Yanks Finalize Their Draft

Pictured is Greg Bird, the C/3B who got a biggest bonus the Yanks gave out this year at 1.1M. He was one of the 4 sons of Tyler Austin I talked about back in June, and they all signed. The Yanks also singed prep OF Jake Cave, and I think that gives them 5 possible Yankee Bats, from a single draft, to me, that's a good number, 10% of their picks. Good stuff. They also landed high upside prep pitchers like Jordan Cote, Rookie Davis, Hayden Sharp and Joey Maher. They only signed two of the prep lefties I had hoped they would sign in Daniel Camarena and Chaz Hebert, who are both smallish lefties, in the honored Yankee tradition.

They also signed some college starters and relievers, most notably closer Mark Montgomery who has made a mockery of the the minors this year. Great pick. They also took some college bats, but nobody terribly interesting, unless you think Justin James is going to hit.

I really liked this draft, and the focus that is turning more and more to finding high upside prep bats and arms. It just makes the most sense given where the Yanks pick, and the kind of resources they can bring to bear on that segment of the talent market.

And this is why the Yanks should raise the draft budget. Their scouts are finding so many deserving picks, that under their current budgets, the Yanks can't sign all of them, but they should! This year, the Yanks took a flyer on a kid name Spencer O'Neil, who is a tall outfielder, who was said to be looking for 1M to sign. Well all he did was go out this summer and prove he deserved a big number. But the Yanks didn't seriously entertain signing him because of the budget. So, I'm not saying the Yanks should jack the budget and start picking kids from Baseball America's lists, but I am saying they should jack the budget so they can sign every kid who deserves to be signed.

That said, they are doing a heck of a great job considering the ludicrously low signing budget they are given to work with.

I still have no idea why they haven't been busier in IFA this year.