Boone’s words dangle new Yankees hope for Everson Pereira

Yankees’ Everson Pereira is lightening Triple-A games with his bat despite being ignored by their top brass for an MLB call. But the latest statement by Yankees manager Aaron Boone has sparked renewed hope for him getting a chance in MLB.

Across the MLB landscape, a handful of highly regarded prospects saw their promotions, like Nolan Schanuel joining the Angels and Masyn Winn joining the Cardinals. This signifies a heightened willingness among teams to fast-track their top talents from the minors. But the Yankees’ wait for Everson Pereira and Austin Wells is getting longer. While a prospect can still forfeit their “rookie” status by amassing 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the majors, the restriction of the calendar is no longer a factor.

So far, the Yankees are unchanged on the upward movement of prospects despite their offensive slump having been at its worst. When asked about it on Friday, Boone responded:

“Those guys are obviously knocking on the door. Those are guys that are pushing their way into the conversation. So we’ll see.” 

Everson Pereira remains the talk of the town following his blazing season in AAA. In the press conference held by GM Brian Cashman during the trade deadline, he highlighted Everson Pereira twice as a potential in-house player who could make a contribution in the ongoing season.

Yankees have a chance to call up Everson Pereira

The revised collective bargaining agreement has introduced incentives for both players and teams in relation to rookie performance. Those who secure top-two finishes in Rookie of the Year voting earn an extra year of service time. Additionally, suppose a prospect on the Opening Day roster finishes among the top three in Rookie of the Year voting or top five in MVP or Cy Young voting. In that case, the team is awarded an additional draft pick.

With the arrival of this rule change, the Yankees now have the freedom to call up players like outfielder Everson Pereira and catcher Austin Wells, while maintaining the hope that both the players and the prospects themselves can continue their promising trajectories into the upcoming 2024 season.

However, despite the passing of the milestone day, Everson Pereira and Wells continued to hold their positions in the starting lineup for the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre team.

Manager Aaron Boone acknowledged that Everson Pereira and Wells are making significant progress and are close to being ready for the major leagues. He mentioned this prior to the start of the Yankees’ series against the Red Sox in The Bronx, highlighting their efforts to enter the team’s considerations. Boone expressed his anticipation to observe their development further.

Ranked as the organization’s third-best prospect by MLB Pipeline, Everson Pereira is a right-handed hitting outfielder, and his potential is of particular significance in an organization that has been in search of a left fielder for a considerable span of time.

With Anthony Rizzo out due to injury, Jake Bauers, who has shown consistent performance, has taken on the first base role. Additionally, in the absence of Rizzo, Billy McKinney was in the starting lineup as the left fielder for Friday’s game. Against left-handed pitching, Isiah Kiner-Falefa has taken on the left-field position, while Greg Allen, another outfield option, is available as a bench player.

At 22, Everson Pereira displayed impressive performance against Double-A pitchers this year, boasting an OPS of .908 over 46 games. Following his promotion to SWB, he continued his success with a .308 batting average and six home runs in his initial 32 games.

Having been signed for $1.5 million from Venezuela in 2017, Everson Pereira has held a prominent position as a top prospect for a while now, and it appears that his skills are finally aligning. Bench coach Carlos Mendoza, who is from Everson Pereira’s hometown, has been aware of him since his early years. Their common roots in the same region allowed Mendoza to be familiar with many of Everson Pereira’s mentors and coaches.

In 2017, at the Dominican complex, Mendoza, who was then a roving minor league defensive instructor with the Yankees, first encountered Everson Pereira. The distinct way the balls left Everson Pereira’s bat caught Mendoza’s attention, setting him apart from the rest of the group at that time.

Mendoza confirmed that this still holds true, expressing his satisfaction with Everson Pereira’s performance in Triple-A and his emergence as a notable prospect.

Similarly, other prospects are also in consideration, although Everson Pereira has an advantage due to the team’s requirements and his existing spot on the Yankees’ 40-man roster.

Who are other Yankees prospects

Austin Wells, who was selected in the first round of the 2020 draft, has not yet secured a place on the 40-man roster. However, he reached Triple-A on July 21 and demonstrated a .729 OPS in his initial 22 games. His first game with the RailRiders showed his immense power. Wells is known more for his batting skills than his fielding prowess. Opting to call up Wells might entail sending Ben Rortvedt down.

The Yankees have additional choices to invigorate their struggling offense. This includes bringing up powerful corner infielder Andres Chaparro and Estevan Florial, the once-prominent prospect who has yet to prove himself against major league pitching. The team could also consider Oswald Peraza, although his rookie eligibility has already commenced.

It will be prudent to summon Clayton Beeter and start transitioning Luis Severino to the bullpen. At 24 years old, Beeter arguably represents the pitching prospect best poised for a leap to the major leagues. The Yankees will need to add Beeter to the 40-man roster to safeguard him from the Rule 5 draft during the offseason. In this scenario, the Yankees could allocate Beeter to Severino’s rotation slot while assigning him Brito’s place on the active roster. Concurrently, right-hander Matt Bowman could be designated for assignment. It’s noteworthy that Bowman hasn’t seen action in the majors this season, nor has he participated at this level since 2019.

Elevating a group of young talents could potentially suggest that the Yankees are acknowledging the challenges of the current season. However, if they can identify the most suitable candidates and bring them up to the roster without being overly concerned about their “rookie” status, there’s a chance they could discover the assistance they failed to secure during the trade deadline. The Yankees are currently ranked ninth from the bottom in terms of total runs scored in Major League Baseball.

Regarding Everson Pereira and Wells, Boone stated that the team will need to assess their situation as they move forward. He expressed his satisfaction with observing these players develop as they transitioned from Double-A to Triple-A and achieved varying levels of success in that context throughout the year.

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