Yankees Top Prospect - Mason Williams?
Posted: Wed Dec 7, 2011 5:22 pm
Im sure he's been mentioned before in this forum but the one Yankee prospect that most fans may not be familiar with that some believe may turn out to be the best of them all is their 20 year old CF prospect Mason Williams. Apparently Williams has been getting a lot of notice and teams have been asking for him (along with the usual guys Montero, Banuelos and Betances)...and not as a inclusion but as a headliner of a deal.
Name to Watch: Super prospect Mason Williams
One Yankee talent evaluator called 20-year-old Mason Williams a "true five-tool" player. Another said that he is the guy to watch shoot through the system.
Williams is the 20-year-old outfield prospect whom the Yankees are going to be asked to trade, but are unlikely to give up unless it is for a major -- I'm talking King Felix-level -- starter.
The Yankees selected Williams in the fourth round of the 2010 draft. They paid him way over slot, nearly $1.5 million, to sway him from going to South Carolina. So far, it looks like money well spent as Williams dominated A-ball, hitting .349 with an .863 OPS. He only hit three homers, but the Yankees think the power will come.
Sweeny: Meet Yankees Phenom Mason Williams
Well, if you consider Montero a part of the major league roster, we have to find the next great prospect in the Yankee farm system, the next great player whose name you will hear a thousand times before you ever see him play. Meet Mason Williams.
Coming out of high school in 2010 with raw first-round talent, Williams was holding a full ride to the University of South Carolina. The Yankees grabbed him in the fourth round and signed him for $1.45 million, a bonus equivalent to the middle of the first round. This past season Williams, a centerfielder who is now 20 years old, played in 68 games for the A-Staten Island Yankees where he compiled a .349/.395/.468 line (.863 OPS). Drafted at a rail thin 6’0” and 150 pounds, he has added about 25 pounds already, starting to look more like his pop Derwin Williams, a 6’1”, 185 pound wide receiver who played three years with the Patriots in the mid-1980’s.
Last week when an American League executive told me that Mason Williams is the second-best prospect in the Yankees organization behind Montero, I forwarded that evaluation to some of the Yankee higher-ups. One of them told me it was a fair statement, while another told me Williams could actually be better than Montero because of his potential as a Gold Glove centerfielder.