Connect with us

Baseball

New York Yankees looking to rebound at this year’s MLB First Year Players Draft

Yankees have the No. 16 pick in the Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft.

Cincinnati Bearcats outfielder Ian Happ. (Photo by Tony Tribble)

Cincinnati Bearcats outfielder Ian Happ. (Photo by Tony Tribble)

 

On Monday night in Secaucus, New Jersey the New York Yankees will have the No. 16 pick in the Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft. The organizations highest pick in the last 22 years.

The Yankees head into the Draft hungry for bats to add to their strong core of young stars including Slade Heathcott, Aaron Judge, and Ramon Flores. The Yankees are hoping to see the formation of a new core in the big leagues soon. Their first five picks last year were all pitchers, including lefty reliever Jacob Lindgren, who was fast-tracked to the Majors.

Experts say that the Yankees are looking to chase another exciting bat, but some believe that they could gamble on another collegiate pitcher, but the Yankees are not drafting for need, but rather will take the best collegiate pitcher left on the board at the time.

If they select a hitter, it has been projected that the Yankees could take a run at University of Cincinnati outfielder Ian Happ, outfielder Garrett Whitley from Niskayuna High in New York, outfielder Trenton Clark from Richland High in Texas and catcher Chris Betts from Wilson High in Long Beach, California.

Right-hander James Kaprielian from UCLA is also on the list as he posted a career 2.08 earned run average in two years with the Bruins. Another potential goal for the Yanks is College of Southern Nevada right-hander Phil Bickford, the No. 10 overall choice in 2013.

The Yankees will have the 16th and 30th overall picks this year because of not resigning David Robertson. The Yankees went with Andrew Miller and a compensation pick instead and boy has it paid off. Miller has 17 saves and is pitching to a 1.08 earned run average.

Either way you look at it, the Yankees are in position for a great draft.

Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

More in Baseball