Vitals: 21 years old (turned 21 January 21); 6-foot-1, 155 pounds; both hits and throws right-handed; signed out of the Dominican Republic as a free agent by the Yankees in 2007; ranked 20th on this list last year.
Performance: In his first year of full season ball, Ramirez had a solid season as a starter with Low-A Charleston. The right-hander went 6-5 with a 3.60 ERA in 22 games (21 starts), striking out 105 and walking 42 in 115 innings. That came on the heels of a strong performance in the Gulf Coast League in 2009, where he went 6-0 with a 1.48 ERA in 11 games (10 starts), striking out 53 and walking 16 in 61 innings.
Outlook: Ramirez dropped on this year’s list more because of the wealth of pitching depth in the Yankees system, rather than anything that he did wrong. After his solid 2010 with Charleston, expect him to begin this season in the starting rotation for High-A Tampa.
