Yankees: 3 Biggest Prospect Busts Of The 2010s

While the Yankees have had plenty of successful homegrown stars, they have had their fair share of prospect busts as well. 

For the most part, the Yankees have been able to hit on most of their prospects. However, no team will have every single one of their prospects pan out. Not every single one will turn into the player they are first projected to be. Not every single player will be the “guy”. Sadly, the Yankees have had their fair share of busts. Here is a look at three huge prospect busts.

Jesus Montero

This one has a real funny end to it, but we will get to that. Jesus Montero was going to be the catcher that took over after Posada retired. He had raw power and great bat control, but was not the greatest defender. Montero’s raw power and bat control had him very high on the top 100 prospect list in 2011.

Entering 2011, Montero was ranked as the number three prospect in all of baseball. He was called up in September when the rosters expanded and showed signs of his potential. In 18 games, Montero slashed .328/.406/.590 and hit four home runs and had 12 RBIs. After the season ended, the Yankees traded him to the Mariners for Michael Pineda. Everything went downhill for Montero after that. He never turned into the player he was projected to be and was suspended as well for his involvement in the biogenesis scandal.

Chance Adams

This one honestly hurts. Chance Adams was at one point the Yankees number one pitching prospect. He was projected to head the staff with Luis Severino. However, his progress slowed down after he had elbow surgery in the offseason following the 2017 season. Chance Adams never really returned to form. In his major league career, Adams has an ERA of 8.18. He has never really shown the potential that he had. As a result of that, he was DFA’d when the Yankees signed Cole and then traded to the Royals.

Estevan Florial

At one point this man was the future in center field for the Yankees. Every spring training he would show up and light it up with his speed and power. If there is one thing that has hurt this man more, its injuries. Florial has not been able to stay on the field at all. Florial has had countless injuries these past two years.

In 2018, he had a hamate bone injury that kept him out for a couple months. In 2019, he was lighting it up in spring training and then ran into the wall and broke his wrist. All of these injuries have resulted in him falling out of the top 10 Yankees prospects in 2020. For Florial, who hasn’t hit above high-A, it will always be a question of what if.

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