Where Are They Now? 2007 Yankees Prospects 21-30

Written by Greg Fertel | 29 July 2010

Last June, I took a look at Baseball America's 2006 top 30 prospects for the Yankees and discussed where they were now(Prospects 1-10, 11-20, 21-30). A little over a year later, I thought it would be fun to do the same thing, this time with Baseball America's top 30 prospects from 2007. Over the next few days, I'll be counting down from 30.

30. Daniel McCutchen, RHP

McCutchen always projected as a guy who could step in at the back of the rotation and eat innings at a slightly above replacement level. When the Yankees included him in the deal for Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte, it hurt their depth a little, but wasn't much of a loss. Since then, McCutchen has yet to establish himself as a solid major league option. He is now 27 years old and has netted -0.7 WAR in 64.2 career innings for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He continued to pitch well when in Triple-A, but has not been able to translate that success to the major league level.

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29. Tim Norton, RHP

Another 27-year-old, Norton has not progressed nearly as far as McCutchen, mainly due to injuries. He has had two shoulder surgeries, but was finally healthy in 2010. He has a good build for a pitcher, at 6'5" and 230 lbs, but his stuff is far from exceptional. Norton was pitching well this season as he jumped around the system, but was placed on the DL on July 7 with an undisclosed injury. He's not much of a prospect at this point.

28. Bronson Sardinha, OF

Known mainly for his awesome middle name: Kiheimahanaomauiakeo, Sardinha actually played very briefly in the Bronx. Sardinha is a player who never impressed me. He had a career .260/.338/.413 line in the minors, so its surprising that the Yankees ever had him on their 40-man roster. Sardinha spent time with Seattle and Cleveland's AAA affiliates last season, and subsequently signed a minor league deal with the Tigers at the start of '09. He was released in the spring and did not sign with another team so he did not appear in a single game in 2009. In 2010, he signed a minor league deal with the Colorado Rockies, and is currently playing for their Double-A affiliate.

27. Josue Calzado, OF

An outfielder who put together a career minor league line of .252/.305/.376 and never advanced past Tampa, the Yankees appeared to try him at pitcher in 2009. In his sole appearance, he lasted 0.2 innings, walked two, hit a batter, while giving up two hits and two earned runs. He has yet to appear in a game in 2010, and I'd be surprised if he was with the organization.

26. Jeff Karstens, RHP

Like McCutchen, Kartsens was included in the trade to Pittsburgh last year for Nady and Marte. He always put up decent numbers in the minors, but never had the stuff to back it up. He profiled as a 5th starter or long man, and that is the role he has served for Pittsburgh over the past few seasons. He is currently starting for the Pirates and has a 4.72 ERA and a 4.64 xFIP for them in 89.2 innings. That's not too bad. He's done this with a career high K/9 of 5.22, raising his MLB career mark to 4.35.

25. Colin Curtis, OF

Curtis is a great story. He was never a top prospect, but he fought through testicular cancer and is now playing in the majors for the Yanks. He has also been a bit of a hero for the Yankees this season, hitting his first career home run and driving in 8 runs in just 36 AB.

24. Zach McAllister, RHP

Following in the mold of guys like Daniel McCutchen and Jeff Karstens, McAllister is probably more trade-bait for the Yanks and less future-starter. He is better than both of those pitchers, but the Yankees have dangled him in quite a few potential trades. So far in 2010 he's put up a 4.82 ERA in 108.1 AAA innings. Click his name for a complete prospect profile on McAllister.

23. T.J. Beam, RHP

Beam is a guy who has always put up solid statistics in the minors as a reliever, but he has just never been able to translate that to big league success. He got some action in the majors for the Pirates in 2008, but didn't pitch too well. He threw 45.2 innings with a FIP of 5.23. He is now 29 years old and pitching in the Diamondbacks' organization. Over the past few seasons, he has not even been able to maintain success in Triple-A, posting ERAs of 5.42 and 5.48.

22. Steven White, RHP

White was always a bit of a fringe prospect; he didn't really have any one plus tool, but always got decent results. After a strong season in AAA at the age of 26 in 2007 where he posted a 3.63 FIP, he looked like he might have a future in the majors as a long man and spot starter, but that never worked out. White posted a 5.57 FIP for AAA Scranton in 2008 and was released by the Yankees on August 12th of that year. He has not resurfaced in any other organization since.

21. Jesus Montero, C

Anyone know what happened to this guy? I couldn't dig anything up.