Clint Frazier

Yankees outfielder prospect Clint Frazier is ranked by ESPN's Keith Law as the 27th-best prospect in baseball. (Kathy Willens | AP)

If things pan out the way that the Yankees hope, Aaron Judge will win their starting right field job during spring training and use his 6-foot-7, 275-pound build to slug a bunch of home runs this coming season.

And by late 2017 or 2018, the Yankees also would like to see Clint Frazier hit his way to the big leagues and force them to trade left fielder Brett Gardner by playing like a future star.

The Yankees love Judge and Frazier, as do scouts even though both went through some struggles last season.

Judge, who turns 25 in April, earned his first trip to the majors by having a good first half in Triple-A, then after a great first week with the Yankees, he went through some serious growing pains at the plate while looking good in right field. His offensive totals with the Yankees: .179 average, 4 homers, 10 RBIs, 42 strikeouts and 84 at-bats in 27 games.

Frazier, 22, did begin 2016 by performing fairly well for the Cleveland Indians' Double-A squad in Akron (.276, 13 HR, 48 RBIs, 89 games), but went through some growing pains after a promotion to Triple-A ... before and after his late July trade to the Yankees (.230 , 3 HR, 7 RBIs, 30 games).

So which player is the better prospect?

Keith Law, ESPN's top draft and prospect guru, gives the edge to Frazier while ranking both as a top 50 prospect in baseball. In his 2017 top 100, released last week, Law has Frazier at No. 27 and Judge 44th.

Why Frazier higher?

Law explained Monday in a teleconference with baseball writers:

"You're betting on power with Judge. I assume you've seen him up close. I shook his hand and my hand disappeared. He is enormous and the bat does come off his bat quite differently.

"But Frazier has some of the best bat speed I've ever scouted ... anywhere. It's Javier Baez territory. You rarely come across that. In Frazier's case, (he's) going to produce some power, too. When you swing that fast and that hard, you're going to hit for some power. He's probably at least a 20-homer guy.

"What I really like about Clint ... Even in the lower minors and in high school he was hunting fastballs. He would struggle with some off-speed stuff. He struck out a ton his first year of pro ball. He's really done a nice job of tightening that up. He'll still strike out a little too much. I think he still has to learn to lay off some, (but) he's come so far in the last two years. When a kid is making adjustments that quickly and that significantly, he's telling you something about his baseball aptitude.

"While Judge probably has a little bit more of an upside because he's got more power and is a better athlete -- I think he's got the better arm, so he can certainly play right field and be really good there -- I rank Frazier higher because I just feel better above his long-term outlook. Judge is always going to have issues with plate coverage because his strike zone is so huge. And he's older and hasn't made quite as many adjustments in terms of recognizing pitches as Frazier has.

"I think both are going to be good big leaguers ... but which one would you take if you told me that you could have one of those guys for the next 10-to-15 years? Which one is going to perform? I would take Frazier."

Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.