Yankees Lose Top 17-Year-Old Catcher as Prospects Continue to Depart
February 12, 2026
Yankees Lose Top 17-Year-Old Catcher as Prospects Continue to Depart
23 comments
Im abt to hit the PTFO tip line lmao what’s going on w this story
Using the hapless boone bubblegum pic for this article is diabolical 😂
wow another illegal unenforceable “pre-agreement” didn’t work out?
Whoever was running the show down there must’ve been doing some pretty fucked up shit for this to all blow up and for them to all get fired. Wonder if they were skimming money off the top. Plus, most of these kids have all sucked anyway.
I wonder how bad things were that one of the prospects took half million less to play for Seattle.
Need to get this stuff fixed.
I really want to know what the hell happened because something truly fucked up must have been going on. The 2026-2028 classes have been permanently fubar’d we haven’t heard anything from the 2029 class yet, but it wouldn’t be shocking if that one is badly damaged too. Basically the earliest sign of things being ok is 2030, and that boy is 13 yrs old and a lot of shit can happen between now and then.
I really want to know what the hell happened because something truly fucked up must have been going on. The 2026-2028 classes have been permanently fubar’d we haven’t heard anything from the 2029 class yet, but it wouldn’t be shocking if that one is badly damaged too. Basically the earliest sign of things being ok is 2030, and that boy is 13 yrs old and a lot of shit can happen between now and then.
This is one of the more under reported about the Yankees in awhile. What the fuck was going on down there!
Nice to see Hal is cheap with all free agents, no matter their age.
Why would you ever want to be in the Yankees minor league system under this current leadership. They are awful and arguably the worst at treating young players in any way to make them successful.
My hope: The team has realized that their methodology for developing hitting prospects has failed and decided to completely revamp its minor league system and is cutting ties/letting prospects cut ties with players that are from that methodology.
My fear: Prospects and their agents are realizing this team is the worst in the league at developing and transitioning prospects to the majors and wants them to cut their teeth elsewhere.
Kind of crazy that it’s been a few months now and we still have absolutely no updates on what the fuck has happened
The kid wanted more money. Totally understandable.
If he thinks he can get more, he should get it and good luck to him.
The Yankees can’t make multi-millionaires out of every 16 and 17 year old that can swing a bat.
Jasson brought some stories with him I guarantee it
Maybe the PA is paying more attention with the lookout looming, but someone is looking over the Yankees shoulder and they are clearing the table to make it look clean.
Im really hoping for a major story break about something serious enough to get the MLB to fix it’s fucked up colonial international system
heavy.com is trash
I feel like I’m in the minority here, but I’m not too worried about losing all these guys. In the last decade or so, we’ve signed a whole bunch of guys for large bonus pools, and I’m pretty sure Jasson is the only one to actually make the majors.
A lot of these guys follow the scouts they have relationships with. Whether they were fired for doing some things that were fucked up in a fucked up system, or just plain fired for chronic underperformance, in the long haul losing guys for a bit is a fine trade off to fixing what’s broken down there. Doubly so if we get an international draft like I’m expecting, which makes this entire thing a moot point.
Maybe start getting players a little older from the US or Canada but that makes it too hard to take advantage of them.
I’m not buying the whole “Yankees were doing illegal stuff” storyline. I think more details would’ve already come out by now if that were the case.
I think it’s far more likely that the Yankees saw the major regression that Roderick Arias had in 2025, along with Brando Mayea looking like a bust, and decided that they needed to change their scouting philosophy on international prospects. Especially with all the unknowns on the horizon with next years labor negotiations, they likely wanted to make these changes now to give their new guy at least a full season to adjust to the role in advance.
As for all these prospects reneging on their deals and going elsewhere, I think that’s just the nature of how business is conducted with these international prospects. It’s very relationship based down there. The Yankees likely realized that they’d lose some guys after firing Rowland, but looked at it as a necessary cost of improving things moving forward.
Cashman already let it slip, director got fired due to all the busts. I think its as simple as that
Everything is fine. Boone assured me Wells is a great defensive catcher.
I hope Brian Cash and Aaron Boone are both on the Epstein list somewhere.
I am aware of a couple of different alleged scandals within multiple MLB teams, not the Yankees, but still, where, allegedly, scouts and team reps who were assigned to these impoverished countries coerced teen prospects to do certain kinds of… favors…. in exchange for guaranteed contracts and signing bonuses… allegedly.
But also I wonder, aside from something truly fucked up like that, if these prospects are hearing through the grapevine that they simply have a much better shot at actually reaching the majors with literally any other club besides the Yankees, that being a Yankee amateur signee in their minor league system hurts their chances at making it to The Show.
23 comments
Im abt to hit the PTFO tip line lmao what’s going on w this story
Using the hapless boone bubblegum pic for this article is diabolical 😂
wow another illegal unenforceable “pre-agreement” didn’t work out?
Whoever was running the show down there must’ve been doing some pretty fucked up shit for this to all blow up and for them to all get fired. Wonder if they were skimming money off the top. Plus, most of these kids have all sucked anyway.
I wonder how bad things were that one of the prospects took half million less to play for Seattle.
Need to get this stuff fixed.
I really want to know what the hell happened because something truly fucked up must have been going on. The 2026-2028 classes have been permanently fubar’d we haven’t heard anything from the 2029 class yet, but it wouldn’t be shocking if that one is badly damaged too. Basically the earliest sign of things being ok is 2030, and that boy is 13 yrs old and a lot of shit can happen between now and then.
I really want to know what the hell happened because something truly fucked up must have been going on. The 2026-2028 classes have been permanently fubar’d we haven’t heard anything from the 2029 class yet, but it wouldn’t be shocking if that one is badly damaged too. Basically the earliest sign of things being ok is 2030, and that boy is 13 yrs old and a lot of shit can happen between now and then.
This is one of the more under reported about the Yankees in awhile. What the fuck was going on down there!
Nice to see Hal is cheap with all free agents, no matter their age.
Why would you ever want to be in the Yankees minor league system under this current leadership. They are awful and arguably the worst at treating young players in any way to make them successful.
My hope: The team has realized that their methodology for developing hitting prospects has failed and decided to completely revamp its minor league system and is cutting ties/letting prospects cut ties with players that are from that methodology.
My fear: Prospects and their agents are realizing this team is the worst in the league at developing and transitioning prospects to the majors and wants them to cut their teeth elsewhere.
Kind of crazy that it’s been a few months now and we still have absolutely no updates on what the fuck has happened
The kid wanted more money. Totally understandable.
If he thinks he can get more, he should get it and good luck to him.
The Yankees can’t make multi-millionaires out of every 16 and 17 year old that can swing a bat.
Jasson brought some stories with him I guarantee it
Maybe the PA is paying more attention with the lookout looming, but someone is looking over the Yankees shoulder and they are clearing the table to make it look clean.
Im really hoping for a major story break about something serious enough to get the MLB to fix it’s fucked up colonial international system
heavy.com is trash
I feel like I’m in the minority here, but I’m not too worried about losing all these guys. In the last decade or so, we’ve signed a whole bunch of guys for large bonus pools, and I’m pretty sure Jasson is the only one to actually make the majors.
A lot of these guys follow the scouts they have relationships with. Whether they were fired for doing some things that were fucked up in a fucked up system, or just plain fired for chronic underperformance, in the long haul losing guys for a bit is a fine trade off to fixing what’s broken down there. Doubly so if we get an international draft like I’m expecting, which makes this entire thing a moot point.
Maybe start getting players a little older from the US or Canada but that makes it too hard to take advantage of them.
I’m not buying the whole “Yankees were doing illegal stuff” storyline. I think more details would’ve already come out by now if that were the case.
I think it’s far more likely that the Yankees saw the major regression that Roderick Arias had in 2025, along with Brando Mayea looking like a bust, and decided that they needed to change their scouting philosophy on international prospects. Especially with all the unknowns on the horizon with next years labor negotiations, they likely wanted to make these changes now to give their new guy at least a full season to adjust to the role in advance.
As for all these prospects reneging on their deals and going elsewhere, I think that’s just the nature of how business is conducted with these international prospects. It’s very relationship based down there. The Yankees likely realized that they’d lose some guys after firing Rowland, but looked at it as a necessary cost of improving things moving forward.
Cashman already let it slip, director got fired due to all the busts. I think its as simple as that
Everything is fine. Boone assured me Wells is a great defensive catcher.
I hope Brian Cash and Aaron Boone are both on the Epstein list somewhere.
I am aware of a couple of different alleged scandals within multiple MLB teams, not the Yankees, but still, where, allegedly, scouts and team reps who were assigned to these impoverished countries coerced teen prospects to do certain kinds of… favors…. in exchange for guaranteed contracts and signing bonuses… allegedly.
But also I wonder, aside from something truly fucked up like that, if these prospects are hearing through the grapevine that they simply have a much better shot at actually reaching the majors with literally any other club besides the Yankees, that being a Yankee amateur signee in their minor league system hurts their chances at making it to The Show.