the rest of the season. He is now 23, has been in the system since 2004, and has only pitched 290.2 total innings.

7. Marcos Vechionacci, 3B

Vechionacci was another guy on this list who was all tools and no results. The Yankees were very excited about him but he just hasn't been able to put it together. His career minor league line is .255/.325/.362. He would not make my top 30 prospect list at this point, as he has continued to struggle in AA Trenton this season.

6. Eduardo Nunez, SS

We heard a lot about Nunez in spring training, when him and Ramiro Pena were getting rave reviews. Nunez is similar to Pena, a slick fielding and light hitting shortstop. He is playing at Trenton this year in his age 22 season, and having his best offensive season to date. He's hitting .309/.327/.407. While I'd like to see more walks, his defense is very good, so he will eventually find his way onto a major league roster. I think Ramiro Pena is a better prospect than him at this point, even though neither would be top 20.

5. Austin Jackson, OF

Austin Jackson has been moving up the prospect lists steadily since '06. He has done an admirable job in AAA this season, but his ceiling does not appear to be what it was at one point. Some people love what he's done so far, but I am far more skeptical. You can see my more in-depth look at Austin Jackson here.

4. C.J. Henry, SS

The Yankees drafted Henry in the 1st round and had high hopes for him, but he just never did anything. He was the "centerpiece" of the deal for Bobby Abreu and Cory Lidle, but he wasn't even much of a prospect at that point, and the Phillies were just unloading salaries. He later signed back with the Yankees as a minor league outfielder, but continued to struggle. The Yankees are currently on the hook for his college tuition, and Henry was a walk-on for the Memphis Tigers in the fall of 2008. He later transferred to Kansas, and will be playing on that team, along with his brother, Xavier Henry.

3. Jose Tabata, OF

Jose Tabata has been one of the Yankees top prospects since he made his debut in the Yankees organization. He struggled in AA last season and almost quit baseball altogether. He was the best prospect the Yankees included in their deal for Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte. Tabata has continued to not hit for much power, but has showed tremendous plate discipline over his career and is still just 20 years old. In AA, he is hitting .264/.362/.336. I still think Tabata is a tremendous prospect, and while the trade looked solid at the time, which is how trades should be evaluated, it has not worked out well for the Yankees. The Pirates received three serviceable RHPs and Tabata who still has a lot of upside.

2. Eric Duncan, 1B/3B

There's no nice way to say this, but Eric Duncan has been a tremendous bust. Baseball America ranked him the 36th best prospect in all of baseball in '05 and the 86th best prospect in baseball in '06. From there, it has been all downhill. He was definitely rushed up the ladder, but I have a hard time believing that he would have been a very good player if he was moved up gradually. He is a career .245/.325/.405 hitter in the minor leagues and has spent the last three and a half seasons struggling in AAA. He is not a top 30 prospect anymore, and has went unclaimed in consecutive Rule 5 drafts.

1. Phil Hughes, RHP

There isn't much I can tell you about Phil Hughes that you don't already know. He is currently dominating out of the Yankee bullpen, and I'm confident he will be in the rotation at some point later this season. Phil Hughes was the top pitching prospect in baseball for a reason, and he has flashed a lot of that dominance this season. He's still young, at age 23, and will soon establish himself as a legitimate Major League starter.


Only three of these thirty players are actually on the 2009 Yankees, a number I thought would have been a bit higher. I think this just shows how poor the Yankees farm system was at the time. It has drastically improved since 2006. Quite a few of these players have been traded, but only one (Tabata) was the centerpiece of the deal. Most of these players just were not very good and faded out of baseball or out of prospect consideration. I look forward to doing this again next year with 2007's top prospects. I think that revisiting these lists three years later gives us a good gauge of what these prospects have become or will become. While the lack of success from this group of prospects is disheartening, this was a terribly weak system in 2006.

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