you seem to be the minor leauge expert here what are the chances that we see Zmac or nova with the big club next year?

Don't know about prospect expert but I'll try and answer your questions.

There is a strong possiblity that you will see at least one of them this year. Nova is on the 40-man roster so would be the type of player called up when the rosters expand. There is a possiblity that he would get the call if someone in the rotation got hurt, but I don't see him getting a spot start ahead of the likes of Aceves, Gaudin or Mitre.

McAllister on the other hand isn't on the 40-man and hasn't pitched above AA yet. With the group of guys in-front of him I don't see why the Yankees would rush him up to the majors for what may only be a start or two.

Ultimately the two pitchers are not that different. Neither is projected to be a front-end starter. Both are projected as back of the rotation guys or relievers. McAllister has good numbers through the minors, but has yet to develop a solid out pitch. If he makes the majors as currently constructed you are looking at a CMW-copy, but with a less impressive sinker. On the bright-side he does have great control. If he could just develop an out-pitch then he becomes way more valuable.

I personally am not that high on Nova. Sites like river ave blues are psyched about how he finished in AA, and say that you have to take him seriously that he is now in AAA. I really don't see him as a starter at the ML level, though his breaking stuff may make him a viable reliever.

What is worrying is that as it stands McAllister is the organisations best pitching prospect. A mix of trades (Vizcaino), injury (Brackman, Betances, Heredia) and lying bastards (Cole) have crippled the organisations pitching depth. I cannot stress to you how big a deal it was that Cole went to UCLA. They got plenty of arms in the last few drafts, but none are projected as front-end guys. The only other pitcher getting hype is Manny Banuelos, who posted outstanding results but with average stuff, making it questionable whether he can progress at the same rate.

In short the system is a bit fucked right now, and when you are selecting last in the draft there's no quick fix without high risk and a high cost.

I'm not a prospect expert either so my opinions means little, but I take a more positive stance than Tartan. I do agree there is not a lot high end talent in the upper minors, but I believe that there is a bunch of talent in single A and below. I am actually excited and think this system could be stacked in 2 or 3 years. I am in the group that is high on Ivan Nova though I know there are plenty that see him as a reliever. Overall the system is a little dry on ML ready talent, but I really believe that in 2 years the system will look very bright. JMO though a whole slew of players could get injured (like last couple of years) and we'll be back to square one.

Rather than me run through my thoughts on loads of low minors players, can you give me an idea of the specific players you are thinking of?

Some that I'm excited about are Jose Ramirez, Kyle Higashioka, Manny Banuelos, Kevin de Leon, Eduardo Sosa, Jose Mojica. To a lesser extent Jeremy Bleich, Delin Betances, Jairo Heredia, Austin Romine, Caleb Cotham, Gary Sanchez (never played a game but heard good things), and DJ Mitchell.

Just a few notes on the players you list:

Higashioka: With regards to prospects he is either 4th or 5th in the depth chart behind Montero, Romine, Murphy and possibly Sanchez.

Banuelos: As stated previously he has had good results but his stuff is average across the board.

DeLeon: Talented but his skills are very raw. K'd a lot in his first year. He is only 19 and is a long-term project

Betances: Could potentially not pitch in a game all year. Has been hurt at least once each year he has been in pro-ball. Even when healthy the results haven't been that good. Some argue he was overhyped from the start. The initial hype is the only reason people even know about him because it sure isn't due to anything he's done on the field.

Mitchell: He dominated in Low A though he was a college pitcher so that is to be expected to an extent. I find it difficult to get excited about him due to his inability to get out lefties. If that trend continues he'll eventually get found out.