Inside The Pinstripes

Yankees' Prospect Oswald Peraza Receives Ultimate Compliment From Aaron Boone

New York Yankees prospect Oswald Peraza received the ultimate compliment from manager Aaron Boone. Boone believes Peraza will be an everyday MLB shortstop

Max Goodman

Yankees' prospect Oswald Peraza may be the youngest player invited to camp this spring, but he's already making a tremendous impression with his manager.

"He's a good looking player on both sides of the ball," Aaron Boone said on Tuesday morning. "He's a guy that has a very bright future. Still a little ways away, but he's a guy from the future standpoint that we're about as excited as you can be. He looks like a guy that's going to be an everyday shortstop in this league."

That's some high praise for a youngster born after the turn of the century. 

In fact, Peraza was just three years old when Boone sent the Yankees to the World Series with his iconic walk-off homer against the Red Sox in the 2003 American League Championship Series.

So, what exactly stands out about the 20-year-old's game that makes the skipper think the prospect will pan out at the big-league level? 

"His swing, his athleticism and his hands in the field," Boone added. "He's acquitted himself well. I remember bringing him over last year from minor-league camp in spring training for a game and just really good at-bat quality in the game he came over here, he carries himself really well. I'm excited about him."

Peraza came off the bench in Tuesday's road win against the Orioles, going 0-2 at the plate. He was jammed in his first chance in the batter's box, grounding back to the pitcher, but he was able to barrel up a ball in his second at-bat, lining a ball sharply toward the second baseman.

The highest Peraza has played so far in the Minors is Low-A with the Charleston RiverDogs. The shortstop played in 46 games at that level in 2019, hitting .273/.348/.333 with 31 runs scored and 18 stolen bases.

As Boone alluded to, Peraza is still several years away from being called up to the big-league club. Then again, MLB Pipeline—who ranks Peraza as New York's fourth-best prospect—predicts the shortstop will make his debut as early as next year.

The logical follow-up question would be surrounding Peraza's fit on this current Yankees roster. If Gleyber Torres is the shortstop of the future—and Torres is only 24—then does Peraza not have a spot? Besides, DJ LeMahieu just signed quite the lengthy deal to stay in pinstripes so it's not like Peraza can simply swap to the other side of the second-base bag.

Regardless of what the future holds, Peraza is yet another prospect that Boone is very excited about. That should make this fan base pretty excited too.

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Max Goodman
MAX GOODMAN

Max Goodman covers the New York Yankees for Sports Illustrated and FanNation. Goodman has been on the Yankees beat for three seasons. He is also the publisher of Sports Illustrated and FanNation's Jets site, Jets Country. Before starting Inside The Pinstripes, Goodman attended Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism and Master’s Degree in Sports Media, graduating in 2019. At school, Goodman was an anchor and reporter with NNN SportsNight and played on the club baseball team. While at Northwestern, Goodman interned with MLB.com as an associate reporter covering the Miami Marlins. He also interned with ESPN, working as an associate reporter on Mike Greenberg's Get Up. Goodman is from New York City. He grew up in Hell's Kitchen. Follow Goodman on Twitter @MaxTGoodman. You can connect with him via email by reaching out at maxgoodmansports@gmail.com.

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