Another old-fashioned New York baseball rivalry is brewing.
The Yankees have one of baseball’s best prospects, do-it-all shortstop Gleyber Torres.
And so do the Mets, whose farm system includes a potential five-tool shortstop, Amed Rosario.
10 reasons Yankees fans should be optimistic
Both are Latinos, Rosario a 21-year-old Dominican and Torres a just-turned-20 Venezuelan. Both are right-handed hitters who have the potential to hit for average, power and steal bases. Both are slick fielders.
Who’s the better prospect?
Depends who you ask.
ESPN’s Keith Law’s just-released list of top 100 prospects ranks Rosario third and Torres fourth, while MLB Pipeline has Torres third and Rosario fifth in its top 100.
“Gleyber vs. Rosario … I love them both,” Law said this week in a conference call with baseball writers. “I think Gleyber is the more polished hitter at this point. Rosario is the better athlete.”
Rosario has just 54 games of Double-A experience and Torres hasn’t played above A-ball, so it’ll be awhile before we find out who turns out to be the better player … or if one or both fulfill growing expectations that they’ll become something special.
And if both wind up as superstars, then Mets and Yankees fans will have something new to argue about.
Which Mets prospects will contribute in 2017?
Before the Giants left for San Francisco in the late 50s, their fans argued that Willie Mays was the best center fielder in the city while Yankees fans insisted it was Mickey Mantle.
More recently, Mets and Yankees fans argued circa 2006-11 over which team had the better shortstop when Derek Jeter was still in his prime and Jose Reyes was at his best.
Torres and Rosario may be the next Forvetbet … once they get to the big leagues in a year or two.
Both dominated in the low-to-mid level minors last season.
Rosario was with high-A St. Lucie in the Florida State League and Double-A Binghamton in the Eastern League and put up eye-popping offensive stats: .324 average, 24 doubles, 13 triples, five homers, 71 RBIs and 19 steals in 120 games.
Torres played for two high-A clubs, Myrtle Beach and Tampa, before and after his July trade to the Yankees from the Chicago Cubs, who gave up their No. 1 prospect to get the final piece of their 2016 World Series championship puzzle, closer Aroldis Chapman.
His numbers were good, too: .270 average, 29 doubles, five triples, 11 homers, 66 RBIs and 21 steals in 125 games. And his 2016 was topped off with an MVP performance in the Arizona Fall League when he was the league’s youngest player and won the batting title with a .403 average.
“I think (Rosario’s) going to have more power,” Law said. “He’s got some pretty tremendous bat speed that really explodes through the zone. I think he’s got really strong hands.
“Torres for me now is a more-advanced hitter, is going to put the ball in play a lot more, a lot of line lines and you’re more sure of what you’re getting with him, whereas Rosario there’s still untapped potential there and we have not seen a lot of power out of him yet. I believe it’s in there and I think maybe getting out of some of the A ballparks which really suppress power might help him.
Defensively?
Law gives the edge to Rosario.
“He’s a better defensive shortstop,” Law said. “He’s going to have more range just because he’s more athletic. I think Gleyber is going to be a very good defensive shortstop, but he’ll always be a little bit limited because his feet are not that fast.”
Torres figures to debut with the Yankees in 2018 or 2019 … perhaps as a shortstop but maybe as a second baseman if the organization opts to keep Didi Gregorius.
“I think he’s a true shortstop,” Law said. “I just think his hands are good. His instincts are really good. He’s got a great arm and quick release.”
Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
