Day 3

Usually on Day 3 of the MLB Draft, the Yanks go college heavy, picking starters or reliever with a redeemable characteristic, while sprinkling in a few signability preps and junior/community college picks. This started to change 2 years ago when they drafted and then signed Evan DeLuca and Muriel Checo who were both prep pitchers taken in between picks 40 and 50. But even last year they were taking a good number of college players on day 3. This year they flipped the script. Today, in rounds 31-50, the Yankees took 14 preps, 2 junior college players, 1 division II DES player and only 3 regular college players.

I can't tell you how big a change this actually was. They went upside, upside and more upside on Day 3, and there were several ringers in their mix, notably Adam Ravanelle, from Lincoln/Sudbury HS, in Sudbury Mass. Ravanelle is a 6'4" rhp with a commitment to Vanderbilt, and those are hard to break, but he did play for the Yankees Area Code team in the past. The same team that produced Cito Culver last year and Jordan Cote yesterday. So they know him well.

Most of the kids they picked today were pitchers, but there was also a high school right fielder named Spencer O'Neil and a big high school SS named Kevin Cornelius.

It will be interesting to see how the Yankees do this. They pretty much have to sign more preps than they have in the past just to keep the talent flowing in at a consistent rate. I imagine most of the pitchers will be summer follows and the Yanks will be handing out a bunch of bonuses at the deadline. It should be very interesting. I can't express how impressed I am with the work Damon Oppenheimer and the whole scouting group did for this year's draft. Wow. Really. Wow.