Is Mason Williams the Next New York Yankees Trade Casualty?
The New York Yankees’ fan base was divided following the blockbuster deal headlined by the swap of RHP Michael Pineda and C/DH Jesus Montero. The bear hug embrace that we held the New York Yankees’ top prospect in was an awfully hard one to let go of. Understandably, there are still some fans a little bitter and/or disappointed by this move. Even though I am 25 and have been following the New York Yankees very closely over the past decade-plus, Jesus Montero was the first prospect that I latched on to from the low minors to the Major Leagues and all the way through his trade. It was a painful experience, but I finally learned a valuable lesson first hand: don’t fall in love with New York Yankees prospects.
There is a new, shiny toy that Yankees fans are falling in love with though. A young ballplayer oozing with athleticism and in possession of substantial raw ability has taken hold of much of the spotlight that Montero left behind upon his departure. I’ll cut the suspense because I’m confident that most of you have realized that I’m speaking about outfielder Mason Williams. Not only has Williams – on the strength of a stellar performance in his first sitting of pro competition – emerged from the shadow cast by Montero and the Killer B’s in his own organization, but he is quickly emerging as a “household prospect” around the league as well. Jon Heyman tweeted that he’s hearing “raves” about Williams and also mentioned that the Seattle Mariners asked about him in the Pineda-Montero negotiations. Clearly, Williams is making some noise around the game.
This is my first official warning to all of the fans preparing to attach themselves to the next “Baby Bomber”- or those already attached as I type this: Mason Williams could easily be the next blue chip prospect traded in a blockbuster deal – and possibly sooner than you would imagine.
If you want a detailed scouting report, David Gershman does a good job and you can check it out here. If you want a brief version, I’ll hook you up. As I mentioned above, Williams has a ton of athleticism and tools. There is absolutely no question regarding his speed and his ability to play defense. His hitting potential is respected as well. The main question about his game is if he will develop any power as his 6’0″ 150 lb frame (I’m sure he’s tacked on a few pounds over the past year or so) fills out. Scouts and other baseball people are so seduced by his athleticism and potential at this point that future power is not much of a concern right now. This is why I think that the fans falling in love with Williams’ prospect hype could find themselves heartbroken sooner rather than later.
Power is certainly only one aspect of the game. It might be the loudest, most captivating and most profitable, but there are several other ways to achieve success on the diamond. With that said, you have to ask yourself what type of player, realistically, do the Yankees have in Williams if he doesn’t develop more pop down the road? Brett Gardner? Juan Pierre? Baseball America’s 2011 Prospect Handbook drops Doug Glanville’s name in Williams’ scouting report. To be fair, most scouting reports cite more athleticism and more “electricity” from Williams than those guys, but he hasn’t played an inning against full-season competition yet. That makes it hard to sit here and project that a 20-year old fresh off of his first season in the New York-Penn League is going to be better than guys who have played in the bigs for over a combined 20 seasons. This brings up the main question: if Willliams is ultimately the “next” Gardner, Glanville or Pierre, how important of a prospect is he to the Yankees?
Forgive me if it seemed as if I was trying to knock any of the three guys I mentioned in the paragraph above. That was absolutely not my intention. Let’s be honest though, how excited about Williams would you be if you looked into a crystal ball and saw that Williams was simply Brett Gardner 2.0? That isn’t a bad thing by any stretch, but it’s certainly not worth the hype that is building around Williams. If this figures to be the case – and that is still a significant “if” – it makes sense for the Yankees to include him as the centerpiece or a co-centerpiece in a blockbuster deal while teams are still drooling as they dream over the potential. The Yankees will have the best idea of what type of player Williams will become and despite what they say to outsiders, only they will know what type of role Williams has or doesn’t have with the organization.
Of course there is the chance that Williams does add a little loft and significant strength to his stroke over the next couple of seasons. Would we be talking about a young, pre-San Francisco Giants Barry Bonds? Ha, probably not, but maybe someone in the mold of Shane Victorino or Jacoby Ellsbury (minus the 32 HR power.) If the Yankees ended up with a 23-24 year old Shane Victorino-type that they could keep under team control through his age 29-30 season, I’d be thrilled with that and I imagine the majority of Yanks fans would be too.
Even though I acknowledged that power is far from the only important aspect of a player’s game, I think Mason Williams’ future as a New York Yankee will eventually hinge on the type of power he develops and projects to possess as a Major Leaguer. If the Yankees’ player development department can make the necessary tweaks and improvements to get Williams into that .420-.430 slugging range with 12-15 HR to compliment his plus-plus speed and Gold Glove potential they will have a player perhaps even more “untouchable” than Jesus Montero was. If they’re looking at a player very similar to Brett Gardner though (again no disrespect intended), then I think they may pull the trigger on a deal while the buzz his still hot.
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Well said craigwilliams,But when I think of Prospects I think of the movie “10″. When the guy fell in love with the girl because she looked so perfect,and when he got to know her her things changed completely.You can’t fall in Love with Prospects because most will let you down.Like you said only the Yankees will truly know what they have.We as fans can only go by the #’s. In the case of Williams yes he most likely will be traded because these are the Yankees,having to wait for five or six years to see if a player can “Begin” to reach his potential. That’s not the Yankee way.The same “Fans” who Cry don’t trade him, are the same “Fans” who will not stand for the losing while they wait for “The Prospect” to become a star.
I’m actually not familiar with that movie, but what you’re describing is actually very similar to what we see teams do. Even though a prospect may be a legit Major League talent, teams often try to “dress him up” a bit and build up his trade value just in case they move him. I don’t mind the Yankees working in a select few prospects and letting them take some lumps, but as we know, the Yanks are more often than not going to lean toward the established talent and will be willing to trade unproven commodities to acquire that talent.