Yankees Sending Seven Prospects to AFL

The New York Yankees will send seven prospects to the Arizona Fall League next month, MLB and the Yankees announced on Friday.

The list does not include a single Top 30 Yankees prospect per MLB.com.

The seven players headed for Arizona include outfielder Nelson Medina, infielders Benjamin Cowles and Caleb Durbin, along with right-handed pitchers Nolberto Henriquez, Kevin Stevens, Baron Stuart and Trystan Vrieling.

Medina played 50 games for Class-A Tampa and 10 more at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and slashed a combined .251/.348/.427/.775 with six home runs and 29 RBI.

Cowles spent the vast majority of his season at High-A Hudson Valley but is playing the final week of the season at SWB. He has slashed .253/.354/.391/.745 with 10 home runs and 41 RBI.

Durbin split his time between Hudson Valley and Double-A Somerset, where he slashed .304/.395/.427/.822 with four home runs and 25 RBI.

Henriquez pitched as reliever for the Yankees’ Florida Complex League rookie team and for Tampa. He went 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA in 23 games.

Stevens threw in just five games this season for the FCL Yankees and Tampa, going 0-2 with a 7.71 ERA. He spent most of the season on the 60-day injured list.

Stuart spent his first professional season with Tampa and Hudson Valley, where he went a combined 4-10 with a 4.47 ERA in 20 games (18 starts).

Vrieling was drafted in 2022 but has not pitched professional and spent all season on the 60-day injured list with right elbow issues.

Yankees prospects will play as part of the Mesa Solar Sox and they will play alongside prospects from the Baltimore Orioles, the Chicago Cubs, the Houston Astros and the Oakland Athletics.

AFL action opens on Oct. 2, the day after the Major League regular season ends. The season culminates in November with the AFL Home Run Derby on Nov. 4, the Fall Stars game on Nov. 5, the play-in semifinal on Nov. 10 and the championship game on Nov. 11.