Over the past few weeks, the Yankees have fielded criticisms and attacks from all over the baseball world, and when you go 20-31 to slip from first place to on the edge of missing October, it’s warranted.
That doesn’t make all of the criticism true necessarily, and the one taking some traction across the media landscape has to do with whether their players are being prepared to play sound baseball.
Minor League development has become a focal target for this fundamental baseball question, but are these accusations of woefully unprepared youngsters accurate?
In a short response: no. The Yankees are lauded for their player development at the Minor League level, and while it would be easy to dog on, I’m reporting that these criticisms are based on inaccurate sources.
The Private and Public Chasm On the Yankees’ Minor League Development
It’s easy to criticize what we cannot see when things are going poorly, and while the Yankees’ gaffes at the Major League level are worth discussing on a grand scale, their Minor League practices are oversimplified.
Many have detailed a similar story; New York tells its young position players to just hit the ball hard and not worry about improving their defense, making smart baserunning decisions, or having good situational at-bats.
Inside the baseball industry, the Yankees are viewed as one of the best at player development, and the proof is in the droves of coaches hired away.
Last offseason, we saw a mass exodus of coaches from the Yankees’ organization, an annual tradition as teams with more openings at higher levels are able to pluck away people blocked by New York’s glut of coaching talent.
You can also prove this by looking at how their Minor League teams perform on the bases at their respective levels:
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The only bad baserunning team on the season, according to Baseball Prospectus’ Deserved Runs on Bases stat, would be the Hudson Valley Renegades, the Yankees’ High-A affiliate.
It’s the same Hudson Valley squad with the fewest number of errors in their league (SAL), and they perform infield drills before games, according to team broadcaster Joe Vasile in a tweet from earlier in August.
When I was in Tampa, I was able to witness how the team practiced with their Minor Leaguers during Spring Training, a practice full of infield-outfield drills and rundown plays.
Nothing has gone right for the Yankees for two months, and it’s easy to just believe everything that comes out about them as an organization, considering how every fan feels at the moment.
That’s where it falls on media and journalists to investigate and uncover the truth, and for lack of better words, it’s simply untrue to suggest these things aren’t taught or practiced at the Minor League level.
Being angry does not relieve us from our responsibility to honesty; the fact is that among baseball people, the Yankees prepare their Minor Leaguers for the ups and downs that come with the Major Leagues.
If the team ignored defense and fundamentals as a whole, players such as Austin Wells and Anthony Volpe, who most scouts believed wouldn’t stick at the position, wouldn’t have excellent defensive numbers at catcher or shortstop.
Teams would stay away from hiring prominent coaches inside a dysfunctional organization, viewing those very people as the reasons for ineptitude that could seep into what they’re trying to build.
When the Yankees struggle, it’s easy for opportunists to create a narrative that isn’t true and avoid blowback.
No one is going to defend the 2025 Yankees. As a fan, I’d love to pile on in the anger and frustration because I feel the same emotions you feel.
That doesn’t make all of it true, and when it comes to the Minor Leagues, they do teach fundamentals, they do care about situational hitting, and they do care about the little things based on what I’ve learned and seen over the years.
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