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New York Yankees: Who Are Albert Abreu and Jorge Guzman?

The New York Yankees just dealt Brian McCann for a pair of prospects. But who exactly are these flame-throwing right-handers?

On Thursday night, New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman made his first big move of the offseason when he sent Brian McCann to the Houston Astros. In return for McCann, he acquired two hard throwing pitchers named Albert Abreu and Jorge Guzman.

Abreu ranked as the seventh best prospect in the Houston Astros farm system, which not bad at all considering how much talent they have. Coming over to New York, he will surely become one of the Yankees’ top minor league pitchers and have a spotlight beating on him once he arrives.

The main skill scouts look at when examining the right-handed pitcher is his fastball that could reach lightning speeds as well as two power breaking balls. This new Yankees’ prospect has many skills in his repertoire that are considered to be top-notch.

Abreu packs a fastball that has peaked at 99 m.p.h. as well as three other pitches that are considered to be thrown at an above-average level. His control could use some work but it is an asset that should get better as he matures. Here are his scouting grades according to MLB Pipeline.

Scouting grades via MLB Pipeline: Fastball: 70 / Slider: 55 / Curveball: 50 / Changeup: 50 / Control: 45 / Overall: 50

His arsenal shows how he has the potential to be an impactful major league starter that could one day dazzle the fans of Yankee Stadium. Nevertheless, though, he still has ways to go.

So far in his three career seasons in the minor leagues, Abreu is 8-13 with a 3.16 ERA along with 220 strikeouts in 51 games pitched. This is pretty impressive especially considering how young the right-hander is.

The next piece that the Yankees took from Houston for McCann is also a right-handed pitcher, whose name is Jorge Guzman.

Guzman is a 20-year old flamethrower out of the Dominican Republic who could potentially be the next Aroldis Chapman. The right-hander has a fastball that has touched 102-103 m.p.h. but has much more control of it when he slows it down to 97-99, crazy right?

He has spent two seasons in the minor leagues so far where he has spent most of his time as a starter. In 30 games pitched, Guzman is 6-8 with a 4.63 ERA and 83 strikeouts. As noted, he has not seen much success as a starter which is why he could make a dominant reliever especially with his lights out fastball.

The Dominican-born pitcher has not had the success many have expected him to have thus far but he might have the highest ceiling as any of the other pitchers in the Yankees farm system, he just has to find out how to reach it.

There you have it, the Yankees traded catcher/designated hitter Brian McCann to the Houston Astros in exchange for these two very talented right-handed pitchers named Albert Abreu and Jorge Guzman.

While they have some time to grow, be sure not to forget these names.


My name is Patrick Hennessy and I am an Editor as well as the Lead Trending Writer here at ESNY. I mainly cover the New York Yankees, but I also reach out to many branches of the sports world. I have had the opportunity to broadcast my work on many different platforms and I plan on continue doing so.