Getty Image / Thomas A. Ferrara
There is not a lot of good news right now for Yankees fans, given the team’s less-than-stellar play of late. And, it went from bad to worse on Wednesday when former prospect Ben Ruta bashed the team’s development strategy in an interview.
When you stop and think about it, the Yankees haven’t been turning prospects into contributors for the big league club at a respectable clip for a long time. For instance, the only hitter in the Yankees lineup that’s any good and is homegrown is Aaron Judge. That’s a big win, obviously, but compare that to some of the other teams in baseball, and you will see they’ve fallen way short.
Take a look at the Atlanta Braves. The best team in all of baseball has plenty of homegrown stars, like Ronald Acuna, Ozzie Albies, Austin Riley, and many others. It seems like every prospect that comes up for the Braves is instantly a star, like Michael Harris was last year. The Yankees, outside of Judge and a flash in the pan by Gary Sanchez, have not really developed great hitters since Robinson Cano. And, the pitching might be even worse. The highlights of pitching development for the Yankees the last 20 years are Phil Hughes and Luis Severino. Yikes.
Enter Ben Ruta. Ruta was a 30th round pick out of Wagner in 2016, but actually stuck around in the minor leagues quite a bit. He reached AA Trenton in the Yankees system in 2018 and 2019. He reached as high as AAA El Paso with the Padres in 2021, but is now out of baseball. But, in a scathing rebuke via comments on a broadcast of the baseball show “Foul Territory”, he went off on the Yankees’ development system, saying “there was no baseball being taught.” Take a listen to the clip.
"There's no baseball being taught"
A former Yankees prospect leaked some bizarre training methods being used in their minor league hitting approach.
Yankee fans will not be happy.
▶️ https://t.co/3FZGUeuA1y pic.twitter.com/a3rRLioWx6
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) August 16, 2023
Yikes. If you’re a Yankees fan, you’ve got to clean house, right? The team is sitting under .500 this late in the season for the first time since 1992 after getting swept out of Atlanta by the Braves, at 60-61. The playoffs look bleak, and the roster is devoid of young talent. Overall, not a good time in the Bronx.