Yankees organizational preview

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The future success of every Major League team lies in its Minor League system. With that in mind, each preseason, MLB.com takes a top-to-bottom look at all 30 organizations, from top prospects to recent draft picks.

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/n...milb&fext=.jsp

If the script is still the same, the Yankees should return to World Series title winning in short order.

Back in the 1990s, the whole dynasty was built upon a strong farm system that created the core of players who brought four championships to the Bronx in five years. Most of that group did stay intact (minus Andy Pettitte, who's now back) while the Yankees won nine straight American League East titles. But that homegrown nucleus is aging and needs help.

Up until this point, the help hasn't gotten them any more rings. That's about to change, especially on the pitching front. Sitting in Triple-A will be one of the deepest stockpiling of arms in all of baseball, with any number of arms ready, willing and able to contribute. Phil Hughes, obviously, heads that list and he should join Chien-Ming Wang to form a 1-2 homegrown punch atop the Yankees rotation very soon. Much of the other upper-level pitching talent came by way of trade as the Yankees -- gasp -- dealt veterans away for young arms. Randy Johnson and Gary Sheffield netted the Yankees five quality pitching prospects, starters and relievers both.

In addition to those arms, there's another wave coming at the bottom of the system. The Yankees were very aggressive during the draft -- as well they should be considering their financial situation -- and were able to draft and sign several players other organizations may not have been able to afford to take a risk on.

They're not as rich in the position player bunch, though outfielder Jose Tabata is one of the most exciting young prospects in all of baseball. There are some high risk, high reward bats in the system that the Yankees can afford to wait on. Besides, with the amount of pitching now in the system, they can always use some of that depth to deal for big-league bats better than some of the recent Major League additions have been. The Yankees have continued to be the one team most expect to win every year, but without a title since 2000, some of the swagger has been misplaced. Now, with the farm system back and firing on all cylinders, the other 29 teams in baseball once again should have something to fear.

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