Making Sense of the Yankees' Updated Top 10 Prospects List

While most eyeballs are focused on the Yankees' quest to catch the Rays in the American League East, let's pause for a minute to see what's going on down on the farm.

ESPN's Kiley McDaniel is out with his updated list of New York's top 10 prospects. As you would expect, infielder George Lombard Jr. remains the top prospect. After all, The Athletic's Keith Law called Lombard the No. 6 prospect overall in his updated list, which came out last week.

It’s the June update for the team top 10 prospect lists! A handful of huge movers, like Jacob Gonzalez, Edwin Arroyo, and Kaleb Wing: https://t.co/4flLH4jZdd
— Kiley McDaniel (@kileymcd) June 1, 2026

MLB Pipeline also has Lombard as the Yankees' top prospect, but ranks him No. 20 overall. Regardless, everyone agrees Lombard is New York's best of the best.

McDaniel still has shortstop Dax Kilby at No. 3 and top slugging outfielder Spencer Jones at No. 5. But he flip-flopped the club's top pitching prospects, moving right-hander Carlos Lagrange to No. 2 and dropping righty Elmer Rodríguez to No. 4.

Flip-flopping top pitching prospects

Here's why that's a curious move: Rodríguez flashed potential during his cup of coffee this spring with the Yankees. He made three starts and posted a 4.15 ERA. But he didn't get hit particularly hard and held the Mets to one run in 4 1/3 innings in his final start earlier this month.

Elmer Rodriguez pitching. — Elmer Rodríguez's Triple-A season hasn't gone as well as some Yankees fans hoped. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Meanwhile, Lagrange hasn't exactly impressed at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, going 0-3 with a 4.41 ERA in 11 starts this year. That's how MLB Pipeline sees it, keeping Lagrange at No. 4 and Rodriguez at No. 2 in its updated list of prospects.

Rising and falling prospects

Also tumbling in McDaniel's updated list is right-hander Bryce Cunningham, falling from No. 6 to No. 8. But this one makes sense. The 2024 second-round pick is struggling at High-A Hudson Valley, going 0-2 with a 5.60 ERA in five games (three starts). MLB Pipeline sees it similarly, ranking Cunningham at No. 7.

McDaniel's list also includes a newcomer: shortstop Core Jackson. The 2025 fifth-round pick is hitting .260 with five home runs, 18 RBIs, 11 stolen bases and a .824 OPS in 34 games at Hudson Valley. MLB Pipeline isn't quite as high on Jackson, ranking him No. 12 overall.

"Riser to know"

And then there's right-hander Sean Paul Linan. McDaniel moved him up one spot to No. 7 and called him a "riser to know."

"Linan was acquired for Jorbit Vivas in March and isn't a traditional top-of-the-prospect-list-type as a 6-foot righty who sits 88-92 mph with two below-average breaking pitches," McDaniel wrote.

"He's performing this well (51 strikeouts to 12 walks) because of his 75-79 mph plus-plus changeup that has a 57% swing-and-miss rate and a 67% groundball rate, thrown at the bottom of the strike zone. The challenge will be in fine-tuning his other pitches to continue setting hitters up at higher levels of the minors," McDaniel added.

However MLB Pipeline ranks Linan at just No. 22. Its scouting report isn't as generous.

"Liñan has a legitimate claim for the best changeup in Minor League Baseball. The 6-foot right-hander throws the 79-82 mph offering like a screwball with significant drop and armside run, and oddly, it’s also his highest-spin pitch," according to MLB Pipeline.

"Liñan looked like he could deliver enough strikes at Single-A and High-A, but his brief runs in Triple-A and the Fall League made that less of a certainty," MLB Pipeline continues. "He could stand to add some extra velocity, and considering he’s only entering his age-21 season in 2026, that remains a possibility. But for now, he’s trending toward a one-pitch relief role, albeit with that one pitch being excellent."

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