When 19 year-old Philip Hughes was drafted by the New York Yankees with the 23rd overall pick in the first round of the 2004 draft, the organization landed their potential ace of the future.

For the Trenton Thunder, Hughes is now their ace of the present. The 6' 5" tall righty made his Double-A debut against the Reading Phillies on May 4th, a debut that many thought would come about a month earlier.

"I kind of felt that way myself," Hughes said, "but I respected the organizations decision to keep me in High A-ball for a little bit in the warm weather until it wasn't so cold up here."

This is the third straight season the Thunder have had the number one prospect in the entire organization, as rated by Baseball America. Two seasons ago, catcher Dioner Navarro was with the club for his second straight year, hitting .271 in 70 games before being called up to the big leagues with the Yankees.

In 2005, Thunder manager Bill Masse had third baseman Eric Duncan on the team. The Florham Park native struggled last season, hitting just .235 in his first season of Double-A, before moving on to Triple-A Columbus for 2006.

As for this year's top prospect, many in the Yankees front office are high on Hughes, but being named the number one prospect for the most prestigious organization in sports hasn't seemed to get to him.

"There's so many guys here with talent," Hughes said, "you can't just single one guy out. I just try to go out and play ball just like everyone else does."

With some of his more experienced teammates making substantially less than the $1.4 million dollar signing bonus he was awarded, thoughts of trouble in the clubhouse could arise, but Hughes insists that's not the case.

"I didn't get anything outrageous compared to guys who were picked around the same time I was," Hughes said. "(My teammates) joke around about it, but it's all in good fun."

Hughes spent some time in Spring Training with the Yankees this year, facing hitters from the Reds and Blue Jays. Although superstar Ken Griffey, Jr. was playing for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic at the time, he did get to face another star player.

"I got to face Adam Dunn, which is kind of cool," Hughes said of the Reds outfielder, "(he was) one of the guys I got to watch when I was younger."

While in camp with the Yankees, he earned high praise from future teammates Jason Giambi and Alex Rodriguez, with Jorge Posada going as far as to say that Hughes had the best arm in camp. Pick up a Yankees roster and look at the pitchers, and you'll see how much weight that comment carries.

"They're nice compliments, but they don't mean anything until I get there," said the humble hurler.

For Hughes, "there" is the big leagues, where the kid who grew up watching Red Sox games in Fenway Park looks to step into Yankee Stadium for the first time ever.

"They were playing in interleague play against the Dodgers (at the time of the draft), and I live in southern California, so I went and saw them there," Hughes said. "As of now, the first I'll ever get to see of it is when I go there and play."

Despite growing up following the hated Red Sox, the first round pick is looking forward to his chance to wearing Yankee pinstripes for the first time.

"Love them or hate them," Hughes said, "they're the greatest organization in the history of sports."

The Yankees are scheduled to move out of "The House That Ruth Built" and into their new stadium in 2009. On schedule to make his debut in pinstripes at around the same time, "The House That Hughes Built" sure has a nice ring to it, don't you think.

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