In 2016, the New York Yankees began their transition towards a youth movement by trading away veteran players and bringing up highly-regarded young prospects from the minors.

When the Yankees traded veteran closer Aroldis Chapman to the Chicago Cubs, they received back Gleyber Torres, a 19-year-old shortstop prospect who currently ranks as the team’s second best prospect behind Clint Frazier, per MLB Pipeline.

Torres spent the entire 2016 season High-A level with both the Cubs and Yankees, and he batted .270/.354/.421 with 11 homers, 66 RBIs, and 21 stolen bases in 547 plate appearances.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman revealed to the media recently that Torres will begin the 2017 season at the Double-A level:

“He’s never played above the Florida State (League),” Cashman explained to George A. King III of the New York Post. “Next year, he’ll start at Trenton and get introduced to the cold weather of the Eastern League in April for the first time. He’ll be ready whenever he’s ready. I’m not currently thinking about his timeline. Once he has extensive success at Double-A level, you can start doing that. He hasn’t taken that step yet.”

“He had a tremendous Fall League, being the MVP and best player in that league,” Cashman said. “When I was out there for the GM meetings, I went to see him play, and the buzz among all the baseball people, the scouts and front-office execs alike, was, ‘This is the best player in the league.’ And he was the youngest player in the league, so that’s pretty exciting to hear.”

A .403/.513/.645 batting line with 3 homers, 11 RBIs, and 4 stolen bases netted Torres the Arizona Fall League MVP Award this off-season.

Torres will almost certainly be part of the Yankees future the way he is performing right now, while Gary Sanchez, Aaron Judge, Jorge Mateo, Dillon Tate, Luis Severino, and others also look to be part of the next Yankees contending team.

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